The singer talks about following his own rules
+ READ ARTICLETwo years ago, singer and songwriter Miguel was chosen as one of TIME’s most influential people for his “constant innovation, formal daring, unexpected sources of inspiration and emotional directness.”
Now, Miguel continues to follow his own rules. The son of a Mexican-American father and an African-American mother, Miguel wants to prove that his music is much bigger than just creating R&B. “My intention is to transcend the expectations of ethnic people or what they are allowed to do,” he said.
In Wildheart, his third album, out now, Miguel talks about discovering his own voice. In the rock ballad “What’s Normal Anyway?” the 29-year-old is finding his footing, and encouraging his fans to do the same.
“Writing that song was just about kind of emancipating myself from the feelings that made me feel inadequate, the things that kept me from saying that wait a second, as long as you accept yourself, then the rest is almost kind of insignificant.”
Read Douglas Wolk on Miguel for Time 100.