H.E.R. Talks Growing Up Feeling ‘Too Filipino For The Black Kids And Too Black For The Filipino Kids’
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H.E.R. is discussing her journey towards becoming the powerful woman she is today.
In a new interview with Glamour UK, the 24-year-old Grammy winner reveals how avoiding putting herself “in a box” is her “superpower.”
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“There were times where I felt too Filipino for the Black kids and too Black for the Filipino kids,” recalled the “I Can’t Breathe” singer. “Or when I was going to the grocery store with my mom and people [were] like, ‘That’s your mom? Her hair’s straight, your hair’s curly.’ And it’s like, ‘I come from both places. This is what you get.’
“I was just trying to figure out what that all meant and not put myself in a box, because people always tried to do that. You know, they need a point of reference. But sometimes you can be all things… and I think that’s been my superpower.”
On representing both Black and Asian communities, she shared, “I realize that everything I’m doing is so much bigger than me.”
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“The recognition of these songs means that I have literally been placed at this time, at this moment, for a reason. To represent the Asian community, to represent the Black community, to write songs that reflect how we feel. And it just so happens that it’s a reflection of how other people feel.”
H.E.R also discussed the unattainable standards that have been set for the women of today.
“Sometimes as women, we have pressures of what a woman should look like and what it means to be sexy. And that sometimes in order to be sexy, you have to have your clothes off. To me, that’s not the case. I think you can be sexy either way,” she added.
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“Your definition of what it means to be a woman or how it means to dress is up to you. And nobody else can take that away from you or define it or put it in a box.”
Read the full interview in Glamour UK’s July digital issue.
