Quotes About Artistry

I had to learn about patience, to let the music get its own spirit and voice.

I always wanted to play a mental patient. I was fascinated with playing crazy people in college, and I don't know if I ever quite perfected it.

So I'll set a cycle in motion and pop it into record and I'll lay down a drum pattern, a bass line, a keyboard and guitar part, and once the groove is going I launch into the song and sing my song over the top.

I have to say, I grew up with fashion because my mother was a seamstress, and she had an atelier. She would cut the first pattern, and then she had people working for her. So I grew up in an atelier, watching people all around me sewing. I was fascinated.

I have an obsession with details and pattern.

We may say most aptly that the Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves.

When I first started writing songs, I did play with my fingers, and I had these kind of weird strums. There's, like, three or four strumming patterns that seemed kind of unique to me.

Why do they cover Paul's songs but never mine?

People like Dick Gregory, Paul Robeson, Harry Belafonte and Nina Simone show me what the definition of an artist is - it isn't just to make art but to speak truth to what's happening, speak beauty into the world, speak love into the world and also... get involved.

I've paid attention to guys growin' up like Richard Pryor or Paul Mooney. The message that they were sending with what they did was so much bigger than them.

This is my second bass that Paul built me. There were some changes that were made. Sometimes I think of changes that could be made having to do with both the sound and the feel. It's definitely a beautiful instrument.

It's weird to me when an artist comes in, and the label says, 'We want him to sound like Chris Brown,' but he says he wants to sound like Sean Paul. There's a huge disconnect - it's like we're making a product.

Well, Sean Paul we've always wanted to work with.

I feel like I'm just trying to pave my own lane and just kind of make my own sound.

Everything we've ever done has been for artistry's sake, and for the greater good and paying homage to those who came before us and paving the way for those who come after us.

I didn't want to write for pay. I wanted to be paid for what I write.

I don't want to have a song like 'My Humps' and it be sagging down, so I pay attention to that area. A lot.

When I approached my own movies, I went in it real innocent. I didn't pay attention to nobody else's score. I was just going to do it with how I feel it should sound. To me, that's how you create new things.

A great song has to stand on its own, just singing and playing, and the rest is frosting. But you have to pay attention to the frosting.

I don't know, I really try not to pay attention to comparisons, 'cause I'm my own artist. I try to build my own sound.

The last thing I wanted was a big paycheck but no inspiration or support.

When I write songs, I like to write lyrics first, and I think that's different from a lot of singer-songwriters. But I heard Sammy Cahn was asked what comes first, the lyrics or the music, and he said, 'The paycheck.'

Many people do think it's naive to improvise in front of paying customers. I'm not saying one way is better than another.

I'd like to make mistakes on my own dime and not have a herd of people tell me what I'm doing wrong. and I'm also still trying to find and develop my voice as a filmmaker, and I think that's easier to do on your own terms than trying to satisfy a bunch of people that are paying for the movie.