Kelis On 'Artists' Vs. 'Pop Stars

Kelis broke down her definitions of what it means to be an 'artist' vs. what it means to be a 'pop star.'

“To me the best artists are the people we believe, and so I think those are not the pop stars," she says. "Those are usually the ones that, you know, are not always perfect. That’s the difference between being a pop star and being an artist. I think the word artist — I say this all the time — gets thrown around so lightly. It’s like the word love. You can’t put the two [together], they’re not the same. I think neither one is right or wrong, but I want to be in a group of believers. I want people to believe me because that’s what art’s about. It’s about someone finding a connection in who you are. Seeing [themselves] in it. Or wanting to see [themselves] in it.”

“Honestly my advice to new artists is always, ‘If you can do something else, you should,’" Kelis added. "Because I think that what makes artists great is that they literally can’t do anything else. You think about all the people that you’ve loved in the past or all the artists or musicians or painters or whatever. They do it because if you don’t get it out, it becomes something negative, it becomes something too much, it’s overwhelming. I think if you’re wanting to be an artist because you want to be…you probably shouldn’t do it. You should do something else. It’s easier.”