Kamasi Washington Quotes

I kind of always wanted my own music to just sound like, like me, I suppose, like if I was music it would be the music I make, I think.

My music is the most 'me' thing about me. Everything is in my music.

No matter what you do, your person comes through. You can't completely change yourself on the screen. I had in mind someone colder and more in control, but I couldn't do it. This human note just crept in and maybe it's better.

Singing is just another outlet to express what I feel and to show everyone who I really am. I really don't talk about my personal life that much in interviews because that's my life, but with music, the way I write explains who I am.

I bring all of myself to my roles. You only see me. You don't see anything else but me. That is who's there. They're manifestations of my own self.

People think I'm just sort of this P. T. Barnum, razzle-dazzle guy. They think I go out of my way to be outlandish and theatrical at the expense of having emotions. They don't get that there's another side to me, and I keep trying to show that other side.

People choose whatever projects they've seen that I've done over the years, and whichever one is their favorite is the only one they care about. But I realized that none of those were my voice or representative of what my thoughts and feelings were.

I feel like I've just got to be me and let my play speak for itself.

As an artist, what you do represents who you are. Coming from a genuine, honest place - that's what I'm trying to do.

You've got to show your soul otherwise you're just a piece of equipment.

I would rather die than be a serious artist, or a fake artist.

Music is such an intensely personal thing for me, and I knew if I was going to do it, it would be in my own way.

Love the art in yourself and not yourself in the art.

Know that there is so much more to you than your body. It's not just about perfecting the steps; you must trust your instincts to tell deep, emotional stories through the steps that you are performing.

I don't think songs have to be like these super-#1-smash-hit-sounding songs, because I think it's more important that it's like, 'Hey! This is coming out of me. This is something I connect with. This is something that I like to sing.'

If I was just to shut up, I wouldn't be a true artist.

Music is just kind of an expression of who I am. It's what I do.

I can't not be who I am.

I think most of my songs are based on an emotion and in every song I write, there's at least a partial truth.

If I'm not invested emotionally, the artwork doesn't feel emotional.

We all have our ambassador that we send forward into the world. We all have people we are varying degrees of real with. There's a public face we all wear. As I get older and more comfortable in my skin, I am trying to combine the two so the real me is there all the time.

I must be very clear in one thing... Being a pageant girl is not who I am or what defines me.

Mainly, I don't like it when music is made solely to impress people or in order to please business people; it doesn't sound good to me. If you're making music in order to become famous or loved by the masses... that's not what I'm about. When somebody's making music for the wrong reasons, I hear it right away.

Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.

It's the face and the body and the thing that we hide inside that can keep us from the world, but my voice is my voice.