I always say I wanna work with Alicia Keys. I’m in awe of her.

I wrote ‚Channel Orange‘ in two weeks. The end product wasn’t always that gritty, real-life depiction of the real struggle that happened.

What kind of people do they think we are? Is it possible they do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget?

I have fallen in love with the imagination. And if you fall in love with the imagination, you understand that it is a free spirit. It will go anywhere, and it can do anything.

I like the idea of a kind of eternal music, but I didn’t want it to be eternally repetitive, either. I wanted it to be eternally changing. So I developed two ideas in that way. ‚Discreet Music‘ was like that, and ‚Music for Airports.‘ What you hear on the recordings is a little part of one of those processes working itself out.

You do things when the opportunities come along. I’ve had periods in my life when I’ve had a bundle of ideas come along, and I’ve had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I’ll do something. If not, I won’t do a damn thing.

Art is the proper task of life.

In memory everything seems to happen to music.

Perhaps when music has been shouting for so long, a quieter voice seems attractive.

Every bad situation is a blues song waiting to happen.

What I admire most about Hillary is that she never buckles under pressure. She never takes the easy way out. And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life. And when I think about the kind of president that I want for my girls and all our children, that’s what I want.

Labor gives birth to ideas.

You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.

I never went to rock concerts when I was a kid. I didn’t see any rock & roll bands.

My entire childhood was steeped in poverty. For me, poverty, in a way, was the first inspiration of my life, a commitment to do something for the poor.

Sometimes I’ve called writing a disease. If so, I’m glad that it caught me.

My only scheme was to be a rapper.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

People want to feel hopeful.

I was part of Jazzercise class. It was an aerobics routine accompanied by loud music, sounding quite awful to me. Jazzercise was popular in the ’80s and ’90s.

I like Cardi B!

Every production of genius must be the production of enthusiasm.

Most people already know what they’re doing wrong. When I get them to church I want to tell them that you can change.

And poets, in my view, and I think the view of most people, do speak God’s language – it’s better, it’s finer, it’s language on a higher plane than ordinary people speak in their daily lives.

Those who create are rare; those who cannot are numerous. Therefore, the latter are stronger.

All my momma’s people were very musical. My grandpa, who was the Pentecostal minister, he was a great musician. He played the fiddle, he played the piano.

I was set free because my greatest fear had been realized, and I still had a daughter who I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

I’ve been blessed to be somebody that’s been climbing that success mountain top for years of hard work, you know, but now it’s all connecting. And now, the whole world is watching, you know what I’m saying, and it feels good ‚cause it’s good energy. This is all positive vibes, and good vibes and good energy, so it feels incredible.

Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Don’t give up the fight.

When we speak of faith – the faith that can move mountains – we are not speaking of faith in general but of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I 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.

I listen to my old records and I think, ‚How did I ever get on the radio?‘

Every album, I make big records. I’m going to always make an anthem. That’s what I do.

If I waited for perfection… I would never write a word.

I’ve accomplished enough with the music that I haven’t had to go out there and do other things to over-saturate.

The greatest story of all is Colonel Sanders. He didn’t start until he was sixty-six on a freeway bypass for his chicken shop. Anything is possible!

Music is well said to be the speech of angels.

What is past is prologue.

Anything you put your mind to and add your imagination into can make your life a lot better and a lot more fun.

Fashion is inspired by youth and nostalgia and draws inspiration from the best of the past.

My songs are the door to every dream I’ve ever had and every success I’ve ever achieved.

Most of my songs have names of people I’ve met or are dear to me. There are people who have privacy issues and about people knowing about their private life. But for me, I like to include few special names and few details about them to make the song very special to me.

On Sundays when I speak, I hopefully give somebody something that they can use the next day at work or at home.

People are used to music that justifies street culture but something that’s not touched on is why these kids act the way they act, live the way they live.

There’s a reason why the Foo Fighters don’t blast out Nirvana songs every night: because we have a lot of respect for them. You know, that’s hallowed ground. We have to be careful. We have to tread lightly. We have talked about it before, but the opportunity hasn’t really come up, or it just hasn’t felt right.

Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I’ll be right there with you as a citizen – inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far.

I love to play music. So why endanger that with something like drugs?

I always felt like there was a certain standard of music that I had to do from the beginning, even when I didn’t have the recognition that I have now.

Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.

I didn’t think it was special to be able to sing.

I always say this about my music, and music in general: Music is like a time capsule. Each album reflects what I’m going through or what’s going on in my life at that moment.

I’ve got a feeling that music might not be the most interesting place to be in the world of things.

See, when you drive home today, you’ve got a big windshield on the front of your car. And you’ve got a little bitty rearview mirror. And the reason the windshield is so large and the rearview mirror is so small is because what’s happened in your past is not near as important as what’s in your future.

I know a lot of artists say this, but it’s hard to put myself in a box. I just write songs that I strongly believe in and that are coming form a special place. There’s no tricks.

Snoop ain’t never cosigned me, but I know everybody is like, ‚That’s the next Snoop.‘ Nah, I’m Nipsey, and I got to work to define myself.

I always loved that old song ‚Banks of the Ohio‘ – it was always such a man’s song, so I’ve always wanted to record it.

I don’t want to wake up and be bored. That’s probably my greatest fear is to have nothing to do. What better job is there than to play quarterback for an NFL team, and certainly one that I’ve been on for a long time and had success with? I don’t plan on giving it up any time soon.

I don’t like headphones very much, and I rarely listen to music on headphones.

We don’t make music – it makes us.

Around every corner, always protect the engine that powers you.

If you don’t know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere.