“As a white male in America, I have privilege. As a white male who happens to be an artist with a fan base, I have a platform to spread awareness about that privilege. However, songs about race and privilege are very difficult to A) write and B) dissect as a listener. They're heavy.” WritingHappensAmericaArtistSongDifficultWhiteRaceFansAwarenessMalesPrivilegeHeavySpreadPlatformsListeners Author:Macklemore
“I think artists should be able to do different things whenever they want and I like the way I am. I'm like - I ain't gonna say the only street rapper, but the only mainstream, new, young street rapper there is right now and I'm doing well with it.” ThinkingWayWantShouldWellsDifferentAbleYoungArtistStreetsRight NowDifferent ThingsRapperMainstream Author:Meek Mill
“Music was my life...It was everything to me, even though I was in school majoring in English. I was still very focused on music and always finding ways to perform, so that was what set me up to want to become a recording artist.” WayWantStillsSchoolArtistFindingsFocused Author:John Legend
“I spent a lot of time, a lot of energy trying to be a better artist and I still [do]. I spend a lot of time focusing on my craft. If you're going to take your passion into something beyond just something for fun on the side, you got to spend a lot of time on it to be great, and then you've got to make smart decisions about who you collaborate with [and] where you live [to] put yourself in the right situations to meet the right people to catch those breaks.” PeopleIfsTryingStillsArtistPassionEnergyFunSidesDecisionSituationBreakSmartCraftsWhere You LiveSmart Decisions Author:John Legend
“It [lighting the set up] is quite a process. It's like drawing. It's like being an artist. You pencil it in first, and then you ink it. When you're filming, it's like you're penciling it all in. You know where everything is going to go. But, that application of the final ink takes some time.” KnowsFirstsArtistProcessLike YouFinalsDrawingApplicationPencilsInkLightingBeing An Artist Author:Robert Rodriguez
“I've always said that the artist dies twice. And the first death is the hardest which is the career death, the creative death. The physical death is an inevitability.” FirstsSaidArtistDiesCareersCreativeHardestInevitability Author:Sylvester Stallone
“It's a lot easier to teach someone how to use a computer than it is to teach someone how to be an artist, so we figured if they can animate with a pencil, we can teach them how to animate with a computer.” IfsUseArtistTeachEasierComputerPencils Author:Victor Navone
“I think all of us, looking back on our careers and our lives, there'll probably be a "road not taken" that we'll regret and mourn. Certainly, artists will always feel that way, especially when the path taken was more commercial than the one not taken.” ThinkingWayFeelsArtistCareersPathTakenOur LivesRegretLooking BackMournRoad Not Taken Author:Liz Garbus
“Managers all over the world will go crazy when their artists are not touting the party line and making things pretty in the way that they're supposed to, but it's different when your manager is your husband. It's contrary to your soul. That commercial interest presses in upon your whole personal life.” WorldWayDifferentSoulWholeArtistInterestLinesPartyCrazyHusbandPressesContraryManagersYour SoulPersonal LifeYour Husband Author:Liz Garbus
“You can't always do that which you can do in your sleep. That doesn't fulfill an artist. You're looking for places where you can grow, in some way, whether it's a large way or a small way. I want to grow as an artist, as a person and as a woman. I want to enjoy myself and my life and the company that I'm keeping. I want to bring something to the table that's different than anything else would bring, but that has its place and value, and then keep moving.” WayWantPersonsDifferentMovingArtistValuesGrowsEnjoyCan DoSleepCompanyTablesKeep Moving Author:Angela Bassett
“As an artist, I like working with filmmakers that have the balls to kind of imagine the unimaginable. Those are kind of the radicals that I identify with.” KindArtistImagineBallsRadicalFilmmakerUnimaginable Author:Zoe Saldana
