Artist Quotes

50 Highly Motivational Gregory Porter Quotes

Published

1 year ago

Apr 7, 2023

Zisilia Alvsa

Which are your favorite Gregory Porter quotes?

Gregory Porter is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.

He is best known for his albums ‘Liquid Spirit’ and ‘Take Me to the Alley,’ which both won him Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

Porter initially began his singing career with the ‘Motéma’ label in 2010, and his debut album ‘Water’ was successfully nominated in the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Porter has achieved the kind of fame that many aspiring artists can only dream about.

Porter was described by The New York Times as a “jazz singer of thrilling presence and a booming baritone with a gift for earthy refinement.”

Here’s a collection of the most motivational Gregory Porter quotes:

Table of Contents

50 Highly Motivational Gregory Porter Quotes

1. “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” – Gregory Porter

2. “I’m always lobbying for the irrepressible strength of love.” – Gregory Porter

3. “Writing from a personal experience can bring about this emotion and power of emotion that can be instantly connected to the instrument, my voice.” – Gregory Porter

4. “I think part of my job as a songwriter is to go back in my memory and pull up those pains for other people because somebody else is going to come along who didn’t have a good issue with their father.” – Gregory Porter

5. “Waving to the Queen after singing Amazing Grace at Buckingham Palace, that was pretty cool.” – Gregory Porter

6. “When there’s an imbalance in terms of what people get to hear, then that’s negative. Then blues, jazz, it will die.” – Gregory Porter

7. “My part of Brooklyn has always been a very warm neighborhood, even before I had anything going on in the music industry. When I step out of my house to go for coffee on Saturday mornings, I might say hi to 20 people before I get to the cafe. I think they feel they own me, in a way.” – Gregory Porter

8. “What makes jazz different is that you can’t predict it, it’s all about freedom. Just when you think you know what you’re going to hear there’ll be a left turn, a jazz musician will change it up.” – Gregory Porter

9. “I lose my bags all the time. Sometimes for two months. One of the worst times was when I had come from France and I had packed cheese because I was really crazy about camembert, so I have this really nice suit that stinks of camembert, no matter how many times I dry clean it.” – Gregory Porter

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10. “Gospel music was very prevalent in my house. My mother also loved Nat King Cole. That was some of the first music that I heard. Mahalia Jackson, Nat King Cole and the Mississippi Mass Choir.” – Gregory Porter

11. “But sometimes that title ‘jazz’ can vex people who think they know exactly what jazz always is and will be.” – Gregory Porter

12. “I’m happiest in nature, in trees, rivers, streams, and I’m happiest around my kid – you know that’s the funny thing, he is not always in the best of moods, but I am always happiest around him and in nature. Around my family is where I am happiest.” – Gregory Porter

13. “I consider myself a jazz singer. I think I stick to the roots of improvisation, singing in front of the beat, behind the beat, playing with notes and harmonies.” – Gregory Porter

14. “You’d think we’d be exhausted by that rhetoric but you’re still able to move people with fear and fright and lies that somebody’s going to take your place, that in order for someone to rise, you have to fall.” – Gregory Porter

15. “You know Bakersfield was full of workers from the south, from Texas and Arkansas, and they brought their gospel and blues with them. And that’s the sound I grew with.” – Gregory Porter

16. “I was 5 years old when I first broke into my mother’s records and played Nat King Cole, and sat alongside the stereo and listened to Nat’s music.” – Gregory Porter

17. “I can sing the blues and I have sung the blues. I feel it internally when I’m singing.” – Gregory Porter

18. “My mother was a minister, so I grew up in a church. My grandfather was a minister; there are a bunch of ministers in my family.” – Gregory Porter

19. “The best career advice was to sing with an understanding and internalize the music – that was my mother’s advice. Sing with intention, believe what it is you’re saying, and think about it before you sing it.” – Gregory Porter

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20. “If I can hear the music then no, I don’t hit a wrong note. But if I can’t hear the music because the audience is screaming or the sound system is bad, then I’m subject to stray.” – Gregory Porter

21. “I think sometimes you can be around somebody and take in certain energy and read certain things and you don’t know why your neck is stiff. But if you can recognize the negativity, once you identify it and you know what you are dealing with you can make a point to counteract it with a different energy.” – Gregory Porter

