Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" I always have something by Stevie Wonder in my CD player. "

Related Quotes:

" Could a person really make a social contribution through music consciously? I mean, beyond making a person happy to hear the song and more making a social contribution consciously through your music? For me, Stevie Wonder is the paragon of that. And I didn't want to be Stevie Wonder, but I did want to do what he does. "

" I'm actually not a fan of the word 'woke.' I think the connotation of that means being socially aware, which is a beautiful thing to be. But it does not take into account being self-aware. "

" In Denver, all we really had was pop radio, so I grew up on all that late '70s pop stuff - Billy Joel, James Taylor, Lionel Richie, Elton John, Steve Miller and Toto. Great love songs and really hooky and melodic music - I have all of that stuff in my heart. "

" The thing that makes me feel most alive is knowing that there's something that I have to do that I'm afraid of. "

" I'm really judgmental, especially about things that I feel make my life harder. "

" I'm not just making rhymes and making melodies. I'm expressing my true life force, energy. "

" Just like the air you breathe or the water you drink, music shapes you. The trouble is, most people don't use it to spread love and healing. But I think music can make a social contribution if you're responsible with it. "

" I'm in show business, and I'm an entertainer, but I also see myself as an artist doing social and spiritual work. "

" You wash your hands when you shake a bunch of hands. You have to wash your energy when you're around people. It's hard for me to say self-care is washing, although I think it is. So I made music for self-care. That's what it's for. "

" It's OK to wear white in the wintertime. Do what you want. "

" I write about my experiences, so a lot of times, I do write about people. "

" Between '06 and '09, I dealt with pain by eating. And I was like, 'Oh, crap, eating makes you gain weight!' "

" I didn't even listen to Bob Marley until I was 17. "

" If I don't have the right clothes, I feel weird walking out; I don't feel comfortable in what I have on. I have different colors that I want to wear on different days because it makes me feel different. "

" I always felt like - I mean, I was told, really - I couldn't go too far with the productions because it didn't appeal to black radio. It wasn't until I decided I was going to do what I wanted to do or I was going to quit that I empowered myself. I took my power back. "

" I like being a role model - people have told me that I am a role model for empowered women, but I don't see myself that way. "

" Songs like 'Peaceful World' and songs that are responsible with their lyrics and talk about love and harmony can take the forefront and do something for real. "

" I am on an album with theater icon Billy Porter called the 'Soul of Richard Rodgers.' Our duet is called 'Carefully Taught.' "

" Nobody looked like me when I was growing up. None of the kids were as big as me, or as serious as me, or listened to the same music. "

" Joe Sample was one of my heroes. I met him at the Curacao Jazz festival, and I fanned out like he was the Beatles! "

" When I perform, I'm just very much just being myself. "

" If we can just focus our attention where it matters, we can effect change. "

" What I love about Stevie Wonder is the way he makes people feel. He's one of the best examples of how music can heal. "

" So many people have been abused. It's not rare; it's a very common human experience, and we survive. "

" In my opinion, you just have to make the music. Make the music and work as hard as you can to get it out there. "

" There's just something creatively fulfilling about watching a movie and writing a song for it because it helps you put on another pair of shoes. "

" If I were not a black artist but I was still singing, playing guitar, and singing ballads that are spiritual and cerebral, I'd be easier to market because people accept that from white female singer-songwriters faster. "

" For the first ten years of my career, I felt suffocated. People constantly stood over me while I tried to create. And in 2009, I hit rock bottom. I couldn't find myself because I was looking to be defined by the music industry or by being number one on the Billboard charts. "

" I wouldn't be back in my 20s for anything. "

" Nina Simone sacrificed so much to be as bold as she was about being black and about being female in an era where that could have cost her life. "