“A real good artist is basically a grown-up kid, who never kills the kid. What we call being an adult is basically about killing the kid. People think you have to forget about the kid to become an adult and deal with grown-up problems. But, that's bullshit. We are still kids. It's the same, you just grow up. You're a kid with more experience.” PeopleThinkingStillsRealProblemKidsArtistGrowsForgetDealsGrowing UpAdultsKillingBullshitGood ArtGood Artist Author:Quentin Dupieux
“I'm pretty hard to impress, and I'm pretty exacting, in terms of what I want from my props department and art department. We spend many, many hours going over visual research and finding the right artists to create the material.” WantArtHardArtistTermHoursMaterialsFindingsResearchVisualsDepartmentImpressProps Author:Cary Fukunaga
“I'm rather kind of old school, thinking that when an artist does his work it's no longer his.” ThinkingKindDoeSchoolArtistWorking ItOld School Book:David Bowie: The Last Interview Source: David Bowie: The Last Interview
“I think labels for the most part want to sign new discoveries so that that label alone is seen to be responsible for the rise of the artist. Not many labels want bands who have already made their mark, because their success is usually attributed to some other label somewhere else at another time.” ThinkingWantMadeArtistBandDiscoveryMarkResponsibleLabelsSomewhere ElseBeing ResponsibleAnother TimeNew Discoveries Author:Steven Morrissey
“I'm a musician, so for the most part I've always thought that the musicians were equally as inspiring to listen to - maybe more so, in some cases - in addition to the artists.” ArtistCasesMusician Author:Vince Gill
“Rap isn't poetry, not least because it involves music and often other elements that aren't words. But the way poets in English use things like rhyme and meter, and the ways these conventions both do and don't apply to rap we try to lay out the rules for rap, in order to understand the techniques that artists like Jay-Z and Kanye employ.” WayTryingUseArtistOrderPoetElementsLaysRapTechniqueConventionsRhymeMeter Author:Andrew Hoberek
“Those who dismiss rappers as vulgar outsiders miss the way that Jay-Z and Kanye embody the American dream: starting from humble beginnings, both rose by dint of hard work and talent to wealth and success. Jay embraces this role, styling himself as much a CEO as an artist, and he and Beyoncé have become, in a significant way, more fully America's first couple than their friends the Obamas.” WayFirstsHardDreamAmericaArtistWealthRolesTalentMissingHard WorkCoupleEmbraceRoseStartingHumbleSignificantRapperAmerican DreamOutsidersCeoVulgarHumble BeginningsWealth And Success Author:Andrew Hoberek
“I'm so used to being behind the scenes. I didn't really want to be front and center. One of the elements of my relationships with the artists I work with is that I'm not front and center, and they are.” WantUsedArtistBehindsFrontsSceneElementsBehind The Scenes Author:Arthur Fogel
“I think for a lot of artists, if you're lucky enough to have a kind of career, especially toward the end, you start to think about what the whole ensemble looks like. It's the whole that counts. The parts are given, but you don't know how the whole thing's going to look when it's all put together.” IfsThinkingKnowsLooksKindEndsEnoughWholeTogetherArtistGivenCareersKnow HowLuckyEnsemble Author:Frank Stella
“Any artist can't get away from the way the world works, which is that it wants to know what you did, and you're only interested in what you're doing right now.” KnowsWorldWayWantArtistRight NowGet AwayDoing Right Author:Frank Stella
“Being independent is more of a mind state more than anything else. A lot of people don't understand that being an independent artist means being hands on with your career in every aspect - not being afraid to spend your own money and invest time in yourself. Although I'm affiliated with a major label, I still wake up every day with an independent mindset.” PeopleMindMeanStillsStatesHandsArtistCareersMajorsAspectWake UpIndependentMindsetLabelsBeing Afraid Author:Yo Gotti
“I had tried to come up with a superhero comic, but it didn't work 'cause I wasn't a superhero artist, and I left it unfinished.” ArtistLeftCausesCome UpComicSuperheroUnfinished Author:Trina Robbins
