Quotes About Authenticity

The image is one thing and the human being is another...it's very hard to live up to an image.

A middle finger is more New York than a corporate ambush. I bleed for my hometown, and I'd die for my fans.

I've learnt that there's nothing in my day to day life or anything that I do that is in any way aimed at changing how I'm perceived or how I'm presented; it's completely impossible.

I don't believe in sampling some Tibetan music just to make it sound groovy, but you do your homework, you understand what you're doing with it.

I'm 100 percent original, and that's what got me here. My rap music is more understandable, slower. It tells a story. You can write a book on each of my thoughts.

There's no new direction. It's not more poppy or more rocky. They're just rock'n'roll tunes. I'll never change the music I write.

From the music I make, to the things I do in my life, I'm true to my R&B core.

I never do anything to strictly satisfy a fickle, ever-changing commercial world. I do the music I like to play. It's the only way I feel comfortable existing in the industry.

I don't really believe in the type of pressure that people are wanting to put on the type of music that I make.

To listen only to records is a sin of narcissism. It is important to hear live music, in concert, which is a source of emotions that a record can never convey.

I try to make music that's really real. I've always liked music that makes me feel something. I'm not a brain first, music second person.

I'm not out there trying to change the world. I'm just out there trying to sing country music the best way I can.

Measure a man by his actions fully from the beginning to the end. Don't take a piece out of my life or a song out of my music and say this is what I'm about because you know better than that.

I get all these loser preps coming up to me asking for autographs and all this crap, and I really want to tell them, 'My music is not for people like you!

The quickest way to become troubled is to be concerned with what people are gonna say about your life and your work.

If I'm not writing songs about things I've actually been through, it ruins the idea of making music to me.

I want to be enriched by the music I listen to. That's the reason it never really exists in the mainstream. Because that's not what most people are after.

I hope I dont give music a bad name.

I don't care what people say. My music's my music.

An artist should write for himself & not for an audience. If the audience likes it, great. If not, they can keep away.

If you're gonna sing meaningful songs, you have to be committed to living a life that backs that up.

I want everything, no matter what concept or genre, to feel real, because it is real. I want to keep making real music, I hope people remember me for that, that's a good thing to be remembered for.

Being honest is my job. That's what music is for me.

I'm just doing what I do best and that's what makes good music, and that's how you can relate to people.