22. “Take Me to the Alley’ is about trying to uplift the lives of people who have been afflicted, maybe the homeless or somebody with an illness, or maybe they’re refugees.” – Gregory Porter

23. “I’m very thankful to San Diego for the musical opportunities it gave me.” – Gregory Porter

24. “My grandmother and my mother and my grandfather, their style of praying was – all day long, they would pray by singing and humming.” – Gregory Porter

25. “The funny thing about nationalism is that there are two sides to it. Some parts of it are beautiful, but there’s an ugly side as well.” – Gregory Porter

26. “I think myself, Jose James, and Robert Glasper are expanding the language – really reminding people that the umbrella of jazz is large and all-encompassing.” – Gregory Porter

27. “Whether you like punk, grunge, or early rock and roll, there’s probably something in there you’ve been living with your whole life and you didn’t even know it was jazz.” – Gregory Porter

28. “And I’ve made it a choice on my records that sometimes I leave the breath or the trailing note that sometimes falls into a flat or a sharp.” – Gregory Porter

29. “I’m really just a singer that’s trying to make some music that strikes to the heart.” – Gregory Porter

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30. “The voice is probably supposed to have some cracks and pops and some mistakes in it.” – Gregory Porter

31. “On stage, it’s very naked. There’s a reason you shake your knees. You’re very vulnerable, cos it’s just you, your body is the instrument. But I always had confidence in my voice, if I had the right song, the right words to sing.” – Gregory Porter

32. “It’s been some surreal moments, you know from performing at Buckingham Palace to having dinner with Stevie Wonder, it’s been an amazing ride.” – Gregory Porter

33. “My overwhelming memory of my childhood is the constant busyness in the house. I am seventh out of eight kids – five boys and three girls – plus my mom, Ruth.” – Gregory Porter

34. “Even if you’ve being playing together for years, there’ll always be something new. You’re constantly back phrasing, front phrasing, singing faster, singing slower.” – Gregory Porter

35. “A Change Is Gonna Come’ has always been a powerful song for me as it comes from a place of vulnerability.” – Gregory Porter

36. “The protest songs of the 1960s and 70s managed to blend political and societal views with music from the heart.” – Gregory Porter

37. “I’m very grateful for the success of ‘Take Me to the Alley.’ The chart position it’s reached around the world is very exciting, and its success is an example of the acceptance of my music. I am very thankful.” – Gregory Porter

38. “One critic called me nothing but a blues singer, as though that was a slight. That is the highest compliment there is.” – Gregory Porter

39. “The nice thing about living in a semi-small town is that I can just go home and switch off. I go home now and I trim roses, rake leaves, wake up early in the morning and scare the raccoons off the lawn! It’s kinda nice, that’s the way I turn off, in Bakersfield, California.” – Gregory Porter

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40. “San Diego is where I really started to get my legs, musically.” – Gregory Porter

41. “There’s a lot of female singers and I don’t want to dismiss them, but the male – and I have to be careful – the black male voice in jazz, whatever you say, is an important voice because there’s a tradition of the music that should be touched on, there’s a sound that should be touched on.” – Gregory Porter

42. “I was in rehab for nine months, and I needed some solace and distraction. I was in town one day and I sort of stumbled into a jazz jam session and kept going back.” – Gregory Porter

43. “Music that speaks of politics is less listened to than the music of partying, but it’s still there.” – Gregory Porter

44. “My mother gave me the courage to pursue music as a career on her deathbed. She became very ill when I was 21. I didn’t want her to worry about my future. I wanted her to know I’d finish my degree. But she pushed me to follow my dream, even if it wasn’t the safe option.” – Gregory Porter

45. “What a Wonderful World’ is a love song to nobody and everybody. I’m thinking about songs like that in my writing with Take Me to the Alley.” – Gregory Porter

46. “I was quite shy as a child. My sisters were the gang leaders, my brothers were the enforcers and I was a tag-a-long.” – Gregory Porter

47. “Nat King Cole’s lyrics were speaking to me, almost like fatherly advice, when I was listening to him alongside the console stereo player. So that music and that influence comes out of me.” – Gregory Porter

