H.E.R. Discusses Her Journey To Winning An Apple Music Award for Songwriter of the Year

Award-winning singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist H.E.R. joins Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 to discuss winning an Apple Music Award for Songwriter of the Year. She tells Apple Music about the role of the songwriter, why the craft will live forever, the importance of representation, and shares that she’d love to collaborate with Dave Grohl or Questlove in the future.

Video highlight and key quotes below — feel free to use and credit Apple Music. The Apple Music Awards honor achievements in music across five distinct categories. For more information on this year’s winners, click HERE.

H.E.R. Tells Apple Music About The Importance of Representation…

You know, at the end of the day, it’s a platform for me to show my face and, and show people, I’m a young Black artist, a woman who is on the stage representing other young Black women. So we we fail to remember who’s watching and the fact that representation is important and they need to see us. They need to see us, they need to feel us, they need to hear us. So if I have the opportunity to do that, I’m gonna take it. No matter what. You know, I’m at the Super Bowl and, you know, most of America, you know, Super Bowl fans, you know it’s that world and you have a incredible subversive opportunity here. I’m a young Black woman, playing the the guitar that I created, that I, own and my signature, exactly, and, I was up there just representing all the young girls who probably think it’s impossible and it’s not, because I’m there. So I, I think people need to remember that and, like I said, it’s all about intention.

H.E.R. Tells Apple Music About Connecting With Her Fans Through Her Music…

It’s insane to me, just to think about, you know, the fact that a lot of songs that were super personal to me, that I felt were so specific, like, people all ages, come from all different places, you know, all different backgrounds can relate to the music. You know, and they’re like, saying like, oh, this is exactly what I’m going through at this time and I’m like, wow, really? You know, and just seeing that, experiencing that in the past four or five years, since my first project dropped, it’s like, it’s insane.

H.E.R. Tells Apple Music Why Songwriting Will Live Forever…

I think that’s an ongoing process. Like, I still am like, writing songs and discovering new things about the process and about like, how I process things and how I feel things. So it’s always like, questions and it’s, it’s constantly looking for answers and constantly trying to, trying to work out what it is that’s like inside me. But you, you can never fully work that out, right? Which is why songwriting will always, you know, live forever

H.E.R. Tells Apple Music About The Role of the Songwriter…

You know, um, sometimes we can’t put words to how we feel, it’s very difficult to articulate, you know, or come up with metaphors and analogies for, for what it is that we feel… the best words to, to describe, you know, the life that we live, the, the things that we feel, the things that we see, is really a songwriter’s purpose, I think, you know…that’s the simple way to put it, but I also think it’s just, it’s a way to tell stories and, and kind of leave a mark, you know, and thinking back to certain songs that were telling you exactly what was going on during the time, like, if you never watched a documentary or read a book about it, you heard a song about it and you know, this is exactly what happened, cause Marvin Gaye said so. Or because, you know, Nina Simone said so. So like, thinking about that, that kind of role in history that songwriters play and storytellers play, it’s just another way of storytelling.

H.E.R. Tells Apple Music About Maturing As a Songwriter…

I’m much more, I don’t know, stern, and I’m much more, grounded in, in, in the way that I see the world. Right? Because at 20, you know, you’re like, looking at yourself and you’re like, oh, who am I in all of this? And you’re just trying to figure out who you are. And then, you know, me now coming into who I am, looking around at the world around me, like, ah, okay. This, this is who I am, within this, this is now my purpose, you know, okay, this is where my songwriting can take me and this is what I feel, so, that, I think that’s why you’re starting to see it more, ’cause now, I’m, I’m, I’m a lot more aware, I’m a lot more, and I always have been, but just in a different way. In a much more mature way.

H.E.R. Tells Apple Music About Being At The Beginning Of Her Journey…

It feels like just the beginning, you know, and that’s the crazy part, is I have so many things to unleash and like you said, so much has happened in such a short amount of time… I don’t know what else there is for me, like, I, I know that there’s so much more, you know, and I have yet to, to feel it and see it and I, and I’m just like on the brink of it, you know, and I think that’s the beautiful thing about this journey is, I’m here to stay.

H.E.R. Tells Apple Music What’s Next and Says She’s Love To Work With Dave Grohl and Questlove…

There’s so much I want to do. I’m going on tour with Coldplay and  I know that experience is gonna open up so many different, different worlds for me. I was talking to Dave Grohl last night and he is incredible and a big fan of mine, I would love to work with him on, on an album or something, as well as, Questlove who has made and been part ofsome of my favorite projects ever. So there, there’s just so many really dope musicians that I’m a huge fan of, that I wanna work with and, and create and see what happens. But, um, I know the possibilities are limitless, so, we’ll see.