Quotes About Authenticity

This is just strictly me wanting to make a record that is the real deal. It is all the stuff that I have learned and know that I remember. It's what I perceive as country music is about.

I just want to create amazing music that speaks and defines who I am. I want it to be based on my life and/or what I am going through at that specific time.

No matter what I do, my songs come out in a certain style, and if that sounds like Dead Kennedys, then there's probably a reason for it. Don't forget, I wrote most of those songs, music and lyrics.

Hip-hop music has done a very good job of maintaining the political context, where they stand and not giving a sh-t what people think.

Accustomed to the veneer of noise, to the shibboleths of promotion, public relations, and market research, society is suspicious of those who value silence.

I really try to wake up with my music the same as I do with my life, and that is with no expectations. I just feel what I feel that day and follow it.

I don't feel comfortable making empty music.

I like all music. Well, I don't like music that was created to make money. I don't really like bands that don't write their own music

Country music artists are staying true to their roots, keeping it country but throwing a little bit of rock flair in there which I think is a good thing.

I sometimes listen to music I made and find it to be something I wouldn't want to buy from a store, if there was a store. When it's like that, you have to make what you want to hear.

My thing is when people say Dom Kennedy's music reminds them of L.A., I wanna do that 100 percent because at the end of the day that's all I am.

Just because I'm country music don't mean I don't have a little bit a' soul down in there somewhere.

I'm not saying I wasn't flawed or amateurish. But you can never say I did anything to appease the music business.

I've stayed true to my music and I sing heartfelt songs with a message.

I try to make an album that reflects what I love about country music. It's not just all about happy parties all the time. There are some sad songs.

If I'm trading bars with somebody, it certainly is not because I have a release coming. Joe Budden prides himself on the music and not the sales aspect.

The music should be first, not the ego or the personality or the style.

There hasn't been anything real since grunge. That was the last movement led by music or an art form.

A lot of people from my generation of music are so focused on playing things correctly or to perfection that they're stuck in that safe place.

For me, music is in no way ornamental or decorative, it's constitutive of who I am.

I'm trying to give people the chance to put out their music without the bullshit pressures of other labels.

The total person sings not just the vocal chords.

Real music doesn't always win Grammys

Music is my time capsule. Each album reflects what I'm going through or what's going on in my life at that moment.