48. “There were some things in my childhood I thought we’d put to sleep. The idea of one race’s supremacy over another. I thought the issue of color would be put to sleep by the time I had a son. And that’s maybe why I had a kid so late.” – Gregory Porter

49. “Sometimes I’ll be in circles, and I’ll say I’m a jazz singer, and they have no idea what that means.” – Gregory Porter

50. “My sisters started to cook at nine and, being one of the youngest, I wanted in on it, too, so I began at six on potato-peeling duty as french fries were my thing.” – Gregory Porter

Summary

Thanks for checking out this collection of quotes from Gregory Porter! Don’t forget to share them on social media with your friends and family.

Want to know how Gregory Porter spends his money? Check out his net worth.

Which are your favorite Gregory Porter quotes? Leave a comment below.

Artist Quotes

52 Inspirational J Cole Quotes & Lyrics

Published

10 months ago

Jun 19, 2023

Dan Western

Jermaine Cole is an American hip hop artist, who started receiving recognition and fame for his work back in 2007.

Some of his lyrics have been highly regarded as creative yet truthful rhymes, which in a lot of cases means they’re very inspiring to many individuals.

We’ve created this collection of the greatest J Cole quotes & lyrics of all time:

Table of Contents

52 Inspirational J Cole Quotes

1. “To appreciate the sun, you gotta know what rain is.” – J Cole

2. “Anything’s possible, you gotta dream like you never seen obstacles.” – J Cole

3. “Take a chance, because you never know how perfect something can turn out.” – J Cole

4. “I’d rather be happy being myself than sad trying to please everyone else.” – J Cole

5. “People congratulate me. I just tell them God is good.” – J Cole

6. “Keep grinding boy, your life can change in one year, and even when it’s dark out, the sun is shining somewhere.” – J Cole

7. “Damn, cold world. I never thought I’d see the day that you’re my old girl.” – J Cole

8. “You have to hurt in order to know. Fall in order to grow. Lose in order to gain. Because most of life’s lessons are learned in pain.” – J Cole

9. “I swear I walk with God, but the devil keeps following.” – J Cole

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10. “If they don’t know your dreams, they can’t shoot them down.” – J Cole

11. “My life accelerated, but had to wait my turn. But then I redecorated, that means my tables turn.” – J Cole

12. “Am I about dollars or about change? Am I about knowledge or brains? Freedom or big chains? They don’t feel my pain.” – J Cole

13. “Get to know somebody and you really learn a lot about ‘em. Won’t be long before you start to doubt ‘em. Tell yourself you better off without ‘em. Then in time you will find can’t walk without ‘em.” – J Cole

14. “No such thing as a life that’s better than yours, no such thing–no such thing…” – J Cole

15. “In a game full of liars it turns out that I’m the truth. Some say that rap’s alive. It turns out that I’m the proof.” – J Cole

16. “Nothing lasts forever, but at least we’ve got these memories.” – J Cole

17. “Never give up until you’ve given out all your very best. It’s better to fail trying, than wondering what could have happened if you tried.” – J Cole

18. “It’s beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success.” – J Cole

19. “If you place your importance on appreciation and love, that’s enough.” – J Cole

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20. “Sometimes our dreams come true, sometimes our fears do too.” – J Cole

21. “For a few minutes you made me feel as if I actually meant something to someone.” – J Cole

22. “There’s a story behind every person, a reason why they are the way they are. So, think about that before you judge someone.” – J Cole

23. “Anything I do, I do it well.” – J Cole

24. “You can lose all the money, but you’ll never lose people knowing you.” – J Cole

25. “Follow your heart. Don’t follow what you’ve been told you’re supposed to do.” – J Cole

26. “So here we are… it’s funny how so close can seem so far.” – J Cole

27. “We got dreams and we got the right to chase ‘em.” – J Cole

28. “Promise to my momma I’mma make it to the top, so I’mma keep climbing ‘til my heartbeat drop.” – J Cole

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29. “Either you play the game or you let the game play you.” – J Cole

