Quotes About Influence

I remember where I was when I heard Yngwie Malmsteen for the first time. It was such an epiphany for me, and it really shaped the way I play today. I think I heard him in '83, if I'm not mistaken - I was 13 years old - and it really was amazing for me.

I got a way to get through to kids. I try to take that and use that to my advantage. If we work on the kids right now, I'm telling you, they'll be making less mistakes, the jails will be gettin' less full. It's all about what we do with the kids.

Basically, as a leader, I try not to make any mistakes, because there's a lot of people watching even though you don't think so.

Mister Cee's a legend, man.

I've just always been fascinated by what our belief can do, and what happens when we misuse that.

I want to use but not misuse my position as President of the General Assembly.

I would say I grew up listening a lot to Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland and Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell. I grew up listening to those because my parents were kind of into folk music.

In high school, I would secretly play Joni Mitchell songs all the time. That's when I started singing and playing at the same time, and I got really into doing that.

I'm a huge fan of Joni Mitchell, and I think her music has inspired me lyrically and guitar-wise.

As a kid, I was listening to Aretha Franklin, Etta James and hip-hop as well as music my parents were listening to, like Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen.

Definitely I grew up listening to Joni Mitchell, and I think she is a wonderful writer, so she is probably part of me.

You know, I grew up listening to Joni Mitchell.

For someone like me, who has grown up with Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, it's hard not to invest a lot of myself in what I do.

My No. 1 artistic inspiration in theater is Brian Stokes Mitchell.

I listened to a lot of Joni Mitchell in high school. She was sort of an inspiration to me. I think she's a great lyricist, and she makes interesting choices.

I did want to be Joni Mitchell for quite a long time.

We soaked up everything from Beethoven to Chopin to Jimi Hendrix to Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan.

It is a mistake to mix politics and sport.

I like to mix things up and I take inspiration from many different art forms.

When you hear 'I Luv U,' that's me doing Three 6 Mafia. That actual track is a mix of 'What's Your Fantasy?' by Ludacris and 'Is That Yo Chick?' by Jay Z. That's my version of that track.

I was brought up in a family of journalists, and a mother who was deeply committed to human rights, so I think that the mix of those two huge influences have been very, very important to me.

Mix a conviction with a man and something happens.

I should have lived through the '80s, not been born in it. My style is a mix of hip-hop and '80s casual.

Jazz is really 20th-century fusion music. You take West African harmony and rhythm, mix with European harmony, and boom!