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

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

The 'I Need a Dollar' hitmaker 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.

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