Jidenna

“California was special. It's a place where I learned how to be adventurous, both in style and fashion, but also in terms of the way I think.”

“Not unlike our country's history, my personal history was founded upon an unfortunate history of racial conflict between black and white.”

“The trick of Afrobeats is it doesn't just move your upper body, it moves your hips as well, and I think that's what people have been missing in popular music for a while. I think that's what people need around the world.”

“I work predominantly with tailors from Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal.”

“Willy Wonka had his chocolate factory; I have my Fear & Fancy Parlor.”

“I think each artist lives with purpose. A strong sense of purpose. We know who's come before us.”

“When I brought home a 98 percent on a test, my father would say, 'Ah, ah, where are the other two points? Go and get them, then bring them back.' My father and Nigerian culture has always stood for excellence.”

“I was raised in Nigeria, and my mother is white, but I never saw her as white, not until I came to America. She was just my mother. She didn't really have a color.”

“All across this world, especially within the African diaspora, we feel like there is a constant devaluing of our culture and our livelihood.”

“America is haunted by an apparition steeped in slavery, and I wanted to remind everyone that, 'Yo, we've got to handle this.'”

“In Brooklyn, all the kids call me the 'Willy Wonka of the Hood.'”

“In music, I wanted to make sure I was innovating.”

“The affinity towards suits was a functional thing for me early on because I was thrifting at secondhand shops, and it was also initially a way of grieving - my father had passed, and he used to wear suits all the time.”