Gregory Porter thinks he's the "ultimate underdog story"

Gregory shared: "I knew I could sing in my twenties, I just didn’t know?what?to sing.

"Now, I know what to sing, I know who I am as a man, and I know what I want to say. With those years of not having success, the struggling and the failing, it made me who I am today. I am the ultimate underdog story."

Gregory's family actually moved to a predominantly white neighbourhood in California when he was a child.

And the singer can still vividly remember the prejudice they suffered during his younger years.

He told The Independent: "I know the sting of racism; I know how it feels.

"I know the sickness of somebody who would urinate in a beer bottle and throw it through my window. I still remember the smell, even though it happened when I was nine or 10 years old. I was fascinated by the work people would put into that – I mean, it takes?a lot?of work to wake up at three in the morning to do something?that?mean. It takes?work."

Despite this, Gregory is determined to fight back against bigotry through the positivity of his music.

He explained: "This is?my?way. This is not the only way.

"Protests, music, expressions of art and writing: there’s a pushback that can happen in the face of this renewed vitality of these old uglies, this new wave of racism ... there’s a way to push back and it’s got to be multi-faceted in our art, our music and our conversation.

"It can’t be just me yelling at you, you yelling at me."