If I'm being forced to do something I don't want to do, my real self comes out. But whether or not I'm aware of it, no matter what happens, I'm always going to have a fake self, and I'm not going to judge my fake self.
Benjamin Clementine
Poetry itself is music. I'm just lucky that I can convert it into music. William Blake is my favorite poet of all time, and he said that he wasn't quite familiar with the sounds of music. If so, he would have been a musician. All of his poems are all like songs, and that's how I always try to start my thoughts.
The greatest in heroes in life are the anonymous. That's what I believe. Your neighbours are heroes. People who, when you walk down the street, you see them feeding their little baby - these people are heroes because they are living under difficult situations, but they're still trying to save a life.
I personally don't know what nerves are. I don't get scared when I'm going to play music. But I think something, maybe my fears, are buried into my songs. Because I'm singing them.
People want a beautiful story. Hopefully my life story is still beautiful, but that metro stuff doesn't make it much more pitiful.
When I lived in Paris, I would shop at antique shops and buy these huge coats because I was very cold. And then I started performing in them because I felt safe. I never stopped doing that.
I know, deep down, that what makes my music what it is are my words. It always starts from me wanting to say something. Once I've run out of things to say, I'll be done.
I don't have a flat anywhere. I'm registered in the U.K. for tax purposes, I suppose, and my mail goes to my parents.
The meaning of love is obviously huge - but for me, it means be nice to people, and people will be nice to you back. Love is a selfless place to be. There is no safer place to be than under the canopy of love.
I just wanted to eat, to survive. I started singing a cappella in bars. I saved up money to get my first guitar and started writing songs.
I do music to tell people my thoughts and opinions about life, emotions, politics, everything.
If I win the Mercury Prize, I'll be very honoured. If I don't win it, I won't have lost it. Someone else will have won it. And that will also be good.
Fame is like icin' on the cake.
When I first started singing in Paris, I sounded horrible: I was just singing to get some money to eat. And I wasn't singing my own songs: it was Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix. Eventually, when I wrote my own music, my style just came out of my own place.
I clearly remember my father cutting our jumpers and our sports clothes with scissors - because he didn't want us to wear jogging bottoms and hoodies. He thought that would somehow set the police on us.
The fact is, it wasn't enjoyable being in secondary school. I was a weird kid.
It's my only freedom, music, and I'm not going to give it up to anyone else.
I dedicate all my time to music. And I'm glad that it's paying off in some ways.
There are things that need to be said... and I think it's my obligation to say them.
My parents always said that I would be a lawyer or pilot or doctor - and I always just thought that's what I would do.
Arizona - I've only spent a few days there, but it's inspired me the most. It's so peaceful.
I got into a lot of trouble. Maybe that's why my parents didn't really like me and I didn't blend in with my family. I was always the naughty one.
I've learned in the little bit of my life so far that you can't fool people. And so I only tell people what I think about: my ambitions, my dreams, what inspires me.
I was on the train; I did play, but I also played in bars, in the streets, at birthday parties for people who discovered me on the train.
It stayed with me - the Bible has stayed with me. I've grown out of it because, obviously, you live life for yourself and have your choice to believe what you want to believe in, but I know that the Bible can be used to appreciate life.
When I was a kid, I remember seeing Michael Jackson. I thought he was an alien. You don't grow up to be like Michael Jackson. I'm not saying I'm Michael Jackson, but Mercury Prizes are for aliens, basically. So I was very chuffed that I got nominated, and then I won.
I never thought I'd say this, but to any child listening, the world is your oyster.
I'm a very honest person, and I'm quite emotional for a man. If I want to say something, I'll say it.
Sometimes it feels like my story overshadows my music.
I realised that we're all equal - it's all about helping each other.
My heroes: Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Nina Simone.
I'm from a middle class family, but my father squandered all the money, so I didn't really run around with rich people.
I'm actually doing what I like doing, which is mixing opera music and classical music with soul and folk. And I was writing and talking about what I've actually experienced, and I don't think that's very common.
The thing is: I was quite slow when I was younger. I might have been smart - I don't know - but I was slow talking to people. And as you can see, I don't talk very loud.
The minute I stop singing, I'm back to being shy. I'm soft-spoken because I never really talked to people. I didn't learn to do it.
I don't think I'm a singer, I think I'm an expressionist. But it takes time to put it in people's minds that this guy is not singing, 'Baby, I want to have you.' This guy is actually thinking about what he's saying. This guy has something to say.
We always blame other people when things go wrong. For example, family to friends, you think they'll stay by your side, and you realise they never do. But that's life.
I was lucky to have read a lot of poetry when I was younger; it helped me to remember a way to write.
Personally, I wouldn't mind going on stage naked, totally naked.
I accept the fact that angels are great heavenly beings, and I think some people give me the feeling that I'm with an angel.
I would describe myself as outspoken. Not political. Outspoken about what I want to say. There are things that need to be said... and I think it's my obligation to say them.
I appreciate my city very much. When I go to America and Europe, and I tell everyone I'm from London, I'm proud.
Studying music involves a lot of mathematics and a lot of exercises of memory. Or you've got to be able to be like somebody, to play like somebody, to play Mozart's music the way he played it and how he intended it. You've got to make it perfect, and that's not what I want to do. Although it is beautiful.
Because I didn't think anyone would actually listen to my music, I thought I could say whatever I wanted.
I personally wouldn't want my second album to sound like my first; it might sound very rocky or hard rock - and that wouldn't be melancholy. So if people think my music is melancholic, then so be it. It's meant to be uplifting, and I'm just basically saying what needs to be said.
I believe when the music is being sung or being played, at the end of it, there's some sort of grace and understanding. And that's all I want for humanity. I just want us to understand each other. That's the point of my music.
I always see my music for its rewards rather than its awards. But I always thought if there was one award I'd want to win, it would be the Mercury.
Life is life. You have to learn how to forgive people and how to gain forgiveness for yourself.
Most people think a song is a song - three minutes, and you're done. I don't think this way. Songs are my wings. They're what I use to fly. It's very important for me to put everything in the right place.
Honestly, I still don't know a lot of artists, and I want to keep it that way for a while. I think that's why I might be quite original.
