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In August, HelloBeautiful and Toyota presented Front Row featuring Jidenna. The “Classic Man” emcee performed at a pop-up concert at Terminal West in Atlanta.

While at the plush venue, which features high-end lighting and sound, as well as an outdoor roof deck overlooking the historic train tracks of West End, Atlanta, HelloBeautiful sat down with the 31-year-old for an interview.

Draped in a color-block shirt and khaki pants, Jidenna discussed a number of things, such as his musical influences, his peer group, his goals, and the difference between a good artist and a great artist.

“Picasso said that good artists copy and great artists steal,” Jidenna noted. “Now to steal is different than copying because when you copy, you’re merely imitating. But when you steal it, you take it and make it your own — this is mine, now we’re going to keep it at my place. So for me, it’s like an absorption process. I mean, when I look at anything, I don’t think I’m the first to do most things. I think we recycle as a people. I’d be hard-pressed to find somebody who invented something that didn’t already exist in some form before you.”

As for Jidenna’s musical influences, the Nigerian-American musician said, “I look at Lauryn Hill, Nelly, I look at Travi$ Scott, I look at Young Thug, Drake. There’s a lot of people using melody and rhythm in a way that is interesting.”

At the event, which was filled wall-to-wall with fans, Jidenna performed his new hit song, “Little Bit More.” The pop-up concert also featured a first for both HelloBeautiful and Toyota, as they entered into the realm of a virtual reality video experience.

Front Row With Jidenna: ‘Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal’  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com