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Jon Batiste opens up about his award wins: ‘Overnight a lot of stuff changed’

‘Overnight a lot of stuff changed, but also a lot of stuff was in the making for years,’ musician says

Peony Hirwani
Wednesday 23 August 2023 06:05 BST
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Jon Batiste poses in the press room at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on 3 April 2022 in Las Vegas
Jon Batiste poses in the press room at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on 3 April 2022 in Las Vegas (AP)

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Jon Batiste has opened up about his award wins.

Last year, the 36-year-old musician won an Academy Award, British Academy Film Award and Golden Globe Award for his original score of the Disney-Pixar film Soul.

A few months later, he also won five Grammys from 14 nominations, including Album of the Year for “We Are”.

In a new interview with The Guardian, Batiste spoke about all his past accolades as well his latest music album.

“Overnight a lot of stuff changed, but also a lot of stuff was in the making for years,” Batiste said of his Grammy wins.

The “Hello, Billy Bob” singer highlighted that the end result is not as important as the process.

“I absolutely live by that,” he said. “I find that if you focus on the end result versus the process, it changes your state. Your state ultimately is the thing that’s most important, more than a melody.”

Batiste also revealed that “mindfulness is such a big part of what I do”.

(Getty Images)

“Particularly with art, it’s about the person transmuting their experiences. You can’t make it if you don’t live it. You can’t be the thing you’re aspiring to in your art, if you’re not that as a person,” he said.

The “Worship” singer released his latest album World Music Radio on 18 August.

During the interview, Batiste said his album is a “culmination of a lot of things artistically, philosophically, and in my life”.

Speaking of the album’s intense creative process, Batiste said: “It was about getting these ideas out of my unconscious mind, and we had engineers, musicians and producers rolling through 24/7 whenever I wanted to record or jam.”

Batiste’s album consists of a starry list of featured artists such as Lana Del Rey, Lil Wayne, JID and Kenny G among others.

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“I never really adhered to genre, so I wanted to just name and define not only the music, but the philosophy behind it,” the artist said.

World Music Radio consists of 21 tracks and is available to stream on all music services.

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