30. “I’mma be here for a while. None of these clowns can hurt me.” – J Cole

31. “I put a lot of God in my music, but not because I’m super religious. There are a lot of demons in my music too. I acknowledge both.” – J Cole

32. “They say time is money but really, it’s not. If we ever go broke, time is all we got.” – J Cole

33. “I walk along this long harbor of life and sit on the piers, reflect on my pain and sh*t on my fears.” – J Cole

34. “I keep my head high, I got my wings to carry me. I don’t know freedom, I want my dreams to rescue me.” – J Cole

35. “A little jealousy in a relationship is healthy. It’s always nice to know someone is afraid to lose you.” – J Cole

36. “Tupac was just so passionate about what he believes in and not afraid to say anything.” – J Cole

37. “The music becomes more pure and soulful when it’s true, and it has to be true these days with the way the internet works, and the way the game works, everyone wants authentic raps.” – J Cole

38. “I met Will Smith twice. I didn’t talk to him for too long but I was trying to let him know that my age group grew up watching him – he was the coolest guy on television and the coolest guy in movies.” – J Cole

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39. “I still wanna rap better than everybody else, and I wanna say important things.” – J Cole

40. “When I was in college my girl got me a job at the doctor’s office she was working at. I was a file clerk. No disrespect but I don’t think a man can do that job. It takes so much meticulous and precise file-keeping.” – J Cole

41. “I want people to follow their dreams, yes… but I’m not interested in telling young black kids how to be rappers… I want to show them that there’s so many other paths you can take, besides a rapper or basketball player.” – J Cole

42. “In this life ain’t no happy endings. Only pure beginnings followed by years of sinning and fake repentance.” – J Cole

43. “People think because I’ve got some success, I’ve made it, but in my eyes it’s like, ‘How long has Jay Z been in the business? How many albums has he got?’ Not that I’m trying to be Jay Z, but I am trying to be around for a long time.” – J Cole

44. “I had a lot of resistance, and not just to fame. I was always conscious of not changing.” – J Cole

45. “You can’t reverse fame. You can lose all the money, but you’ll never lose people knowing you.” – J Cole

46. “College isn’t in everyone’s hearts. I am living proof, though, that school doesn’t mess up your plans. It gives you more experiences to write about.” – J Cole

47. “It’s no coincidence that all the greatest rappers – whoever you put in your top five – I guarantee you they are great storytellers.” – J Cole

48. “When you’re a rapper, just a rapper, you have to kind of settle for whatever comes your way – if a beat is hot, you wanna rap on it, period.” – J Cole

49. “Keep grindin’ boy, your life can change in one year, And even when it’s dark out, the sun is shining somewhere.” – J Cole

50. “Hard to move on when you always regret one.” – J Cole

51. “I’m a super-duper over-analyzer. You mix that with self-doubt and pressure, and that’s never healthy.” – J Cole

52. “Life is a movie, pick your own role, Climb your own ladder or you dig your own hole.” – J Cole

Summary

Thanks for checking out this collection of quotes from J Cole! Don’t forget to share them on social media.

Which are your favorite J Cole quotes? Leave a comment below.

Artist Quotes

30 Awesome Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) Quotes

Published

10 months ago

Jun 19, 2023

Dan Western

MGK, another insane source of inspiration for hip hop fans;

It wasn’t until last year that I started listing to Machine Gun Kelly’s music, but I’ve become a big fan. Some of his lyrics are incredibly motivational for underdogs in live, the ones who are struggling, and need that little bit of strength to go on.

So I’ve had a look and a listen, and compiled some of the best MGK quotes from his own lyrics. These are some of the most inspirational things he’s said, so take a look and enjoy.

Feel free to share the list using the social buttons above if you know anyone else who is a big MGK fan.

