Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" I've always had a duck personality. Calm above water, feet going crazy below. "

Related Quotes:

" A constant goal of mine is to try to put myself back in the place when I wrote something - not just to perform it on a surface level, but to re-enter that headspace, that emotion. That's the point of a live show - for it to feel immediate and present and a little bit unpredictable. "

" I'm letting inspiration move me, in whatever direction it may, without concern if this sounds too rap or too indie, or there's too many words in it. "

" I'm having this disbelief and dissatisfaction with an establishment that feels like it's moving backward, and I think there's a similar feeling with everyone of my age and in the world of music and artistic stuff. Art is an important way those feelings get expressed and help people process their feelings and opinions. "

" There's only so many variations on the basics of human relationships. To me, it's all about the detail and how you tell the story. How you say, 'I love you.' "

" The more I talk to people who are at a place I'd like to be at, whether its music or writing, or being a doctor or entrepreneur, sometimes you get lucky, and right away something happens. But for most people, the common denominator of success is just working really hard. "

" I love playing in Chicago. It's the memory lane hometown, which is really nice. "

" Most of the people at my headline shows are in their 20s, but it varies a ton: like, I've had a six-year-old hug my leg after the show and a 60-year-old shake my hand. It's cool to see people connecting with the music across different generations. "

" Pre-show, I warm up my voice, stretch, do a little team huddle, and sometimes throw a shot of whiskey in there, too. After the show, I hang out at merch meeting people and signing things. After that, I usually try to see friends in whatever city we're in, or if I'm super beat, listen to a podcast and pass out. "

" It's like there's this boldness that I have where I'm driven by something that I can't name. "

" I was totally sober in college and really, really focused. I just took the time when other people might be partying and just made music and played at the party instead. "

" My dad was a serious alcoholic, and ultimately, that's why he died. When you're a child of someone who struggled with things like that, you look for the common thread. Is there a pattern? Is there an inheritance of pathology in some way? That haunts me. "

" 'Life as a Dog' is when I really started to feel comfortable, like I had the due north on my compass. "

" My default is e-40 because there's no one else in the world who raps like him. I've always loved e-40. "

" When I first signed to RCA, I was sort of excited and shocked that it was happening. But over the next couple of years, it really started to feel like that game you play when you're a little kid - the one where you put your nose on a bat and then spin around and try to walk. "

" I think, on the rap side of life, I've always been inspired by and respected Missy Elliott for a long time. She's funny and created an image for herself that was non-sexualized but was really interesting and really cool and really kind of avant-garde in a lot of ways. "

" Remixes are so much fun. For me, it's like this great release of energy. I like producing stuff for myself, but I also enjoy making music that wouldn't really suit my own vibe. "

" I went in reverse with this whole thing. People I've toured with were kids who consumed as much hip-hop as they could. I didn't do that until I started rapping. "

" I'm intrigued by people who are super adept at manipulating their own image. We all do it to a certain extent. "

" When I was growing up, I wasn't in bands, and had really no intention of ever doing music. I went out to California for college, and kind of on a whim started making music really as a joke, and over the course of the next five years started playing a lot of shows, and music became this really integral part of my identity. "

" A friend of mine encouraged me to try rapping, so I started experimenting with it, writing verses, seeing if I could fit an extra word or syllable into each line without tripping myself up. "

" I know that in my own mind, I struggle with a desire to be both entirely absent and entirely present in any given moment. "

" I've always had a complicated relationship with sleep. Even as a little kid, I never wanted to go to bed - it always seemed unfair in some way. "

" Even the dark places are places. You're still somewhere. "

" I think it's more important than ever to be as vocal as I can be about things I believe in outside of music. "

" I studied psychology and sociology. I think my assumption was that I would go to graduate school, and I don't know what I was going to do after that. "

" As an independent artist, you control the means of production, which is the ultimate form of empowerment. "

" I think the key for any kind of artist - and this transcends music - is a certain degree of authenticity and sincerity. "

" Hip-hop is rich in musical allusion. It takes something that already existed, respects it, and reuses it. "

" The more time passes in your life, I think the greater you understand perspective. So I'm happy that I've had experiences that have reminded me that most exciting things might not feel so exciting later, and the most disappointing things might not be so disappointing later, either. "

" The one thing that I've always kind of had, ever since I was a kid, was that I lack a certain degree of self-consciousness, which is alternately good and bad. "