Erik Parker Quotes

United States, Artist
1968

Erik Parker is a New York-based artist. He has had solo exhibitions at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut; the De Appel in Amsterdam; the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas; Colette in Paris; Honor Fraser in Los Angeles; and Galleri Faurschou in Copenhagen, Denmark.

If you see yourself reflected in art, you feel validated.

Erik Parker
- Feels
- Reflected
Hip hop has evolved, thankfully. Kids are making music that is important to their lives and outlooks.

Erik Parker
- Important
- Outlook

All the songs are pieces to the puzzle. They each represent something different. So it's really difficult to say one song represents the album.

Erik Parker
- Difficult
- Pieces
Older generations can sometimes look down on today's hip hop but I refuse that mindset. I remember how hurt I was when older people told me that Run-D.M.C. was jungle music or that it was not music at all. Or that LL Cool J was not art.

Erik Parker
- People
- Remember
- Running
Every piece of music is not for everybody.

Erik Parker
- Music
- Pieces
Hip hop is still strong. As an art form, music helps people express themselves, find meaning in their own lives and connect with their tribes.

Erik Parker
- Strong
- Helping
- Tribes
We need to do stuff we've always done, even though you might not like it.

Erik Parker
- Done
- Stuff
Nas' Illmatic blew my mind when I first heard it. The poetry was done on such a high level that in a way, it validated our existence, our culture. He used the language of the street at the time and made it art. Art tends to be validating.

Erik Parker
- Culture
- Existence
- Levels

The things Nas' Illmatic was saying were sometimes hard realities but it was done on such a high level, I felt I could point to him as a representative. Someone who put my struggle and my worldview into poetry.

Erik Parker
There are songs and artists now who are trying to do the same thing: be honest to their experiences.

Erik Parker
- Song
- Being
- Honest