Philadelphia Music Scene Quotes

I've been to Philadelphia a lot of times over the years, playing the old Celebrity Room and most of the other clubs around there that don't exist anymore.

When I was in college, the Roots, the sui generis ensemble from Philadelphia encompassing all manner of black music, played a show on campus.

I wanted to show the world, and myself too, what I can do. I came up in the world of Philadelphia soul, but I'm fluent in a lot of languages musically and I like working with different people from different generations.

Questlove and I - we were in high school with artists like Boyz II Men and Amel Larrieux.

We had a bond creatively that came out of 'Lady Marmalade.' It was our link. And people don't know this, but P!nk and I actually met when we were both 16 years old in Philadelphia. I was recording my first album, and we were working with the same producers, so I originally knew her as Alecia.

Maybe I'm biased because I'm from there. It's close enough to New York but it's not swallowed up by New York's hustle and bustle. Philly's busy enough. There are tons of record stores and record-head friends and plenty of D.I.Y. shows. It's a place where people pass through and bands don't usually skip on tour. There are lots of music resources but it's not too over the top.

I feel like a lot of performers' worst shows happened in Philly. There's something about that town.

My mentor was Clara Ward of the famous Ward gospel singers of Philadelphia. And my dad was my coach. He coached me. And just my natural love for music is what drove me.