“I grew up in New York City in the '80s, and it was the epicenter of hip-hop. There was no Internet. Cable television wasn't as broad. I would listen to the radio, hear cars pass by playing a song, or tape songs off of the radio. At that time, there was such an excitement around hip-hop music.” SongCitiesCarNew YorkTelevisionGrewInternetGrew UpHip HopRadioHipsExcitementHopsBroadsNew York CityTape80sCablesHip Hop Music Author:Michael Rapaport
“I took guitar lessons and recorded the song in New York. It was kind of a dream. I got to pretend I was a recording artist for a couple days.” KindDreamArtistSongNew YorkCoupleLessonsGuitar Author:Kristen Wiig
“My writing is really intuitive. As a kid, I went to school in New Jersey and hung out in New York, so the way kids used to talk got into our earlier songs.” WayWritingKidsSchoolUsedSongNew YorkHungIntuitiveJerseyNew Jersey Author:Donald Fagen
“Gershwin's melodic gift was phenomenal. His songs contain the essence of New York in the 1920s and have deservedly become classics of their kind, part of the 20th-century folk-song tradition in the sense that they are popular music which has been spread by oral tradition (for many must have sung a Gershwin song without having any idea who wrote it).” KindHas BeensIdeasSongCenturyNew YorkTraditionEssenceFolksSpread20th CenturyPhenomenalPopular MusicGershwinFolk SongsOral Tradition Author:George Gershwin
“In a pure anonymous encounter you find a world alive and full of character. In New York, the street adventures are incredible. There are a thousand stories in a single block. You see the stories in people's faces. You hear the songs immediately. Here, in Los Angeles, there are fewer characters because they are all inside automobiles.” PeopleWorldCharacterStoriesFacesSongAliveStreetsNew YorkAdventureThousandPureIncrediblesBlockEncountersLos AngelesFewerAutomobile Author:Joni Mitchell
“Being in L.A. has definitely given me the opportunity to experience how my music sounds in real life because I can drive around and listen to the mixes, which I couldnt do in New York. I get to feel how a song works in combination with a sunset and a drive through the mountains.” FeelsI CanRealSongOpportunityGivenSoundNew YorkMountainReal LifeCombinationSunsetBecause I Can Author:Dave Sitek
“I remember my first standup act when I was seventeen; I did a really lame song about being flat chested. I was doing it in New York, and I remember Kevin Brennan, the guy I lost my virginity to, was like "That song doesn't make sense, you have tits."” FirstsRememberGuySongLostNew YorkMake SenseFlatsVirginityLameSeventeenKevin Author:Sarah Silverman
“New York Times v. Sullivan was about the suppression of speech in the South [during the 1960s]. Today's version of suppression is just another verse of the same song.” TodaySongNew YorkSpeechSouthVersionsVersesFreedom Of Speech1960sNew York TimesSuppression Author:Gilbert S. Merritt, Jr.
“I went to New York and Miami and hung out by the beach, and I love the American boys, so I wrote a song about it.” SongBoysNew YorkBeachHungMiami Author:Estelle