Table of Contents

25 Awesome MGK Quotes

1. “Don’t ever look down, be comfortable with who you are, our flaws are what make us perfect.” – MGK

2. “You can’t see my tears in the rain, underneath it all we’re just the same.” – MGK

3. “I owe my life to my own advice, follow your motherf****n’ dreams until those visions come to life.” – MGK

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4. “Whatever you love could be taken away, so live like it’s your dying day.” – MGK

5. “Toast to the underdog, toast to the team, toast to the fact we this close to the dream.” – MGK

6. “Life is too short to live the same day twice. So each new day make sure you live your life.” – MGK

7. “I’m walking through the fire because there is no way around.” – MGK

8. “I don’t think that a lot of people understand, that the person who’s crazy enough to think he can change the world, actually can.” – MGK

9. “What is love, love is pain. Love is butterflies and stomach aches, love is looking out a windowpane. Tears dripping looking like you’re in the rain, for somebody you don’t even know, but somebody you may never see again.” – MGK

10. “I used to take orders, now I make bets. I used to scrub floors, now I sign checks. And I used to push carts, now I push songs. I used to be there, now I am so gone.” – MGK

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11. “When my times up on this earth and they bury me in that dirt, don’t say that I ain’t milk this life for everything that it’s worth.” – MGK

12. “I came out of a dying city, brought back life. Everything they said I couldn’t do I did about twice.” – MGK

13. “Yeah, and they told me all that glitters ain’t gold. But I really wanna shine right now. And they told me the sky’s the limit so I wonder if I can fly right now. Yeah, so I spread my wings, jumped up, and lived my dreams.” – MGK

14. “And if you ever have a dream, don’t be scared to chase that shit, man. You can have whatever you want in this life. Don’t let anyone tell you different.” – MGK

15. “Heroes are remembered. Legends never die. I ain’t dyin’ any time soon.” – MGK

16. “I used to have someone at 3AM that I could call. Now it just rings and I don’t get nothing at all.” – MGK

17. “Trust is like an eraser. It gets smaller with every mistake.” – MGK

18. “As my world turns, the heart beats, not only in my chest, but the heart of the streets.” – MGK

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19. “I had a dream that the world changed, and for a minute there was no pain.” – MGK

20. “Never make permanent decisions on temporary feelings.” – MGK

21. “I dedicate this to my teachers that never believed in me, and the mother that conceived but ended up leaving me.” – MGK

22. I love you, and you may not see right now. But I’m beggin’ for forgiveness, I’m on my knees right now.” – MGK

23. Question, what if tomorrow never comes and everything you said couldn’t be undone?” – MGK

24. “If you ain’t living your life then you’re dead, and sleep is its cousin so I shot my bed.” – MGK

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25. “Follow in my steps, then you walkin’ a green mile. Trees in my pockets, like my denim’s a greenhouse.” – MGK

26. “I made a dollar out of cents, got a whole nation’s respect before I was 18. And I did that without a check. See, I used to be a lame. Now, I’m posted in the game, in a top spot, tough drop. Money ain’t a thing.” – MGK

27. “People want to be my friend. But where the f*** were y’all when I was ten, eleven or twelve getting bullied and beat up in the gym? I couldn’t never get a girl. Now, all the sudden I’m the man. Students try to get back cool with me again. F*** ’em all!” – MGK

28. “I wanna get that dream and live my life, with no Rihanna, no T.I. I’m just living for today, no tomorrow, no pause, no comma, real shit, no persona. I’m enjoying every pussy like a virgin or Madonna.” – MGK

29. “Hold up, let me put my cool back on. Wouldn’t be here without my team. I put my crew back on. And I’m a rapper but I will not put the jewels back on. My fans love Kells, let me put the fool back on.” – MGK

30. “If you ever thought that you won’t make it, soon as it get hard you just can’t take it- no matter what you going through, keep waiting ’cause you gon’ make it. You gon’ make it.” – MGK

Bonus: MGK Picture Quote

Summary

If these quotes weren’t quite the sort of hip-hop quotes you were looking for, then how about checking out quotes from Eminem?

Are there any MGK quotes in this article that stand out to you? Leave a comment below.

Artist Quotes

22 Golden Lupe Fiasco Quotes From His Lyrics

Published

10 months ago

Jun 19, 2023

Dan Western

Lupe Fiasco is an American rapper, record producer and entrepreneur;

We put together this collection of Lupe Fiasco quotes solely contained within his lyrics. Some of these quotes are absolutely golden!

