Roberta Flack – HuffPost 2.6.12

Mike Ragogna: What is it about music that speaks to you?

Roberta Flack: The thing that engulfs me in music is the pulse. If I can find that heartbeat, I can live in there in that music. And the pulse can’t always be found on two and four – sometimes it’s erratic, you know? But if I can find the pulse, I can live inside that music. I think that’s the same for everyone. I also think that that’s what makes a song a hit.

MR: So, is there any advice you would give to an artist pursuing a career in music?

RF: Study however you can. You can study by listening, practicing, working with someone – the list goes on. But most of all, never, ever, ever give up on the vision of what you see yourself doing. If you see yourself rapping, go ahead and rap. Everyone will be okay with it, and if it isn’t, they’ll get over it. People will like it or they won’t. If they don’t, it becomes your job as a musician to figure out why not. I never aimed for success. I aimed for success in the sense that when I performed a song, it had to move me. I want to give myself goose bumps. (laughs) I don’t want to be analytical, I want to be satisfied. In order to do that, you have to do quite a bit of preparation up front. Some people don’t, but that’s rare. I always felt that Michael Jackson was one of the people that didn’t have to prepare that much, even from the time he was a very little kid. Have you ever seen the video that I did with Michael called “When We Grow Up”?

MR: I did, it was very sweet.

RF: It is! I mean, I think I’m sweeter than he is in the video with my pony tails. (laughs) But I’ll tell you, it was such a joy to work with him because he was so bright and sharp. We didn’t have to do it a bunch of times. We did it a few times, and it was a lot of fun. When you have that sort of innate and instinctive gift, you can sort of relax and let it flow. But sometimes, you have to be truly inspired. Even Michael had to be truly inspired. He surrounded himself with a lot of hip-hop artists towards the end of his recording career. He found a lot of connections with artists who were on the cutting edge of modern hip-hop, which brings me to another point. You need to be able to talk about music. You need to be able to express musically what you want to accomplish, and that’s what I’m trying to instill in these young people. Stay focused and inspired.

MR: Great. Kids, that’s advice from Roberta Flack and you better take it!

RF: No, not “better take it”! (laughs) It couldn’t hurt, though.