--- title: 10 Questions for Grammy Winner Maxwell | TIME description: Maxwell took the Grammys by storm with two awards and a memorable performance. He answers reader questions here canonical: https://time.com/video/DhRvCvof/ og:title: 10 Questions for Grammy Winner Maxwell og:description: Maxwell took the Grammys by storm with two awards and a memorable performance. He answers reader questions here og:url: https://time.com/video/DhRvCvof/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/DhRvCvof/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 10 Questions for Grammy Winner Maxwell twitter:description: Maxwell took the Grammys by storm with two awards and a memorable performance. He answers reader questions here twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/DhRvCvof/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # 10 Questions for Grammy Winner Maxwell > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: 10 Questions for Grammy Winner Maxwell [Watch (HLS stream): 10 Questions for Grammy Winner Maxwell](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DhRvCvof.m3u8) (5:20)  _Published 2010-02-04. Maxwell took the Grammys by storm with two awards and a memorable performance. He answers reader questions here_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:19 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Ghislaine Maxwell declines to answer questions from House lawmakers in a deposition](/video/lkIeoukt/) ### Ghislaine Maxwell declines to answer questions from House lawmakers in a deposition [Memorable Moments of the 2025 Grammys](/video/reCaUu55/) ### Memorable Moments of the 2025 Grammys [GRAMMYS: Adele performance](/video/LeHcP4Pt/) ### GRAMMYS: Adele performance --- ## Transcript >> We are here for Time Magazine's 10 Questions with Maxwell, who is taking questions from our readers. Our first question comes from Sandra Apia in Terrano, it says there's a new sense of wisdom, confidence and maturity to you that is very apparent on Black Summer's Night. What might have changed? >> Thirty- six years old changes you a lot, and I think also having eight years away, being able to not be obligated to having entertain people actually brought a greatest sense of who I was as a person and made what I wanted to offer later a lot more from the soul not from like this place of please like me. >> Do you plan to take another extended hiatus? >> I love children and I'm at that point in my life where I feel like I could actually, you know, be a father so if that happens then of course, you know, I'll take an extended period of time for my children because that's the most important job you could ever do. >> Next question comes from a reader in Augusta, Georgia who asks, why did you decide to cut your hair? >> I just want change, I just need to change. I didn't want to be a character, you know, there's nothing worst than that guy who is like been rocking his whatever it was that his hay day was, 20 years later he thinks it's happening still. >> When you write a song which comes first, the lyrics or the melody? >> You know, it depends, sometimes it's music first and sometimes it's lyrics second, you know, sometimes it's the title, sometimes it's something that someone says to me, sometimes it's what I've read in a book, but I think primarily-- I think the main thing that always propels me is life, you know, when you have lost someone that you've loved or you've found someone that you've loved, or something is going on in the world, or something is going on inside of you, whatever it is, those are the things that sort of like really pull at everyone. >> This next question comes from a reader in Union, New Jersey who asks, how do you know when a song is finished? >> A song is never finished, ever finished. I listen to songs that I've done that have been recorded for over 10 years and I still can hear something I could do. >> Your songs appeal to women while also giving glimpses into a man's point of view. If you were to write a song meant for a woman to sing, what messages or concepts would you want her to convey? >> I can't say that I'm an expert in knowing what I would need to say for a woman but I know that I've learned from women, and I've learned what not to say. >> Like what? >> Baby you look good in them jeans, they don't make you look fat at all, you know, things like that. >> Next question is from Deborah Turner in New York, New York, who asks who are your musical influences? >> Wow, Sam Cook is probably one of the greatest musicians for me, I used to watch him kind of in that time away and I would just like, " Wow, this guy has so much elegance. So much class ." >> Could you share your thoughts on the way RnB sounds today versus how it used to sound in the day with Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gay, Sam Cook and other classic soulful singers? >> I don't know, it just felt like Valentine's everyday with that kind of music, you know, I'm not saying we don't get that too much now, you know. >> Do you think it is getting more difficult for artists to create an overall vibe in such a singles driven market? >> Yes. Very much so. I think it's very difficult for one artist to be one artist on a record doing their own record by themselves. I think most of RnB is like a compilation record, not to say that there's anything bad with that because I buy these records too, you know, but I'm a classic sort of old- fashioned person, you know. When Nat King Cole came out with a record I knew that every song would be a Nat King Cole. >> How has your heritage influenced your music? >> Your heritage is your heritage but your soul is truly, indicatively who you are. You know, you have can have accent and you can come from a certain area but what you are inside psychically, spiritually is something that is like so separate from any of what you were, any of what you've come from and I think the only reason why I can say that is because I feel like when I do music I detach from all that I'm supposed to be. >> What do you want your body of music to represent 50 years from now? >> I do feel like hopeful that in the next 50 years with what I've experienced over the last 8 years with, you know, the philanthropic things now sort of like coming up and all the activist nature to my personality, things that I never thought were there that were lying dormant, that I would hope-- I would hope that 50 years from now people can see, you know, he went from here all the way there and wow he really lived up to the promise of what he was trying to sing on the first record. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"10 Questions for Grammy Winner Maxwell","description":"Maxwell took the Grammys by storm with two awards and a memorable performance. 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