NEWS: Aloe Blacc Lets His Emotions Lead His Songwriting

Aloe Blacc knows he's got a good song when he's either crying or laughing while composing it.

The 'I Need a Dollar' hit maker judges everything he produces by the emotions it stirs in him, and when he feels an extreme of one he knows he's onto a winner. He told Time Out New York magazine:

"There are some songs that were hard to write because I was crying when I was writing them. And that's when I know it's a dope song! Or there are songs that make me burst out with laughter as I'm writing them. Or I feel like I'm a genius. Of course, it's up to everybody else to have their own opinion, but at least when I'm writing it I feel like it's a hit".

The singer and pianist - who until 2003 had a normal job as an analyst at professional services company Ernst and Young - also feels since he's become a musician full time, he's not felt like he's really working at all.

He said: "Ultimately what I want to accomplish every time I sit down to write a song, is that feeling of bliss. Otherwise it becomes work. I don`t want to work another day in my life".

"So far I haven't had to; I'm just playing. Really, as adults, what playground do we have other than music? We have film and TV, but I think music is the last real thing that we have as adults where we get to be childlike".

Aloe's album Good Things is out now.