“I think that sometimes fans or supporters say "I love this artist" but they may not realize that he loves them back.” ThinkingMaySometimesArtistRealizingFansSupporter Author:Prince Royce
“A lot of people aren't familiar with me, but it's not my job to make people familiar with me. There's millions of artists out there. I'm just gonna do what I wanna do, and if people feel the stuff that I'm doing, then great.” PeopleIfsFeelsJobsArtistStuffMillionsFamiliar Author:Riff Raff
“I believe the media pretty much dictates the way relationships are handled, even in the way we handle ourselves. Abuse, cheating, threesomes, it's inspired by music and television. Irresponsible artists and writers with a hidden agenda, just working against the moral fabric that God intended for us to have.” WayBelieveArtistI BelieveMoralMediaTelevisionAbuseInspiredHandleAgendasCheatingFabricIrresponsibleArtists And WritersThreesome Author:Tony Gaskins
“I think art, if it's meaningful at all, is a conversation with other artists. You say something, they say something, you move back and forth.” IfsThinkingArtMovingArtistConversationMeaningfulBack And Forth Author:John Baldessari
“I have never felt more alive than when I watched my children delight in something, never more alive than when I have watched a great artist perform, and never richer than when I have scored a big check to fight AIDS.” ChildrenBigsArtistFightingFeltAliveDelightAidsChecksMy ChildrenGreat ArtGreat Artist Author:Elizabeth Taylor
“Some artists think every woman is a groupie, and that every dude is a sucker, and I never looked at people like that.” PeopleThinkingArtistSuckerGroupie Author:Immortal Technique
“Country music fans are extremely passionate and loyal. It seems that country artists have longer-lasting careers because the fans stick with the artists through thick and thin.” CountrySeemsArtistCareersFansSticksPassionateLastingThickLoyalMusic FansThick And ThinCountry ArtistThrough Thick And ThinCountry Music Fans Author:Miranda Lambert
“You need response from the fan to fuel your sense of musical rebellion. It's very symbiotic, it's very cyclic in a way. You can't have one without the other. So I think the rebellion is reflected in the audience, but at the same time, the artist has to have that passion too. And I think once you're a fan for life, you feed each other's sense of passion and rage and whatnot. You really can't have one without the other.” ThinkingWayNeedsArtistPassionAudienceFansResponseMusicalRageFuelRebellion Author:Corey Taylor
“When I fell in love with hip-hop, there was a terminology at the time called "battling." All that was just battling with other artists, but after Tupac and those incidents when it spilled into the street and turned into a negative situation, battling turned into a beef. A whole new dynamic.” WholeArtistSituationStreetsNegativeHip HopHipsHopsIncidentsBeefTerminology Author:Curtis Jackson
“Without music I wouldn't have the ability to be in business. The opportunity to be in business came with the finances from music and the notoriety that comes with being successful as an artist. So I see myself as an artist first, but I'm absolutely conscious of business.” FirstsArtistOpportunityAbilitySuccessfulConsciousFinanceBeing SuccessfulWithout MusicNotoriety Author:Curtis Jackson
“Songwriting is not particularly easy for me. I think it would be easy for me if I didn't have such high restrictions and feelings about what I want my music to be. I'm not precious at all when it comes to producing music and I can bring that to an artist and let them expand their horizons.” IfsThinkingWantI CanFeelingsWould BeArtistEasySongwritingHorizonRestrictionProducing Music Author:John Congleton
“His [Michael Jackson] behavior was weird, but when you get an artist and a genius, many of the geniuses throughout our whole history were weird. And they did weird things because none of us could understand what was on their mind and why they did what they did.” MindWholeArtistGeniusBehaviorWeird Things Author:Berry Gordy
“All artists have runners, people that tell them what to do, business managers, lawyers, these - if they get the right ones, they're lucky, and if they get the wrong ones, they're unlucky.” PeopleIfsArtistLuckyLawyerManagersRunnersUnlucky Author:Berry Gordy
