Kultura / Culture
His songs are as current as they’d be if written today, and it seems to me that you also nurture that legacy in the most beautiful way. “The songs are current as though written today because they come from a place of truth, and the job of an artist is to reflect the truth that’s happening in their head, in their room, in their house, on their block, in their neighbourhood, in their city, in their state, in their coun- try, in their world… So, it’s also my job to continue to reflect what I see and talk about it. That’s the job of the artist: to speak truth to power and really to always speak truth, pe- riod. So, I thank you for that. That’s a great compliment and I’m super bi- ased, but I happen to believe that he is the greatest singer that ever lived, and so the way he interpreted a sto- ry will just take it over oceans. Those songs will last forever.” You are the winner of nu- merous Grammy Awards, sharing the record for the number of Grammys for best R&B song with Beyon- cé. What do you say about her having finally won the Grammy for best album? “Yes, Beyoncé has finally won the Grammy for Album of the Year. In my personal estimation, this should be about her second or third Gram- my for Album of the Year. I’m excit- ed for her. I know this is probably on her bucket list, but I just think she’s so worthy. This is such a great album, and to be recognised as the Best Country Album and also the Al- bum of the Year is quite a feat and I think she deserves it all.” You’ve collaborated with many music greats, but the magnificent Prince broke his own rule because of you? “So, when I opened for Prince, I got a brief that said pick two songs from this list to perform with Prince at the end of the show. I didn’t pick from the list. I chose my immedi- ate song that I would love to sing with Prince, which is ‘Diamonds and Pearls’, and they got back to me fairly quickly and said, “We’re
ing anywhere”, and he grabbed my hand and he walked me over to the piano and started playing Diamonds and Pearls, and we sang it together. And I died. What you’re talking to now is a ghost; you’re hearing this story from a ghost, because I died on that stage… when he started to play it, and we began to sing it. There are recordings of it out there some- where, you know he was notorious for not being recorded during his shows, but I’m so lucky that some- one captured a piece of it, and it lives on the internet forever and ever.“ What should we expect from your concert in Bel- grade, and what do you ex- pect from Belgrade? “I love this question. What should we expect? You should expect the best show you’ve ever seen and the best singing you’ve ever heard. I expect the people of Belgrade to come out for a beautiful show and to hear some good singing and some good music. I love travelling. I love meeting people all over the world, and music is such a great uniter that I expect us to all be in one accord.” You’re from Chicago and we’re lucky to have a di- rect flight to the Windy City from Belgrade. Could you single out your favourite things that visitors to your hometown shouldn’t miss? “If you ever make it to Chica- go, there are two things about my city that I’m very proud of: first is the architecture. It is, in my opin- ion, the best skyline in the United States. It is a beautiful city that ar- chitects flocked to in the early part of the last century to build, and the architecture is sublime. The second thing is the food, which is unparal- leled by any standard and includes some of the greatest food you will ever eat in your life. There are Chi- cago-specific things you should try and eat while you are there: deep dish pizza, a Polish dog, all Italian food. There are so many little neighbour- hoods in Chicago, where the people represent where they come from. It is a city full of immigrants and the food reflects that.”
sorry, Prince does not perform this song anymore, so please pick some- thing else from the list”. When I went for the soundcheck, I was sitting in the audience watching my band set up. And all of a sudden Prince was there, standing right behind me. He scared me to death. Everything that they say about him is true as well. He does appear and vanish like a sprite, like a gust of wind. It’s really deep. I told him that I wasn’t super familiar with the choices they gave me. They were way newer than the material that I grew up with, and I didn’t feel confident singing any of the super new stuff. But I would continue to look. So, the song that I ended up choosing was ‘Sometimes It Snows in April’, which was on the list. So, the night of our show was 15 th December, which also happens to be the night before my birthday. We performed the show, I think we were in New Jersey, and we sang ‘Sometimes it Snows in April’. I was standing beneath the stairs, and he ran past me and said “OK, stand right here. Take my mic and I’ll meet you up there.” And all of this, as I’m saying it, is so surreal to think that this actually happened, but I stood on the riser with Prince’s mic in my hand. And the stage rose, the platform rose until I was on top of the stage and the wind was blow- ing through my hair, and there were 17,000 people screaming. It was ep- ic. And suddenly he was there, like a gust of wind, right over my shoulder to sing ‘Sometimes it Snows in April’. After that song was over, I just was on such a high, and I said to him as the crowd was screaming “Thank you so much for this. This is so amaz- ing. I will never forget this moment.” And he said “Oh no, you’re not go-
Moj grad Čikago je divno mesto da uzmete nešto za jelo i posmatrate prelepe horizonte My Chicago is a great place to grab a meal and look at the beautiful skyline
42 | Koncert » Concert
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