Roy Woods Gushes About Fatherhood, Avoiding Trends, and Reflects on His Legacy
Following a nearly six-year hiatus, Canada-born singer and rapper and OVO Sound signee Roy Woods, returns to music with his latest full-length project, “Mixed Emotions.” Across 17 tracks, Woods collaborates with producers to delve into various themes, including heartbreak, personal insecurities, and his profound connection with Toronto.
The “Hate Me” rapper sat down with BET to discuss fatherhood and becoming a girl dad, the importance of staying true to yourself, and more.
BET: So I heard recently you became a girl dad. What’s that experience been like so far?
Roy Woods: The best! I love it, ain’t nothing like it. That's just like my little mini-me. The love that I get from my daughter is unconditionally the best. I don’t know anything that’s made me more happy in recent years than that—having my daughter.
Her smiles, her laughs, her jokes.. that’s me, you know… I love it. The love is just so much different than any other type of love that you would feel.
She's like a little tomboy. She picks up footballs. She likes cars. She’s a weird kid, but I was a weird kid, so I get it, you know; it’s beautiful.
BET: How has she impacted your life and your view on how everything works?
Roy Woods: I was already on this path of trying to better myself, but she speeded up the process. So when she came into my life, it was more like me having to remind myself I have to give her a future that I didn’t have the opportunity to have and her mom as well.
So that’s what I keep striving for every day—I mean, it’s a work in progress—but every day I keep striving to be better, and she’s improved my quality of life, the way I think, and just everything around me is just so much better. I feel like I can breathe a little more.
So making music doesn’t affect me. I can make music happily now because I’m just in a way better space.
BET: Can you speak more about the emotions and experiences that inspired the tracks on your album?
Roy Woods: A lot of pain, sadness, breakup, or fake breakups over situation-ships. Even betrayal. Confusion. So many different places where I’m tapping into [because] those were all the emotions I was feeling. So I share it on this album. I share it all, even my wild city boy side, you get that. I touch it all.
Watch the video above to learn more.
