Why do you think that? Because so
many people would have had a much more
informed opinion about humanity. If you
are what you do, and not what you say
you are, then the definition of what
“American” would mean would be very
different. Right now, gun regulation is not
something that we’re very serious about,
so we allow people to go and shoot up our
schools. That’s American. If you look
at what’s going on at our border right
now—the handling of people who are
seeking asylum in the country—that’s
American. If you look at what happened
with slavery: That’s American. You know,
African Americans—what a beautiful,
forgiving culture we are. And we are
still gunned down. That is American.
But we turn a blind eye to these things
as Americans.
Who were your male role models,
growing up? When you’re young, and
you’re a ’70s baby, who you looked up to
was people on TV. But now my values are
more centered. I look up to my dad a lot.
I looked up to my uncle on my mom’s
side. I looked up to my uncle on my
dad’s side, who is now a bishop. He was
a classical pianist, a child prodigy. Still
plays amazingly, and he has a show on
Netflix now—he put together this amazing
gospel choir.
How would you describe the masculinity
that your dad and your uncles were
modeling for you? The man in the
family—what did that mean to you?
Well, my dad was a Southern black man in
Virginia. It was the ’70s and ’80s, so for him
it was, like, the Cadillac. Getting dressed
was a big deal. And in those times, when a
black man was looking rather dapper, they
would say things like, “Man, are you GQ
today?” So to be on the cover of GQ... Crazy.
But I looked up to how they dressed and
how they acted.
Which was? How do you put that into words?
I don’t know. It was just super soulful. And
very proud to be black. And having their own
world—it was their own world. And the music
would vibrate that ethnicity. That celebration
of black DNA. The music made you feel
something. The music would make you want
to put clothes on and go out and dance.
That’s what I grew up around. And the church,
same thing.
What church did your family go to?
Well, we went to two churches. My mom’s
family went to Mount Olive Baptist
Church, and my dad’s family went to New
Jerusalem Church of God in Christ. That’s
a Pentecostal church, and in that church is
where you would see the spirit wash across
the audience the same way that you see
the wind blow the leaves of those bushes,
where you see the pattern.
Let’s talk about the gown you’re wearing
on the cover of this issue. You had an
instant reaction to it. Yes.
You saw it, and you looked at me, and
you were like, “That’s look number one.”
Because I am my most comfortable self
when I’m being a character.
Do you mean your public self—as a
performer? Yes. On my professional time,
that’s what I love. When I’m by myself, I come
home, put on cutoff Dickies, sneakers, and
a tee. When I saw the look, I didn’t question
it. I still don’t know if it’s unisex or not. All I
knew was, it’s going to look amazing, and
I think that’s the new masculinity. Having
the willingness to just be. Just live and let
live. I mean, how fucking insecure must you
be, as a human being, that because you
are uncomfortable with doing something,
somebody else shouldn’t be able to do it? I
don’t accept that. That’s unacceptable to me.
It’s early still. But how are you feeling
heading into the next presidential
election? There’s how I feel, and then there’s
the reality. I feel like...it’s time for a real true
change in ourselves. And it’s less about who
is going into office. It’s more about who is
going into the voting booths. But the reality
is that people don’t know that we are in
the middle of spiritual warfare. And they’re
massively distracted.
The social media piece of this is a
double-edged sword, because
everybody can tweet how they feel.
And that allows them to express
themselves, but I worry there’s a false
sense of catharsis when you tweet
your outrage and keep it moving. It’s
human nature, man. We all say this is our
conviction, but what do we do? Like, if
we seen dogs being kept in cages under
unethical conditions, the country would
be in an uproar. But let it be some Hispanic
people and it’s whatever. People say
religion has so much power in our country.
It does? Those are Catholics being treated
like that. And by the way: What Jesus would
do that at the border? What Jesus would
support that kind of treatment of those
human beings? I wish the synonym for
American was humane. It’s not currently.
Something I’ve heard you say before
is: It’s time for women to lead. I keep
saying that! Man, what would the world
be like if women held all of the highest
positions worldwide? Women are waking
up every day, more and more, to the fact
that they have the power. Women,
millennials, and the Gen-Zers have the
power. And there are a lot of men who
recognize their privilege, and they use it for
good. We’re such a capable species. We
have the ability if we can just galvanize for
good. The only thing we got to do is balance
the scales. We have to understand power.
And who has it.
For a very long time, we’ve been made
to think and believe that the power was
with the older straight white male. But a
lot of people are up now. It’s one thing to
say you’re awake. When you’re just awake,
you’re thinking, but your mind isn’t all the
way on yet. But when you’re up, it’s a very
big difference. And that, to me, is incredibly
exciting. These millennials are up. These
Gen-Zers are up. A lot of these women are
up. A lot of these men who recognize their
privilege—they’re up. That excites me.
Pardon the cliché, but we’re talking about
your kids’ future here. And the political
climate is scary. The climate stuff is
scary. So how do you comport yourself as
a father? I don’t worry as much as I work.
I work to try and be the difference and to try
and share the difference. So fear—you will
not see that. Not with me.
Speaking of sharing the difference:
You recently dropped a unisex sneaker
collection with Adidas as well as a
campaign focusing on women activists
called “This Is Her Time.” Why this
campaign now? My thing is, Why hasn’t it
happened yet?
I THINK THE TRUEST DEFINITION
OF MASCULINITY
IS THE ESSENCE OF
YOU THAT UNDERSTANDS AND
RESPECTS THAT WHICH
ISN’T MASCULINE.
82 GQ.COM NOVEMBER 2019
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