Reply #52: actually, he was asked that very question in an NPR interview... [View All]

[carpe diem]

and he said that there tended to be a different rhythm (paraphrasing) when speaking to a predominately black audience and he often responded to that energy...


(edited to add link)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7630250

Do you try to talk in the same way to a black audience as a white audience?

I think that the themes are consistent. It think that there's a certain black idiom that it's hard not to slip into when you're talking to a black audience because of the audience response. It's the classic call and response. Anybody who's spent time in a black church knows what I mean. And so you get a little looser; it becomes a little more like jazz and a little less like a set score.