Here are 22 of the best Lupe Fiasco quotes:

Table of Contents

22 Golden Lupe Fiasco Quotes

1. “If talk is cheap, then my silence is diamonds.” – Lupe Fiasco

2. “Love always shines, that’s how I’ll find you. In case you forgot, I hope this reminds you.” – Lupe Fiasco

3. “We can’t do nothing about the past, but we can do something about the future that we have.” – Lupe Fiasco

4. “I wish I couldn’t feel. I wish I couldn’t love. I wish I could stop loving you so much.” – Lupe Fiasco

5. “You would never know if you could ever be, if you never try, you would never see.” – Lupe Fiasco

6. “I think that all the silence is worse than all the violence. Fear is such a weak emotion, that’s why I despise it.” – Lupe Fiasco

7. “Self-respect first. Sexy second.” – Lupe Fiasco

8. “The truth is limitless in its range. If you drop a ‘T’ and look at it in reverse it could hurt.” – Lupe Fiasco

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“Life ain’t made to come around twice, that’s why I gotta get it right.” – Lupe Fiasco

10. “Fear is such a weak emotion, that’s why I despise it.” – Lupe Fiasco

11. “I’m just trying to do the opposite of left, as long as there’s the opposite of death, ya know. Yes, ya test and I just might bring the opposite of life, ’till there’s no one the opposite of right.” – Lupe Fiasco

12. “Things are getting out of control, feel like I’m running out of soul. You are getting too heavy to hold, think I’ll be letting you go.” – Lupe Fiasco

13. “My greatest enemy at one point was myself, and so now once I gt over the fear of myself I don’t fear any man. I never have.” – Lupe Fiasco

14. “That should be the measure of success for everyone. It’s not money, it’s not fame, it’s not celebrity; my index of success is happiness.” – Lupe Fiasco

15. “What starts in clouded minds finished in the rain.” – Lupe Fiasco

16. “But it was good while it lasted, but when it’s dead, put it in a casket.” – Lupe Fiasco

17. “I find it somewhat liberating to jump, to dive into things that are the opposite of me.” – Lupe Fiasco

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“Never stop doing your best just because someone doesn’t give you credit.” – Lupe Fiasco

19. “People don’t understand that where I come from, everyone is either a convict, been in jail, been in a gang, is a hooligan of some sorts. But those are my brothers, my family and the people I travel with. Those are the people that I roll with.” – Lupe Fiasco

20. “Why kill you when I can just not teach you and get the same results.” – Lupe Fiasco

21. “Holy apartments in the gardens in which the rivers flow. Thank you for all your blessings and all of your miracles.” – Lupe Fiasco

22. “How can land be owned by another man? Warns one can not steal what was given as a gift. Is the sky owned by birds and the river owned by fish?” – Lupe Fiasco

23. “When you start creating opinion, and you start creating difference of opinion, you’re doing something. People are actually sitting down and critiquing. A lot of the stuff people hate, they really don’t. They only look at the outer shell. They don’t really get into it.” – Lupe Fiasco

24. “I do this for the sake of myself. It’s a selfish process. I don’t really have any expectations from anyone for your comments or your reviews or your previews.” – Lupe Fiasco

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25. “I trust people to be human. Sometimes you do things that make amazing amounts of sense; sometimes you do things that don’t make any sense whatsoever.” – Lupe Fiasco

26. “Everybody has their opinion on what’s ‘real,’ and what’s they choose to listen to and their personal preference. Whether they’re 2 years old or 200 years old. And people can listen to whatever they want.” – Lupe Fiasco

27. “You expect certain things. You build up in your mind how it’s supposed to go down. When you get a record deal, you think you’re supposed to get X, Y, and Z. It doesn’t happen like that. You’re like ‘Oh, this isn’t as exciting as I thought it was going to be.'” – Lupe Fiasco

28. “The only person who really impressed me with making new music is Cudi. Everyone else seems to be jumping on the same music, the producer-made stuff, but the one person that’s made new music to me is Cudi.” – Lupe Fiasco

29. “Never apologize for being real… reality is the enemy of fakes, frauds, liars and protectors of ignorance. It scares them.” – Lupe Fiasco

30. “I find it somewhat liberating to jump, to dive into things that are the opposite of me.” – Lupe Fiasco