Quotes About Artistry

Writing a song to be a single is hard, and I don't like to focus on that because you can get caught up in making something just terrible, which is really easy to do if you're focused on making it a single. It's more fun when you focus on what excites you musically.

Music runs through everything I do - I even think musically; even when I was acting, but, especially, when I am directing. Directing is very musical.

Musically, I actually grew up listening to country music as a kid, like George Strait, Alan Jackson... all those guys. So it was kind of weird crossing over from that to pop and R&B, but you know, I love Michael Jackson, Ne-Yo, Usher, R. Kelly, Drake, Boyz II Men.

Once you get everything out of your head about what everybody else is going to think, will radio play it - and I hope they do, I really do - once you shed all of that and just be who you are, that's who I am. That's taken a lot of growing up. I've come into myself musically and as a woman, and I hope to keep growing. If you don't grow, you die.

I always have to just be myself. Anything else, I'm not happy, and it comes out musically.

I have this theory about us. When we started writing our own songs, we were 17 years old. When you're 17, you write songs for other 17-year-olds. We stopped growing musically when we were 17. We still write songs for 17-year-olds.

Everything musically, for me, there's two kinds of music. There's Prince and Jimi Hendrix and then Miles Davis and everything filters through that.

Whether lyrically or musically, it reaches in there and grabs your soul. That's the stuff I gravitate toward.

I want to be Kanye and do what he does musically. I'm very fearless.

I feel like we're constantly getting better musically, and more of what's in my heart and head is coming through.

If you're going to go the way of 'American Idol,' then you better be able to do what you want musically, because just going for the fame will only keep you happy for so long.

I never compromised myself musically.

I love Kanye, I love what he does musically, I love his ability to push the envelope.

Greedo taught me a lot. I don't say that about every artist. Some artists might teach me stuff musically, but Greedo taught me stuff about being a man and being a musician and being a creative, and being different from other people.

Musically, I'm always inspired by the legends like Barbra Streisand.

Nothing I'm doing musically is revolutionary in any way, shape, or form.

I know they call it the British Invasion, but musically, I call it the British Infusion.

It sounds a bit pretentious, but I'm never really conscious of what I'm doing musically.

I can remember arguing for two days with Mark Saunders about 'Strugglin'.' He said: 'This can't work. It's not musically correct.' And I said: 'If I can hear it in my brain you can't tell me it can't work.'

Emmylou Harris is just the biggest influence of mine musically, her and Dolly Parton.

No, I've been singing forever. I started out doing musicals. I think that was part of the reason why they gave me the part, because I sang.

I'm going to take the kids away over Christmas but I don't, I've written 14 musicals now, I don't want to rush into doing something just for the sake of doing it. I want to do it when I find a story.

I only know how to write musicals.

I'm not going to be labeled a black filmmaker. I am not here to just tell black stories. I'm here to tell all kinds of stories, musicals and dramas.