The vibe on ‚Starboy‘ comes from that hip-hop culture of braggadocio, from Wu-Tang and 50 Cent, the kind of music I listened to as a kid.
The WeekndIf it’s illegal to rock and roll, throw my ass in jail!
Kurt CobainWhat I’ve discovered is that in art, as in music, there’s a lot of truth-and then there’s a lie. The artist is essentially creating his work to make this lie a truth, but he slides it in amongst all the others. The tiny little lie is the moment I live for, my moment. It’s the moment that the audience falls in love.
Lady GagaOn the other hand, what I like my music to do to me is awaken the ghosts inside of me. Not the demons, you understand, but the ghosts.
David BowieI used to sing songs and write with my uncle, Bill Owens.
Dolly PartonThe songs are my lexicon. I believe the songs.
Bob DylanI don’t know how to function without music. When I’m not making it, I’m listening to it. It gives me courage and takes care of my mind.
Billie EilishIt is only in his music, which Americans are able to admire because a protective sentimentality limits their understanding of it, that the Negro in America has been able to tell his story.
James BaldwinAll of my music is honest.
The WeekndI’m pretty sure in my older years, I’ll be doing old-time flavored folk-mountain music.
Dolly PartonIt is impossible to experience one’s death objectively and still carry a tune.
Woody AllenI booked my first studio at like 12 or 13. Somewhere in that season of my life, singing along with the radio became me wanting to be on radio, you know. And writing Langston Hughes replica poems became me wanting to write like Stevie Wonder.
Frank OceanBeing part of a community with a church at its centre and singin‘ hymns is a great thing to do.
Vivienne WestwoodMy mother is a singer, my sisters all sing, my uncles are incredible singers and guitar players, so it’s just kind of been like my habitat.
Bruno MarsI do like Burial; he’s so curiously clumsy, you can’t help but be moved. It’s so un-Hollywood, and the rhythms are so un-danceable.
Brian EnoI want to keep making records as long as I can, but I don’t know how long you can be taken seriously in rap.
EminemIf I wasn’t Bob Dylan, I’d probably think that Bob Dylan has a lot of answers myself.
Bob DylanI do value the respect I get from my contemporaries, but to have Oasis cover my song, to have Puff Daddy cover a song, to have Goldie come along to my gigs – that’s where my ego is at. To have my fellow musicians like what I do, that’s very cool.
David BowieI ain’t here to argue about his facial features. Or here to convert atheists into believers. I’m just trying to say the way school need teachers the way Kathie Lee needed Regis that’s the way yall need Jesus.
Kanye WestA chorus is not easy.
The WeekndA good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, ‚Huh. It works. It makes sense.‘
Barack ObamaThe thing about hip-hop today is it’s smart, it’s insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable.
Barack ObamaI really learned to sing in church, I think, really with emotion.
Dolly PartonOne day, I’ll be listening to a bunch of Ray Charles, the next day it’s nothing but Red Hot Chili Peppers. The next day it might be Tupac all day.
J. ColeI never wanted to write the sort of song that said, ‚Look at how abnormal and crazy and out there I am, man!‘
Brian EnoI think we’re about ready for a new feeling to enter music. I think that will come from the Arabic world.
Brian EnoI can operate in half-a-song format.
Frank OceanOn a good night, I get underwear, bras, and hotel-room keys thrown onstage… You start to think that you’re Tom Jones.
Keanu ReevesI grew up in a musical family; the majority of my growing up was done in Hawaii. It’s what we do. You sing, you dance, you play ukulele and you drink.
Dwayne JohnsonI had to get rich so I could sing like I was poor again.
Dolly PartonAnd I saw the sax line-up that he had behind him and I thought, I’m going to learn the saxophone. When I grow up, I’m going to play in his band. So I sort of persuaded my dad to get me a kind of a plastic saxophone on the hire purchase plan.
David BowieI have never used Auto-Tune in a live television performance, and I have never used Auto-Tune in any of my concerts. That is a promise.
Taylor SwiftMy music definitely comes from a place of experience. Everything connects to a truth.
Frank OceanIt’s about the stories. If I write 14 stories that I love, then the next step is to get the environment of music around it to best envelop the story, and all kinds of sonic goodness – sonic goodies.
Frank OceanI guess you could say I devoted myself so strongly to my music that for awhile I forgot about my family. But I only get one set of parents, and I think I forgot about that for a little while.
Lady GagaThis is the thing about hip-hop music and where people get it most misconstrued: It’s all hip-hop. You can’t say that just what I do is hip-hop, because hip-hop is all energies. James Brown can get on the track and mumble all day. But guess what? You felt his soul on those records.
Kendrick LamarSitting on a bedroom floor crying is something that makes you feel really alone. If someone’s singing about that feeling, you feel bonded to that person. That’s the only way I can find an explanation for why 55,000 people would want to come see me sing.
Taylor SwiftI’m personally more struck by visual things more than musical.
Lana Del ReyI always use Michael as, first and foremost, a vocal inspiration, and ‚Off the Wall‘ was definitely the one that made me feel like I could sing.
The WeekndFunk, I don’t think I have anything to do with funk. I’ve never considered myself funky.
David BowieI wanted to get rid of the element that had been considered essential in pop music: the voice.
Brian EnoOccasionally, some brother sings very earnestly through his nose, often disturbing those around him, but it does not matter how the voice sounds to the ears of man. What is important is how the heart sounds to the ears of God.
Charles SpurgeonWhenever I think about movies, I always look at that art process as having the best of a lot of worlds. Because if you watch a great film, you have a musical element to it, not just on the scoring, but in the way that the shots are edited – that has music and rhythm and time.
Frank OceanIf music be the food of love, play on.
William ShakespeareI taught myself how to play the guitar, I taught myself how to play the drums, and I kind of fake doing both of them. But drumming comes more natural to me, and it just feels better.
Dave GrohlYou go to a festival, you know you’re not going to play all new material at a festival. The audience is not there for that. I’ve made that mistake, but you find out pretty quickly.
David ByrneIf you ever see young artists, and they’re not sounding good, they sound good. They’re good singers. They wouldn’t be where they are if they didn’t sound good. It’s their nerves. Any time you see your favorite artist, and he’s or she’s screwing up or not hitting those notes, it’s not because she can’t hit it or she can’t sing; he or she is scared.
The WeekndI never went to rock concerts when I was a kid. I didn’t see any rock & roll bands.
Dave GrohlYou can’t really imagine music without technology.
Brian EnoWhenever I make music, it reflects where I’m at mentally.
Kendrick LamarLook, when I started out, mainstream culture was Sinatra, Perry Como, Andy Williams, Sound of Music. There was no fitting into it then and of course, there’s no fitting into it now.
Bob Dylan‚Doo-wop‘ is a very special word for me. Because I grew up listening to my dad who, as a Fifties rock & roll head, loved doo-wop music.
Bruno MarsOne of the interesting things about having little musical knowledge is that you generate surprising results sometimes; you move to places you wouldn’t if you knew better.
Brian EnoIf this were all to go away tomorrow, all the big success, I would still be very happy going from bar to bar playing music for people.
Lady GagaI don’t think I’d ever apologise for music I make, no.
The WeekndWhen I listen to the radio, I just hear so much music that doesn’t even sound like people. The vocals are all tuned, and the drums are all fake.
Dave GrohlThe man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils.
William ShakespeareNo, I can’t do rap music!
Dolly PartonPhish and Dave Matthews really know their audiences and really treat them well.
Jimmy BuffettI love movement. I love moshing.
Billie Eilish