Miguel: Finding His Voice Again

Before The Moment with Nile Rodgers

Nile Rodgers sits down with R&B artist Miguel to discuss his return to music after an eight-year hiatus. The conversation delves into Miguel

Key takeaways

• Miguel's latest album, Chaos, was born out of a period of significant personal grief and life changes.
• The death of Miguel's grandmother served as a major catalyst for his hiatus and subsequent reflection.

Main topics

• Musical influences and heritage
• Navigating personal loss and grief

Notable quotes

If it's not growing, it's dead.

Conclusion

An inspiring look at how vulnerability and personal truth can drive ar

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) This is an iHeart Podcast. Speaker 1 (0:02) Guaranteed human. Ruby. A Speaker 2 (0:13) lifetime spent making music is a lifetime made up of individual moments. And no moment is more important than the one before the big change. Speaker 2 (0:25) That turning point where a hobby becomes a profession, when struggle becomes success, when pretty good becomes legendary. I'm Nile Rodgers, co-founder of the band Chic and producer of pop hits with some of the industry's top artists. I'm driving around the country in my Lincoln Navigator SUV, talking to some of the coolest, most interesting people in music to discuss their journey. Before the moment. Speaker 2 (1:04) Today I'm in Los Angeles to talk with my friend Miguel. Miguel's musings on romance and intimacy flow seamlessly through his work and a style that always keeps you guessing. And that's because Miguel has never let one genre define him. His latest release, Chaos, arrived after an eight-year hiatus. Inside every song you can hear an artist still experimenting, still pushing, still reinventing himself. It's a great privilege to sit down with an icon, Miguel. Speaker 2 (1:46) I'd like to welcome you to Before the Moment with my special guest today, Miguel. Thanks for having me now, man. Brother, I'm so happy that you're here. Stop. No, seriously, come on. Let's Speaker 1 (1:58) just Speaker 2 (1:58) stop. I'm watching your career, and it just makes me proud, man. It was, you know, your style, your powers of interpretation, and just everything is great. So now I get to learn more about how you became you. What makes Miguel Miguel? Or Miguel. That's right. Do I want you to say it with a Mexican accent Speaker 1 (2:27) or something? It's good. You're good. You grew up in New York. You know what I'm saying? Speaker 2 (2:32) I know that in your music, you really push the envelope. I really respect you. I love where you're coming from. And I just want to... see if I can get a vision of how you view yourself. Speaker 1 (2:47) Sheesh. Man, I'm a black and Mexican kid from San Pedro, and I grew up in Englewood as well. Speaker 2 (2:57) I Speaker 1 (2:58) never liked to be boxed Speaker 2 (3:00) in. Speaker 1 (3:00) And I think that's a big part of both of my parents. Both of my parents, I think, for the time, were very, they may be colored outside of the lines. I mean, even them being together at the time in L.A. was just not typical. And it may have been different in New York because I think that the relation between Latino people and black people on the East Coast just historically have just been a little more like this on the East Coast. And in L.A., it just was different. And so I think that has always been a part of my DNA. And it's made a big, it has so much to do with the way that I, you know. approach music even and like to push myself to not, I guess, just play in the same sandbox, so to speak, or abide by the expectations. I just, there's a defiant something in me that feels like what we get to do with what we're given that's greater than us is to maybe connect people to ideas that they wouldn't naturally. you know, connect to and find some universality in that. And so that's really me. I'm just kind of like defiant with love though. So let me Speaker 2 (4:25) get Speaker 1 (4:26) you to go Speaker 2 (4:26) back. Tell me Speaker 1 (4:27) about the young Miguel, like Miguelito. Yeah. Like how'd you find your voice? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was just pretty much like not stopping. My dad loved... All kinds of music, jazz, funk, a lot of punk music, a lot of classic rock now, a lot of anything that was like... danceable at the time and he's he's 64 like so his year is 64 so he's kind of gone through all of the great music Speaker 2 (5:05) and Speaker 1 (5:05) absorbed all of that and also as a Mexican you know he's Mexican he's actually full Mexican and grew up in the states I think that also had something that that pushed him to want to learn everything about what was happening around. And so he was really voracious with his, with his taste. And, um, that really is the, at the core of it, just loving all the music. My, my, my family played and, and just falling in love with the way that that made me feel one song specifically, I think let me know that I wanted to write music and write songs and what I felt it was about. And that's for all we know, Donny Hathaway, Speaker 2 (5:46) man. Speaker 1 (5:49) to feel that song and for anyone out there who hasn't heard this song please go listen to that song it's amazing it's it will bring you it'll it will it'll bring you to tears even if you've never and i can say this because i'd never experienced love i was i was a child you know but to feel love so deep and to also to feel the heartache of having to let go um to say goodbye The depth in that song, I think, really inspired me. And Miguelito, you know, being a kind of a... A rambunctious, but generally positive, Speaker 2 (6:35) little scrapper. Speaker 1 (6:37) I grew up playing pretty much all sports. As much as my dad could get me to play, I was playing sports. So competitive, you know. But all of that kind of pours into, I think, the musician that I aspire to be, that I'll always aspire to be, and that is one that can just convey emotion. Speaker 1 (7:02) An emotion that is like right under your nose, but also is so hard to express and emote it. Not just to say it, but to emote it. Miguelito was this kid, you know, loved music, kind of a more positive kid, but got into trouble, talked too much. Speaker 1 (7:26) And was, you know, competitive. Yeah. Speaker 2 (7:29) What makes you want to go to the next level? Like, you're not just comfortable staying in one spot. Speaker 1 (7:35) Well, one of my favorite things is, man, is the interview. And Lauren Hill just puts it like, if it's not growing, it's dead. And it's the truth. I know. There's nothing in life that if it's not doing some kind of growth, it's alive, it's living. And I think that's sort of the innate thing, I guess, that just my perspective is changing. I believe the... whatever gift that I've been given is meant to be honored. And so with New Perspective, I feel like I always have a fresh place to come from