00:00It feels amazing to be performing at Essence. Like I was just saying, you know, it's levels.
00:06I always wanted to play Essence. So the first time I came, I played The Lounge. So now I'm
00:14playing The Dome, you know, I put my album out. So it feels great to be able to share
00:18with my people, you know. It's just great. It feels good. It's hot, but it feels great.
00:22It's hot, but I feel like I love the culture of New Orleans and not even that, the history.
00:29It's so important. I'm learning a lot of new things even today about the bayou. I've never
00:34been before. I want to see what it's like, you know, the food, the gumbo, all the different
00:39things that you guys offer. My favorite part about Essence is being able to check out all
00:43the different artists that Essence brings together, people I've probably admired or wanted to check
00:48out for the longest and finally have the chance. I feel like my favorite part is just meeting
00:52new people, random people that I've never seen before that come up to me and talk to
00:56me and it's just love. You know, like you said, it's black love. Everybody's coming together
01:00and supporting and encouraging, so I love that. This is my third time.
01:05I listen to a lot of everybody from Johnny Cash to Prince to Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye,
01:17Otis Redd and Jodeci, D'Angelo, H-Town. I listen to a lot of hip-hop music as well, Nas, Jay, Kanye,
01:25you know, and I try to put all of that into my music. I listen to, I grew up listening
01:30to a lot of soca music as well, reggae. So, you know, Roe James has his own style, his
01:36own voice, his own tone. I don't know, I can't compare myself really to anybody because I
01:40feel like I'm just myself. I'm the balance of both. I'm the balance of very serious but
01:46have a lot of fun at the same time. Fans, I feel like, you know, as they get to know
02:01me, they'll see that, you know, that's what makes me me. That's what makes me unique, the
02:04fact that I am both. I'm smooth but at the same time, I'm rock and roll. I have fun.
02:09All my life I knew that black was beautiful. My parents, my mom is from Panama but she
02:16also instilled in us and let us know that we are black, we are a culture and that to
02:21appreciate and be proud of my skin color, who I am, what I represent, our background, our
02:27history, you know, that's what makes us who we are, that's what makes us strong, that's
02:30what makes us individual, that's what makes us dope, that's what makes us unique, you know,
02:34that's what makes us coveted, that's what makes people want to hop onto our culture, our
02:38lifestyle, the way we do things, our originality. Black is beautiful, you know. I knew that's
02:42from a young age, which carries on to my adulthood.
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