Quotes About Influence

If I was 13 years old and Kurt Cobain tweeted me some advice or even just said hi, my whole world would be affected by that.

Me and Kurt Cobain were both listening to a bunch of Lead Belly and diggin' it. We thought, 'Let's do an EP of all Lead Belly songs.' We did a couple, and both of us were like, 'Nah, this is a bad concept.' We set it aside.

Kurt Vonnegut and I - it's not an exaggeration to say we were best friends. And I grew up just idolizing him.

Bob was very influenced by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. That huge type of creativity which takes nothing and makes it into something very wrenching.

I decided to an actress because of the film 'La Dolce Vita.'

I wanted already to be a filmmaker after I saw 'La Dolce Vita.'

How often do you get a movie where the coolest character has your own real last name? I played Bob Morales as a cross between my own father - the passion, the fury - and the real Bob Morales. I loved that movie. People, kids always come up to me and tell me how much they still love 'La Bamba.'

If you're a classical actor, every Shakespearean part you play, you then say, 'McKellen did it this way,' and, 'Jacobi did it this way.' There's a whole list of Oliviers and people, whether you play Hamlet or Richard II or Richard III, any of those roles. And I found that a bit when I did 'La Cage.' It didn't bother me one bit.

La India's voice is so powerful. It will give you life.

I've done songs with legends like De La Soul with Pete Rock. I've done songs with B.O.B. I've done songs with Big Kit.

I was first inspired to make music by my cousin Oran. He was making music on an old Mac II by himself in his little lab, and I just started taking up after him. He was the first person to put a machine in front of me to work on. He was like my big brother, someone who I looked up to.

I don't watch the news because I understand that I'm like a science lab. Whatever I take in is how I feel.

You might be like, 'I want really big hits.' But when you get really big hits, and your label is making $150 million, they are people who are now interested in what you do. They are going to begin to tell you what to do, and so you become important. So your creative freedom - you're not going to have that again.

Def Jam is an iconic label.

I hear people telling me a lot that the production of that particular record - 'One Part Lullaby' - really influenced them. I'm like, 'What? We were dropped from the label after that!'

Keep your eyes peeled: Honor's the label to watch. It's quickly becoming a serious celebrity favorite - just ask fans Kirsten Dunst and Kelly Osbourne.

Def Jam is the reason why I started a label.

Whosoever has money has power. It's not about a label. If you have money tomorrow, you will be powerful.

Generally, you are held to a sound and that becomes your sound. That gets branded as your sound, and all the copycats start with it because the labels are looking for that sound.

If it wasn't for the TLC story, many artists would not have smartened up, and you wouldn't have the Lil Waynes and people with their own labels.

Labor also wants shorter hours and a say in how work shall be done.

Globalism is a scheme for impoverishing First World labor and taking power and influence from the hands of the many and putting them in the hands of the few.

Developing a following and maintaining that is so much free labor - just for the love of it.

My father was a scientist, and I grew up in his laboratory. Maybe I am like him, but he is not like me.