1
00:00:00,417 --> 00:00:01,377
- Well, what I do wanna know,

2
00:00:01,418 --> 00:00:02,878
is I wanna know about baby Moses.

3
00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:05,010
What were you like as a kid?

4
00:00:05,047 --> 00:00:07,587
- Well, they found me
in the reeds,

5
00:00:07,633 --> 00:00:11,223
in the river.
[laughs]

6
00:00:11,261 --> 00:00:14,221
[lively instrumental music]

7
00:00:14,264 --> 00:00:20,484
♪ ♪

8
00:00:20,521 --> 00:00:23,151
- Here we are, all by ourselves.

9
00:00:23,190 --> 00:00:24,900
Awaiting our next guest,

10
00:00:24,942 --> 00:00:27,782
the beautiful songbird
Mr. Moses Sumney.

11
00:00:27,819 --> 00:00:29,949
♪ ♪

12
00:00:29,988 --> 00:00:31,738
We're so excited.

13
00:00:31,782 --> 00:00:34,372
We can't hide it.

14
00:00:34,409 --> 00:00:37,699
Come on, come on! Let's go!

15
00:00:37,746 --> 00:00:38,826
[gong resounds]

16
00:00:38,872 --> 00:00:40,252
[drum sticks clacking]

17
00:00:40,290 --> 00:00:47,300
♪ ♪

18
00:00:49,174 --> 00:00:50,554
Ah!

19
00:00:50,592 --> 00:00:53,352
- [laughs]

20
00:00:53,387 --> 00:00:55,177
- [laughing]

21
00:00:55,222 --> 00:00:56,972
- What is this, "The Ellen Show"?

22
00:00:57,015 --> 00:01:00,845
[laughter]

23
00:01:00,894 --> 00:01:02,024
Nice.

24
00:01:02,062 --> 00:01:09,072
♪ ♪

25
00:01:09,111 --> 00:01:11,531
- Welcome to "Centerpiece."
- This is gorgeous.

26
00:01:11,572 --> 00:01:12,532
- I heard you like scary movies,

27
00:01:12,573 --> 00:01:14,743
so I thought I'd start
by scaring you.

28
00:01:14,783 --> 00:01:17,743
- I'm truly terrified, so thank you.
- [laughing]

29
00:01:17,786 --> 00:01:21,916
And now, let's take a journey
to the center.

30
00:01:21,957 --> 00:01:23,747
[laughing]

31
00:01:23,792 --> 00:01:25,382
When did you start singing?

32
00:01:25,419 --> 00:01:26,919
- It's like different levels.

33
00:01:26,962 --> 00:01:29,012
Like, I started thinking of singing

34
00:01:29,047 --> 00:01:30,507
when I was seven years old.

35
00:01:30,549 --> 00:01:34,719
I started practicing singing consistently
when I was 12 or 13.

36
00:01:34,761 --> 00:01:37,641
But I never sang publicly.

37
00:01:37,681 --> 00:01:39,351
I never sang in church.
- What?

38
00:01:39,391 --> 00:01:40,811
- I never performed.

39
00:01:40,851 --> 00:01:42,141
Yeah, I was very shy.

40
00:01:42,186 --> 00:01:44,806
- Seriously?
- Yeah. [laughs]

41
00:01:44,855 --> 00:01:47,145
- Your voice is stunningly beautiful.

42
00:01:47,191 --> 00:01:48,231
- Thank you.

43
00:01:48,275 --> 00:01:50,065
- I've heard through the grapevine

44
00:01:50,110 --> 00:01:51,700
that, like, your dad is a pastor.

45
00:01:51,737 --> 00:01:55,317
- Yes.
- My dad is--was a pastor.

46
00:01:55,365 --> 00:01:56,405
- Oh, cool.

47
00:01:56,450 --> 00:01:58,870
- And just being raised in the church,

48
00:01:58,911 --> 00:02:01,461
like, that was my sense
of blackness.

49
00:02:01,496 --> 00:02:03,616
Do you see how that's informed

50
00:02:03,665 --> 00:02:05,705
your practice as an artist?

51
00:02:05,751 --> 00:02:09,001
- I definitely approach music

52
00:02:09,046 --> 00:02:11,216
with a sense of sacredness.

53
00:02:11,256 --> 00:02:16,296
A nice art with a kind of
sacred respect.

