In the latest episode of What’s Good with Stretch & Bobbito, the one-and-only Stevie Wonder discusses his love for Motown, campaigning for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, thoughts on Barack Obama, and missing Prince. The once child prodigy, now living legend is the recipient of 25 Grammy Awards, an inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and has sold over 100 million records worldwide. Despite losing his sight shortly after birth, Wonder has remained one of the top artists in soul, pop, R&B, and funk, delivering timeless songs like “Superstition,” “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours,” “You are the Sunshine of My Life,” and so many more. His 56-year career is packed with generations of stories, perspectives, and understandings, so any sliver of insight into Stevie Wonder’s mindset is inspiring.
On making music with Motown Records, he says “The difference between then and now: Back then, I had this tape bag I carried around for years, of melodies and ideas and all that kind of stuff. I had in that bag the idea for “My Cherie Amour,” the idea for “Hey Love.” I had a chance to put the music to work with Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy. It was the melodies and music idea that I would give them. It was a great marriage, one that really made it possible for me to continue to be in Motown, because I think by the age of 14 and a half, they had this meeting at Motown saying, “You know what? His voice is changing, things are different, we don’t know what to do with this kid. We think we’re gonna have to let him go.” … Sylvia Moy said, “You know what, I think I’m going to commit to working with him, Hank, if you’re with it. He’s got some melodies and some things we wanna kinda like, mess with and see what we get.” And so they did and we started doing stuff together.”
On love and spirituality, he says “I think that my thing is basically, God — when I think about it, I say, “God, how can I make you even more happy?” Because, you know, obviously I’m appreciative of the fans and success and all that. But to please God is my greatest joy. And for those who might be Muslim, to please the God that you serve, Allah, or whatever your religion is. Like I said before, it’s not about the religion, it’s about the relationship.
And so my thing right now is I’m thinking: How can we deal with this situation where people are prostituting the most high with their negativity, with their evil? That hurts my heart so deeply. And that’s everywhere. And so, to me, the one thing you’ve heard through and through every religion is: Hey, just love. Just love. That’s the most important thing: Just love. That’s what’s gonna see us through. So when I hear these little children singing my songs or singing songs, hearing those voices and I think of those little kids in Manchester, just going to see a concert and then someone uses that as a source of their anger — it’s unacceptable. I don’t care who you are or where you’re from, it doesn’t matter. And for me, not seeing anybody, it means that I’m looking at their souls.”
Listen to the full episode of What’s Good with Stretch & Bobbito below:
[photo by Dave Vann]