1
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Well, what I do wanna know,

2
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is I wanna know about baby Moses.

3
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What were you like as a kid?

4
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- Well, they found me
in the reeds,

5
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in the river.

6
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Here we are, all by ourselves.

7
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Awaiting our next guest,

8
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the beautiful songbird
Mr. Moses Sumney.

9
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We're so excited.

10
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We can't hide it.

11
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Come on, come on! Let's go!

12
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Ah!

13
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What is this, "The Ellen Show"?

14
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Nice.

15
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- Welcome to "Centerpiece."
- This is gorgeous.

16
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I heard you like scary movies,

17
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so I thought I'd start
by scaring you.

18
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I'm truly terrified, so thank you.

19
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And now, let's take a journey
to the center.

20
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When did you start singing?

21
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It's like different levels.

22
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Like, I started thinking of singing

23
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when I was seven years old.

24
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I started practicing singing consistently
when I was 12 or 13.

25
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But I never sang publicly.

26
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- I never sang in church.
- What?

27
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I never performed.

28
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Yeah, I was very shy.

29
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- Seriously?
- Yeah.

30
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Your voice is stunningly beautiful.

31
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Thank you.

32
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I've heard through the grapevine

33
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that, like, your dad is a pastor.

34
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- Yes.
- My dad is--was a pastor.

35
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Oh, cool.

36
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And just being raised in the church,

37
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like, that was my sense
of blackness.

38
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Do you see how that's informed

39
00:02:03,665 --> 00:02:05,705
your practice as an artist?

40
00:02:05,751 --> 00:02:09,001
I definitely approach music

41
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with a sense of sacredness.

42
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A nice art with a kind of
sacred respect.

43
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So talk to me
about the idea of gray.

44
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Identity for me is not
this nor that,

45
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and therefore gray
is somewhere in the middle.

46
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You know,
I'm not African and American.

47
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In a lot of ways
I feel like I'm this third thing,

48
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this third nebulous identity.

49
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Wow.

50
00:02:41,245 --> 00:02:43,865
And now, let's go deep.

51
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The question is, are you ready?

52
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The answer is no.

53
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Carmen Sandiego,

54
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or Where's Waldo?

55
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Yo, Carmen Sandiego,
that fit used to be so fire.

56
00:03:02,307 --> 00:03:05,597
Sportin' Wave or Murray's?

57
00:03:10,357 --> 00:03:11,397
Murray's.

58
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White pussy...willow

59
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or black pussy willow?

60
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Mom, is this okay?

61
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These are real things.

62
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Um, black pussy willow.

63
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Here's the most important question
of all of this.

64
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You make these beautiful
a capella improvisations

65
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and they're just stunning.

66
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Can you do a vocal interpretation

67
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of my essence?

68
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Ooh.

69
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Oh-ooh.

70
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Ooh.

71
00:04:04,912 --> 00:04:09,002
Ooh-ah.

72
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Ooh.

73
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Well, damn!

74
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Girl, it's time to process.

75
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Moses talks about occupying a space
that defies definition,

76
00:04:25,224 --> 00:04:28,024
somewhere in that beautiful
shade of gray.

77
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When I listen to his music,

78
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I am truly and honestly
transformed.

79
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The way the sounds wash over
my body and my soul,

80
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I actually see a place,

81
00:04:38,946 --> 00:04:41,156
a world outside of this one

82
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that I am gonna create through flowers

83
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where he now can be seen.

84
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So you can't tell me
this ain't gonna be bomb.

85
00:04:54,878 --> 00:04:58,128
This was such a labor of love.

86
00:04:58,173 --> 00:05:00,843
You shared such amazing things
with me.

87
00:05:00,884 --> 00:05:03,724
You were kind of blowing my mind
in all these different ways.

88
00:05:03,762 --> 00:05:07,102
So hopefully,
I'll have a similar effect on you.

89
00:05:07,140 --> 00:05:08,680
Cue the curtain!

90
00:05:08,725 --> 00:05:11,225
Wow.

91
00:05:12,813 --> 00:05:14,613
This is so beautiful.

92
00:05:14,648 --> 00:05:17,898
I just appreciate how you speak
about liminal space,

93
00:05:17,943 --> 00:05:19,783
how you speak about
the in-between

94
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like nothing is black or white.

95
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It stays in a gray zone.

96
00:05:23,365 --> 00:05:27,235
So we really tried to work
in a color scale.

97
00:05:27,286 --> 00:05:30,496
Oh, wow, this is so beautiful.
It's like a home.

98
00:05:30,539 --> 00:05:31,499
Yeah.

99
00:05:31,540 --> 00:05:33,670
It's like an igloo of beauty.

100
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Your music speaks volumes
to me specifically.

101
00:05:36,712 --> 00:05:38,552
And I imagine
I'm not the only person.

102
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I'm honored that

103
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the work could resonate
in any kind of way.

104
00:05:42,885 --> 00:05:45,295
I think it's time
for some music, though.

105
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Will you grace us?

106
00:05:47,347 --> 00:05:48,307
I'll try.

107
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I'll try to rise to the beauty
of this space.

108
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Oh, please.

109
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Ladies, gentlemen,

110
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and those who don't conform,
Moses Sumney.

111
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Are you dancing with me?

112
00:06:08,368 --> 00:06:12,158
Or just merely dancing?

113
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Polly, Polly, Polly.

114
00:06:26,178 --> 00:06:32,058
One, two, three, four, five, six.

115
00:06:32,100 --> 00:06:37,980
Am I just your Friday dick?

116
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Cornucopia of just-in-cases.

117
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You'll never have to chase this.

118
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Whoa, Polly, oh, Polly.

119
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Obviously don't think much of me.

120
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Polly, yeah, oh, Polly.

121
00:07:08,887 --> 00:07:12,637
Polly, yeah, Polly, yeah.

122
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Polly, yeah.

123
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Polly, yeah, Polly, yeah.

124
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Polly, ooh.