54
00:02:16,345 --> 00:02:18,805
- So talk to me
about the idea of gray.

55
00:02:18,847 --> 00:02:23,227
- Identity for me is not
this nor that,

56
00:02:23,268 --> 00:02:25,478
and therefore gray
is somewhere in the middle.

57
00:02:25,521 --> 00:02:29,441
You know,
I'm not African and American.

58
00:02:29,483 --> 00:02:34,113
In a lot of ways
I feel like I'm this third thing,

59
00:02:34,154 --> 00:02:37,784
this third nebulous identity.

60
00:02:37,824 --> 00:02:39,284
- Wow.

61
00:02:39,326 --> 00:02:41,196
[light chiming]

62
00:02:41,245 --> 00:02:43,865
And now, let's go deep.

63
00:02:43,914 --> 00:02:45,584
♪ ♪

64
00:02:45,624 --> 00:02:47,294
[light chime]

65
00:02:47,334 --> 00:02:48,964
The question is, are you ready?

66
00:02:49,002 --> 00:02:51,762
- The answer is no. [laughs]

67
00:02:51,797 --> 00:02:54,217
- Carmen Sandiego,

68
00:02:54,258 --> 00:02:56,388
or Where's Waldo?

69
00:02:56,426 --> 00:02:59,676
- Yo, Carmen Sandiego,
that fit used to be so fire.

70
00:02:59,721 --> 00:03:02,271
♪ ♪

71
00:03:02,307 --> 00:03:05,597
- Sportin' Wave or Murray's?

72
00:03:05,644 --> 00:03:10,324
- [laughing]

73
00:03:10,357 --> 00:03:11,397
Murray's.

74
00:03:11,441 --> 00:03:13,071
♪ ♪

75
00:03:13,110 --> 00:03:17,660
- White pussy...willow

76
00:03:17,698 --> 00:03:20,328
or black pussy willow?

77
00:03:20,367 --> 00:03:21,617
- Mom, is this okay?
[laughs]

78
00:03:21,660 --> 00:03:22,620
♪ ♪

79
00:03:22,661 --> 00:03:24,451
- These are real things.

80
00:03:24,496 --> 00:03:26,156
- Um, black pussy willow.

81
00:03:26,206 --> 00:03:27,206
♪ ♪

82
00:03:27,249 --> 00:03:29,499
- Here's the most important question
of all of this.

83
00:03:29,543 --> 00:03:33,213
You make these beautiful
a capella improvisations

84
00:03:33,255 --> 00:03:35,715
and they're just stunning.

85
00:03:35,757 --> 00:03:38,757
[scatting]
- [chuckles]

86
00:03:38,802 --> 00:03:43,472
- Can you do a vocal interpretation

87
00:03:43,515 --> 00:03:46,385
of my essence?

88
00:03:46,435 --> 00:03:50,105
- [high-pitched screech]

89
00:03:50,147 --> 00:03:52,937
- [laughing]

90
00:03:52,983 --> 00:03:58,413
- ♪ Ooh ♪

91
00:03:58,447 --> 00:04:01,907
♪ Oh-ooh ♪

92
00:04:01,950 --> 00:04:04,870
♪ Ooh ♪

93
00:04:04,912 --> 00:04:09,002
♪ Ooh-ah ♪

94
00:04:09,041 --> 00:04:12,711
♪ Ooh ♪

95
00:04:12,753 --> 00:04:14,633
- Well, damn!

96
00:04:14,671 --> 00:04:16,381
[light chiming]

97
00:04:16,423 --> 00:04:19,643
MAURICE:
Girl, it's time to process.

98
00:04:19,676 --> 00:04:25,176
Moses talks about occupying a space
that defies definition,

99
00:04:25,224 --> 00:04:28,024
somewhere in that beautiful
shade of gray.

100
00:04:28,060 --> 00:04:30,480
When I listen to his music,

101
00:04:30,521 --> 00:04:33,361
I am truly and honestly
transformed.

102
00:04:33,398 --> 00:04:36,648
The way the sounds wash over
my body and my soul,

103
00:04:36,693 --> 00:04:38,903
I actually see a place,

104
00:04:38,946 --> 00:04:41,156
a world outside of this one

105
00:04:41,198 --> 00:04:43,988
that I am gonna create through flowers

106
00:04:44,034 --> 00:04:46,044
where he now can be seen.

