Quotes from Fantastic Negrito

When I was a youngster, I wrote all this music - it just came out of me - and I think record executives were like, 'Oh, wow, he's a genius, let's give him a million dollars!' But the minute I started producing the records, they'd be like, 'Oh, my God, you're terrible! You're all over the place! We can't market this!'

I had this dream that you get this record deal, and you're a star, and everybody loves you - but I was a youngster, and it didn't work out that way.

Your dream can die. You will probably give up. But from there, you can start everything over.

I wanted to do life, do something interesting. I ran out of things I wanted to say in my music, so I just put it down, sold all my gear, and put on some overalls and reconnected with the soil.

I fear for the lives of my daughters. I am uncertain about what kind of future they will face.

I knew I was an exhibitionist. I came from a huge family. I found an emotional connection being on stage.

I take the purest and hardest forms of music... and come in completely fresh from a production standpoint. It's like hip-hop production, because there's a lot of taking the best parts and a lot of the repetitiveness.

We gotta bring new ideas to the table and empower each other.

So-called leaders aren't doing anything, so it's become the job of artists like me. We have to get on the front lines and fight for the people who have love and tolerance in their hearts and want to live in a unified world.

When I was born, my mother said all the nurses wanted to come see the colored baby.

Growing up in the neighborhoods I did in Oakland, you don't know the Beatles, but I started learning their songs.

I don't mind being the voice of the New Oakland to maintain the integrity and edge of it. Old Oakland and New Oakland is one and the same. It's connected. I aspire to be the bridge between both.

There came a point where I did give up on music, but I'm the kind of person that when I face obstacles, I become more determined. It's just something weird within me.

I hope I contribute something useful to the human family. That's my intention. And I hope that it's useful to people.

We should not fear what is new, but we should not throw out that which is in the past but is still valuable.

The streets spoke to me in a way that religion didn't.

I'm in a collective with the same guys I met on the streets at 12. The greatest investments I ever made were those friendships.

My dad was a strict Muslim. He had a lot of rules.

Everybody agreed I had all this talent, but I didn't know what to make of it.

I really loved the hardcore alternative vibe Prince had on 'Dirty Mind.'

I can't just sit back and write about the club when our democracy is under attack. I have to be a more positive force.

I think I was made for live music. It's just great.