Aloe Blacc never had to ''bend to the will'' of the music industry when he became a singer.

The 38-year-old musician - who embarked on a solo career in 2003 - has admitted when he emerged on the scene, aged 31, he didn't have to change himself or his music to suit the music business because he already had ''perspective''.

Speaking to thedrum.com about his career, the 'The Man' hitmaker said: ''I'm just glad I was in my 30s - I was 31 - when I had my first hit, so I didn't have to bend to the will of the industry. I was a man with a perspective already.''

And the star has admitted prior to releasing his recent track 'Candyman' last year he had been listening to songs from the Rat Pack for ''a year''.

He said: ''I was really interested in re-envisioning 'Candyman'. In 2001/2002, I spent a year listening to a lot of the Rat Pack and studying crooners like Mel Tormé and Wayne Newton. I fell in love with the stuff Sammy Davis Jr had done.''

And the vocalist believes fellow artists should use their voice to shed light on certain scenarios.

He explained: ''Think about how you can use your music for light. Michael Jackson was really good at this. I haven't heard of any other song about racial tolerance that has gone to number one on the pop charts like 'Black or White' did.''