Ali Shaheed Muhammad Quotes
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As an artist, sometimes you'd rather not do the interview. You might feel the interviewer isn't educated on you... or what you're about.
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That's always been the process of our music, in a sense, keeping it simple, not being so heavy that you are beating people over the head, it's just weighted down and it's like, "oohhh I can't relate." People are able to relate because we talked about things that everyone has experienced, it doesn't matter your race or genre. Music was your mainstay. There was something in our element of music that connected.
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I think that any story that intends on being culturally authentic and true to life experiences will be a great story. Even if that culture isn't a hip-hop-centric one.
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I think at some point there may be artists who will get fed up, and they deliberately want to use their art as a means to rock the waves a little bit. And instead of doing the status quo, they'll deliberately go out to really make a change. I think Kendrick Lamar is an example of that.
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Some people become artists for whatever reasons. Some of it's frivolous. And I don't think there should be any shame on that, but I think there comes a point in life where you want to offer more.
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Discipline is not consistency, and the reason why I say that is - like, for an example, making prayer five times a day, that establishes routine and consistency. That I can do. And having certain fundamental consistencies in business, can do. But time management, outside of that, that's where that's a challenge.
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You should be able to be influenced by art no matter where it comes from.
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I've never been good at getting on people's nerves, and from the little quotes I read, it's like, 'You're not doing enough in your life if you're not making someone angry.' And I'm like, 'Man. But my life - I seem to help people get somewhere, so am I not? Should I be more aggressive?' That's the way my inside voice sounds.
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I am the ambassador to the world. I use music to talk to the world - to try to unite masses. To try to spark conversations. To try and evoke legislation to change that'll really be for the people. That's behind-the-scenes kind of thing for me. And that's what the music is for me.
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Here in America, our use of time is not harmonious with humanity's better spirit.
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My mom used to be concerned 'cause I would never go outside. And when I'd go outside, I'd have friends, but I just was always in the house listening to music, practicing DJing all the time. Then my uncle got a keyboard, drum machine, so I'd just be in the house at 12, 13, just, like, messing up his presets. And my mom was like, 'My son is strange.'
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Hip-hop has had this history where the predecessor just is so harsh and not nice to the next coming generation that it creates this separation and this gap.
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Our records are commodities. We're looking to make a sale. The radio stations are looking to get the advertising dollars. The end.
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When it comes to music, something I'm passionate about, and knowing the reach and the power and how it transforms, it saves lives. Music does.
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Music is an important thing of energy. And there are a lot of wonderful aspects that come with it and vibrations, the physical vibrations, the movement of notes through an instrument and creating a wave that resonates into our spirit.
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Corporations always are controlling things, and we have the ability every day to do something about that. Every day.
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But I could not imagine having a child and the child not having a relationship with music that opens up their mind and their imagination and teaches them things.
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I'm a very good listener. I think that's one of the things that makes me a good producer. But it's a challenge for me because my custom is to listen and absorb what someone is saying and take it in, and not necessarily comment.
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I'm a believer in the nap. I don't care what it is. 15 minutes. Five hours. If you know someone's going to come back and come to work.
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Because I express myself through the music, I want to be responsible in that expression and how it carries on well after I'm here. But that's just me.
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The DJ still has the relationship with the people, I believe. I don't know to call the DJ 'the ambassadors' or what, but we still are connecting the dots, getting the good stuff and passing it on to the people. DJs still have relevance, even with the technology that elevates the DJ beyond being a selector.
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Nothing new is on the earth right now. Technology, the things that we're discovering, it's been sitting here just waiting for someone to brush it off and go, 'Oh, let me read that. Let me see how I can use this information.' And it doesn't matter if it's from a tech perspective or a philosophical perspective.
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Anything in this life that goes against love, we all should fight it.
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I keep saying if I ever get a good amount of quiet time that I want to learn to play cello. It's a very warm instrument. The tone of the cello and the movement - I don't know what is; I love it so much.