Miguel On His Short-Lived Beef w/ Frank Ocean, His Lukewarm Reception To Last Album & Trump

Miguel, Frank Ocean

Miguel Talks Frank Ocean Beef, Trump & Last Album

In a new interview, Miguel  speaks candidly about his upcoming album, “War & Leisure”; his short-lived beef with fellow singer Frank Ocean, what he’d say if he met Trump and the lukewarm reception surrounding his third album, “Wildheart”. Peep the excerpts below.

On being dissatisfied with his career:

You’re not supposed to say: I wanted it to be better, or to perform better. But we all want our shit to win. So for artists to pretend they’re OK with their shit not being the best … I mean, that’s not real.

On the lukewarm international reception of “Wildheart”:

Apart from in the US, oh my God, there it was magic. I felt like I was really helping, really contributing. People were telling me how powerful and life-changing it was. But then we came to Europe and … Actually, here in the UK, it was amazing too, I love playing here. But when I got to the non-English speaking countries …

He adds,

I’m pretty tough on myself, I guess.

On being lost after the release of “Wildheart”: 

I lost touch with my emotions. It was a down period. I was just … quiet. Real quiet. And also putting up a front, like I was OK with everything when I really wasn’t. I put up a wall so it was hard for my friends and family to help. I was there, but not really present. We just did small talk – yeah, everything’s good – without getting to the meat.

On the inspiration for “War & Leisure”:

You see us on the brink of nuclear war over Twitter. Or the rise of the far right in Germany and France. So my whole mindset for the album is: what are we supposed to do caught in the middle of this? We’re at the brink of complete war and complete pleasure, at all times, every day.

On new album’s dark references: 

It’s a call to action. My generation are the adults now. We hold the responsibility to shape the world we’re now living in for our children. It’s crazy but I feel like I’m a fu-king parent.

On being open about his feelings on current events:

You have to hit the bottom, you have to feel the pain and take it in … that’s often how we learn. It’s painful to watch police being let off for heinous crimes that would be punished if they were a different race. But we know now that we can’t continue to deal with it in the way that we had been dealing with it. We need to figure out a different route.

On what he would say if he met President Trump:

He wouldn’t invite me to meet him, I mean, who am I? A C-list celebrity. You know what I mean, though. Why would we be in the same room? I don’t have the answers. There’s someone with much better answers than I do.

On his brief beef with singer Frank Ocean:

Egos are a crazy thing. The version of myself I was two, three, four years ago, even last week, is different to who I am today. That’s not who I am. And I’m a big fan of his music and his creativity; we need more people out there doing that.

On what he wants from his career: 

I want it all. I want to reach the world. To be charismatic, to reach a standard of performance where I connect with people on a real level from a big stage. I don’t know how you really do that, but I wanna do it. And I can’t blame myself for being like that; it’s in my programming.

By –@ms_hip_hop