“He revolutionized music videos. Before Michael Jackson, MTV refused to play African-American artists.” PlayArtistVideoAfrican AmericanMtv Author:Spike Lee
“Humor is everything. Everything. Usually the negatives turned out to be the most positive for me. In the music industry, any other artist would have looked at the situation I was in and thought, "Oh man, this is not for me." I looked at it more like Darwin exploring the Galápagos Islands. You know - survival of the fittest.” MenArtistSituationIndustrySurvivalIslandsExploringMusic IndustrySurvival Of The FittestGals Author:Pitbull
“I have my views and obviously my music has connotations that lean toward what I believe, but I've learned through other artists' mistakes that I'm never going to use my career as a platform for politics, especially at shows. People come to hear music. It's my job to entertain them, and it's my escape too.” PeopleBelieveUseShowsJobsArtistI BelieveViewsMistakeCareersI've LearnedPlatformsConnotation Author:Miranda Lambert
“I want to be real. I want to be a real person. That's what an artist is. An artist has to be honest. Without honesty, there's nothing.” WantPersonsRealArtistHonestHonestyBeing HonestBeing RealReal Person Author:Miley Cyrus
“If you're an artist like a really, really long time, it stops being a performance. I'm not performing anymore. I reveal myself to the audience... I show you some of me. It's not a show no more.” IfsLongShowsArtistAudienceLong TimePerformancesPerformingReally Long Author:Eddie Murphy
“As an artist, you take things from your environment, and there's going to be a style coming out of your environment.” ArtistEnvironmentStyleComing OutOur Environment Author:Jack White
“The most valiant thing you can do as an artist is inspire someone else to be creative.” ArtistCan DoCreativeInspireBe CreativeValiant Author:Joseph Gordon-Levitt
“I'm just working with ideas in my head and with drawings that the artists did. And suddenly to see these things come to life in movies - it's just wonderful.” IdeasArtistWonderfulDrawing Author:Stan Lee
“Our whole dream for our home was for it to be an artist's haven. So there are paint supplies; there's a piano with a microphone and a recorder right there to capture things right in the second. There's editing equipment. There are cameras. I think the only thing in our house that people would be surprised by is the efficiency.” PeopleThinkingWholeHomeDreamWould BeArtistHouseHavensCamerasPaintPianoCaptureEfficiencyEditingEquipmentSuppliesMicrophonesRecorders Author:Will Smith
“Peter Cooper looks at the world with an artist's eye and a human heart and soul. His songs are the work of an original, creative imagination, alive with humor and heartbreak and irony and intelligence, with truth and beauty in the details. Deep stuff. And they get better every time you listen to them.” WorldHumansLooksHeartSoulEyeArtistSongStuffImaginationCreativeAliveOriginalsDetailsIronyGet BetterPeterHuman HeartHeart And SoulCreative ImaginationTruth And Beauty Author:Kris Kristofferson
“Art is a creative effort of which the wellsprings lie in the spirit, and which brings us at once the most intimate self of the artist and the secret concurrences which he has perceived in things by means of a vision or intuition all his own, and not to be expressed in ideas and in words-expressible only in the work of art.” MeanArtIdeasSelfSpiritLyingArtistEffortSecretVisionCreativeArt IsIntuitionIntimateWorks Of ArtWellspringConcurrence Author:Jacques Maritain
“I didn't want to just work within Hollywood when I started a production company. I wanted to be able to collaborate with great artists from all over the world.” WorldWantAbleWantedArtistCompanyHollywoodProductionsGreat Artist Author:Joseph Gordon-Levitt
“It's a poor artist who borrows--a good artist steals.” ArtistPoorStealingGood ArtGood Artist Author:Pablo Picasso
“If the goal is to get the best artists, actors, and filmmakers in the world to create the best movies, Hollywood does a decent job. And I think no one would disagree with me that it also makes a ton of bad movies and employs a bunch of hacks.” IfsThinkingWorldDoeJobsArtistActorsGoalHollywoodBunchFilmmakerDecentDisagreeHacksBad MoviesBest Artist Author:Joseph Gordon-Levitt