I live in Brooklyn, New York. It is a melting pot of cultures and people. I walk down the street, and there is art on the buildings and people congregating who have been neighbors for years and events and music and freedom.
New Orleans has a unique history as a great melting pot of all kinds of cultures, and that manifests itself now through the food, the music, and the kinds of people who live there.
There was a time in our past when one could walk down any street and be surrounded by harmonious buildings. Such a street wasn't perfect, it wasn't necessarily even pretty, but it was alive. The old buildings smiled, while our new buildings are faceless. The old buildings sang, while the buildings of our age have no music in them.
I had never watched a live classical performance before I came to Bengaluru. I feel like this is the New York of India - a melting pot of many cultures.
As far as my New York influence, one thing I'm proud of in my career is, I rep Brooklyn, New York all day. But people don't look at my music as New York music. People consider my music underground music.
New York is like a melting pot: so many different people, so many different cultures.
It sounds stupid, but there's nothing like walking down the street and seeing a building that's older than 100 years old. I think London - not to sound pretentious - like New York, it's a big melting pot for all things and it's just got this energy that you can't find anywhere else.
Musically, New York is a big influence on me. Walk down the street for five minutes and you'll hear homeless punk rockers, people playing Caribbean music and reggae, sacred Islamic music and Latino music, so many different types of music.
Every now and then, you get people who tend to forget what this country is about, which is a melting pot of races and cultures and freedom of speech.
The New York Times will tell you what is going on in Afghanistan or the Horn of Africa. But it is no exaggeration that The New York Times has more people in India than they have in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is a borough of two million people. They're not a Bloomingdale's people, not trendy, sophisticated, the quiche and Volvo set. The New York Times does not serve those people.
I love New York, it's always been my home. It has everything - music, fashion, entertainment, impressive buildings, huge parks, street cafes. And it's very international, with people from all over the world.
Being in New York as a whole, Brooklyn as well, you can do anything you want. That's by far the best part about New York, besides just the hustle and grit and grind of Brooklyn specifically, but the best food. Anybody you want to get in contact with, odds are if they don't live in New York, they're passing through New York at some point in time.
I live in L.A. so I don't get to see much theatre anymore. They have a lot of touring shows but it's not like New York - I lived in New York for 15 years and you can walk out on the street and there's something to see.
New York was always more expensive than any other place in the United States, but you could live in New York - and by New York, I mean Manhattan. Brooklyn was the borough of grandparents. We didn't live well. We lived in these horrible places. But you could live in New York. And you didn't have to think about money every second.
Brooklyn is definitely the only place to live in the New York area. I love Brooklyn. Go Brooklyn!
Coachella is a melting pot of cultures, vibes, style, and, of course, music. I look forward to it every year.
Canada is a really big melting pot of cultures, so we ended up with a giant mosaic of different music.