Growing up in Brooklyn, Adrian Daniel was surrounded by hip-hop music. However, with musical introductions from his mother and godfather, he opened his eyes to the world of soul and R&B. And all those influences fueled his debut release, Disillusions -- a 15-track work of sonic art that will make you doubt he’s still an up-and-coming artist. Myspace sat down with the singer at Gorilla Coffee in his hometown. Only days after Prince’s untimely death, we chatted about his fond memories with the late legend’s music, his musical beginnings, and of course, Disillusions.

How did you feel when you found out about Prince’s death?

I didn’t believe it. I mean I saw all the tweets, but I wouldn’t believe it until I see something confirmed. But then when I saw it confirmed, I immediately called my mother because I knew she was going to break down. She’s a huge Prince fan. But she called me before I could call her. It was a pretty devastating day. It felt like you lost someone in your family.

How do you feel Prince influence your sound?

He taught me not to care about [what others think] and make the music you want to make. The reason I sing in falsetto is because of him. Him and Michael, I used to sing their songs back in the day. I thought he was the man, you know? And my mother played him all the time in the house when I was younger. She was a super fan and all Princed out. Michael and Prince were what I grew up on; so their music was everything to me.

What are your go-to Prince or Michael Jackson songs?

“Dirty Diana” and “Another Part of Me” by Michael. And for Prince, they would have to be “The Beautiful Ones,” “When You Were Mine” and “Adorn.” Then of course, “Purple Rain” and all those hits. But those [three] were the first ones I listened to.

What was your first introduction to music?

I remember seeing a James Brown clip. I think I was four, and I saw James Brown dancing [reenacts dance] and started doing that. Then my godfather was a great jazz musician and played the xylophone. He was famous for that. So when I would go to his house, he would teach me and my brother how to play. So that was my first steps into the music.

Tell us about the making of Disillusions.

I started the album two years ago and had all the songs pretty much written. One or two of the songs were probably written last year, but they were all written. I knew the story I wanted to tell and get it to the level of what I wanted it to be. I wanted it to tell the right story. I didn’t get the [album] title until last summer. Someone said something to me and that word was in it. and it all made sense. After looking up what the word meant, it spoke to me. This is the story of the album -- things are perceived to be good but aren’t necessarily good for you. That’s the story I wanted to tell. Then I saw the movie Frank, and that movie just reaffirmed what I wanted to say. So then I knew it was fate, and the music had to go in that direction. I just had this idea and followed it through I guess.

Any memorable moments in the recording studio while working on the album?

There’s this song called “Stone Cold Case,” and we ended up with 20 mixes of that [song]. I think the trouble with that song was finding what we were comfortable with as far as how it would sound to people. We’ve had songs done for a while, but we wanted to figure out the different mixes and how it felt and sounded in different areas. That’s pretty much it, but there were nothing that was hard when it came to recording. It was a lot of fun actually.

How do you feel like growing up in Brooklyn influenced you and your music?

Brooklyn is a melting pot of culture. There are so many people and things here; so that directly influenced my music. There are so many types of feelings and genres. Brooklyn literally breaks you down and then brings up back up. I grew up in the hood. So for me, you had to be confident in yourself to not get beat up or robbed. So all of that taught me to believe in myself to be who you are and stand by who you are, and it reflects in my music.

I love Brooklyn. It’s such a big hip-hop center, but that’s what makes it harder. Everything here is hip-hop, rap; so for me, I want to be the person that brings back that male singer. We haven’t had a male singer since Maxwell, and I want to be that next one. I met him before so I definitely am looking to take up where he left off for the new generation though he’s still rocking. But I’m definitely trying to pick up where Maxwell left off and bring this kind of music to the new generation -- for Brooklyn.

R&B has gone through a lot of changes over the years. So where do you think you fit into this world with your music?

I don’t know. A lot of times, I don’t I ever approach a song like I want to make this type of song. I just go with what happens to it. There’s a song on the album called “Pride.” It was originally a folk song that I played on my guitar. Then it turned into a funk record. And I didn’t know how I got to this point, but I just want to make an impact on people. I want to have those moments when I’m older where people go, “This song did this for me.” That’s what I want to do. I want to make a statement.