107
00:04:46,078 --> 00:04:49,458
So you can't tell me
this ain't gonna be bomb.

108
00:04:51,542 --> 00:04:54,842
[drumroll]

109
00:04:54,878 --> 00:04:58,128
This was such a labor of love.

110
00:04:58,173 --> 00:05:00,843
You shared such amazing things
with me.

111
00:05:00,884 --> 00:05:03,724
You were kind of blowing my mind
in all these different ways.

112
00:05:03,762 --> 00:05:07,102
So hopefully,
I'll have a similar effect on you.

113
00:05:07,140 --> 00:05:08,680
Cue the curtain!

114
00:05:08,725 --> 00:05:11,225
MOSES: Wow.

115
00:05:11,270 --> 00:05:12,770
[laughs]

116
00:05:12,813 --> 00:05:14,613
This is so beautiful.

117
00:05:14,648 --> 00:05:17,898
MAURICE: I just appreciate how you speak
about liminal space,

118
00:05:17,943 --> 00:05:19,783
how you speak about
the in-between

119
00:05:19,820 --> 00:05:21,860
like nothing is black or white.

120
00:05:21,905 --> 00:05:23,315
It stays in a gray zone.

121
00:05:23,365 --> 00:05:27,235
So we really tried to work
in a color scale.

122
00:05:27,286 --> 00:05:30,496
- Oh, wow, this is so beautiful.
It's like a home.

123
00:05:30,539 --> 00:05:31,499
MAURICE: Yeah.

124
00:05:31,540 --> 00:05:33,670
MOSES: It's like an igloo of beauty.

125
00:05:33,709 --> 00:05:36,669
- Your music speaks volumes
to me specifically.

126
00:05:36,712 --> 00:05:38,552
And I imagine
I'm not the only person.

127
00:05:38,589 --> 00:05:39,879
MOSES: I'm honored that

128
00:05:39,923 --> 00:05:42,843
the work could resonate
in any kind of way.

129
00:05:42,885 --> 00:05:45,295
- I think it's time
for some music, though.

130
00:05:45,345 --> 00:05:47,305
- [laughs]
- Will you grace us?

131
00:05:47,347 --> 00:05:48,307
- I'll try.

132
00:05:48,348 --> 00:05:51,138
I'll try to rise to the beauty
of this space.

133
00:05:51,185 --> 00:05:52,635
MAURICE: Oh, please.

134
00:05:52,686 --> 00:05:54,646
Ladies, gentlemen,

135
00:05:54,688 --> 00:05:58,398
and those who don't conform,
Moses Sumney.

136
00:05:58,442 --> 00:06:02,452
[playing "Polly"]

137
00:06:02,487 --> 00:06:05,947
- ♪ Are you dancing with me? ♪

138
00:06:05,991 --> 00:06:08,331
♪ ♪

139
00:06:08,368 --> 00:06:12,158
♪ Or just merely dancing? ♪

140
00:06:12,206 --> 00:06:14,326
♪ ♪

141
00:06:14,374 --> 00:06:18,254
♪ Polly, Polly, Polly ♪

142
00:06:18,295 --> 00:06:19,705
♪ ♪

143
00:06:19,755 --> 00:06:23,375
[vocalizing]

144
00:06:23,425 --> 00:06:26,135
♪ ♪

145
00:06:26,178 --> 00:06:32,058
♪ One, two, three, four, five, six ♪

146
00:06:32,100 --> 00:06:37,980
♪ Am I just your Friday dick? ♪

147
00:06:38,023 --> 00:06:45,033
♪ Cornucopia of just-in-cases ♪

148
00:06:45,072 --> 00:06:51,542
♪ You'll never have to chase this ♪

149
00:06:51,578 --> 00:06:57,998
♪ Whoa, Polly, oh, Polly ♪

150
00:06:58,043 --> 00:07:03,843
♪ Obviously don't think much of me ♪

151
00:07:03,882 --> 00:07:08,852
♪ Polly, yeah, oh, Polly ♪

152
00:07:08,887 --> 00:07:12,637
♪ Polly, yeah, Polly, yeah ♪

153
00:07:12,683 --> 00:07:14,603
♪ Polly, yeah ♪

154
00:07:14,643 --> 00:07:18,653
♪ Polly, yeah, Polly, yeah ♪

155
00:07:18,689 --> 00:07:24,779
♪ Polly, ooh ♪