Janelle Monae (Janelle Monáe Robinson) Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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It's a luxury to not have to just be performing with other people to have my music heard.
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In a movie, you're raw material, just a hue of some color and the director makes the painting.
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Anyone can wear any color. The question is about finding the right shade. There is a momentary trend to dark colors because when the financials are not that great, people go for black, navy and grey.
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I am a friend when I need to be a friend, a father when I need to be a father, a musician when music calls. I switch roles accordingly.
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The problem with writing a monthly book is that you're going through your work like a man running for a bus, red-faced and out of breath. There isn't time for reflection or critical self-examination.
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My specialty is two things: music or really strange stories.
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I base myself in African-derived music. Blues is one of the modern forms of African music.
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I play the harmonium. I had learned to use the guitar for a bit before becoming a part of the music industry, but unfortunately didn't pursue it fully. I would love to learn to play the piano because it holds a unique connect for me in terms of rhythm.
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There's so much music in Austin, and it's all so different.
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I love classic rock, rock and roll, that's the top notch. I love soul - bluesy music as well.
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If architecture is frozen music then music must be liquid architecture.
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Usually, the music inspires the lyrics. The lyrics just sort of fall off like a bunch of crumbs from the melody. That's all I want them to be - crumbs. I don't want to work any kind of fabricated message.
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My music has a high irritation factor. I've always tried to say something. Eccentric lyrics about eccentric people. Often it was a joke. But I would plead guilty on the grounds that I prefer eccentricity to the bland.
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Music used to be a lot more about angst for me. Now it's the only form of meditation I do.
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It's Will Ferrell, he does Will Ferrell movies. But if you really look at it, he tries to do something different with each one, whether it's an action cop movie like 'The Other Guys' or doing 'Talladega Nights' going into red state America or 'Casa de Mi Padre' or 'Stranger Than Fiction,' which is more of a drama.
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Even now, at 82 years old, if I don't learn something every day, you know what I think? It's a day lost. Now, I don't practice every day. I just take the guitar, swear at it. But I should be swearing at myself. But I fool with music. I'm doing something musically all the time. And my ears are wide open for anything I can hear.
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There are few cases in which mere popularity should be considered a proper test of merit; but the case of song-writing is, I think, one of the few.
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You want to reach people, but you also want to reach them in the most authentic way. You now have a mass market and an audience that's listening, but they're in love with a song that means absolutely nothing to you.
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Before the camera, you only had secondhand takes - someone had to tell you what they saw or draw a picture of it or sing a song. Because of the camera, sometimes to our horror, we now know everything that happens in the world - things that before we were sheltered from.
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Lyft came out of a hackathon project where we were trying to figure out what does Zimride look like on mobile.
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I'd rather be a lady of the evening than a feminist.
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I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do.
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I'll refer to my music in color, like 'This song needs to be bright red.'
