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" Seventeen: Congratulations on your new album, Next To Me. Is there a song you think people will relate to the most? Emeli Sand\u00E9: There&amp;#039;s a song called &amp;quot;Hope&amp;quot; which I recorded with Alicia Keys. I hope it inspires girls to make changes in the world around them. 17: Has Alicia Keys been one of your mentors? ES: Yeah, definitely! I met Alicia at the Hall of London at the beginning of last year. Since then, we&amp;#039;ve had a few writing sessions together in New York. We&amp;#039;ve had an incredible time and I&amp;#039;ve learned so much from working with her. 17: Who are some of the other people you have worked with? ES: I&amp;#039;ve written for Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle. I went on a tour with Coldplay at the end of last year, which was incredible because I&amp;#039;m a big fan of the band and think Chris Martin is just fantastic. It&amp;#039;s been amazing having support from people who have inspired me for such a long time. 17: When did you start playing piano? ES: I started when I was about 10. I played the clarinet first, but then I asked my parents if I could play an instrument where I could sing at the same time. I started playing classical piano, and then jazz. I just loved it. The piano is my favorite instrument. 17: You have a very interesting cultural background. Your dad is from Zambia in South Africa, your mom is British, and you grew up in Scotland. Has that influenced your music? ES: Absolutely. It really made me realize that you should never put barriers on people based on where they&amp;#039;re from or on the color of their skin. I grew up with a very international mindset. 17: What type of music did your parents play when you were growing up? ES: My dad is the one who introduced me to the best singers, like Mariah Carey and Anita Baker. He introduced me to Nina Sonoma when I was nine or 10. She just blew my mind. I thought she was incredible and she was the first person who made me want to be an artist and want to play an instrument. 17: I heard a rumor that you actually studied medicine in college. Is that true? ES: Yes, it is true! I studied medicine for four and a half years and then spent a year specializing in neuroscience. My dad is a big advocate of education and told me that he would support me getting involved with music, but I had to have a plan B. I also always loved school and thought that if I didn&amp;#039;t become a singer, being a doctor felt like a pretty good job. But, then, a song I wrote went to the top 10 in the UK, so I came to a big crossroads in my life and had to choose one. 17: How did you decide to give music your all? ES: I got to a point where I was trying to balance both things at the same time and I really missed being creative. I was giving 50 percent to medicine and 50 percent to music and I wasn&amp;#039;t being the best I could be in either of them. 17: Do you have a favorite song on the album? ES: It changes week to week, but at the moment I really like &amp;quot;Climb&amp;quot; because it reminds me of my whole journey and how if you really want something, you have to put yourself out there. 17: How would you like people to listen to your music? ES: I&amp;#039;d listen to it at night when there are no distractions. That way, you can just sit down and take it all in. Emeli Sand\u00E9&amp;#039;s album Next To Me is available on iTunes now. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/a17492/emeli-sande-exclusive-interview/>