Afeni Shakur Quotes

The consolidation of the music business has made it difficult to encourage styles like the blues, all of which deserve to be celebrated as part of our most treasured national resources.

No one would ever have heard Marcus Hummon's version of 'Cowboy, Take Me Away' if he hadn't recorded it on the Sampler. I would have heard it because I hear him sing all the time, but no one else would have been able to enjoy it, and now they can and will be able to for years.

I want to let fans know how much I appreciate them and how much I appreciate them showing interest in our music and me personally.

I've got fans and letters from Israel, France Germany, Sweden, London, Africa. They all saying pretty much the same thing, 'Yo, we love you, we need you, put some more music out, please!'

Twenty years from now, will we listen to Lady Gaga? No. She might think she is making a stand for the freaks and the weirdos. But they're not going to have any decent music to play, are they?

I think the most exciting thing is that you expect people our age to know the music, but actually a lot of kids know the music, and if anything is left, we have left really good music, and that's the important part, not the mop-tops or whatever.

Hip-hop is such a disposable art form from a business standpoint. It never treats its artists as art; it never treats its product as art.

I would love to expose multiple younger generations to Frank's music. It's not an easy task because It's not ever going to be plastered all over the radio for the masses.

Late 20th century music was a really important thing. It changed the world, and I'm part of that, and now I'm part of the museum that celebrates that.

However, yes, especially as one gets older, you know, you really hope that your music will become more generally available, even though some of the performances might be riddled with faults.

My fan base is really expanding into an inter-generational thing - it's what every artist probably hopes for.

It just blows me away that I am on, I don't know what generation of fans.

I don't have a crystal ball, but I'm willing to bet one of my arms right now that as long as there's electricity, Ramones music is going to be relevant.

Honestly, I was a fan before I got the opportunity to be an artist. I was the kind of fan who would stand in line or post a cover video.

We have to let the younger generations take our music - and approach it the way they want - but just teach them where it all comes from.

I can tell you what I really love: when I run into people on the street that tell me they have connected with my music.

After Chuck Berry died, it seemed web sites popped up like mushrooms to show where he'd taken the guitar introduction to 'Johnny B. Goode' from to prove that his music was nothing new, that it was only ignorance, or vanity, that led his listeners to think that not only was the music different - they might be, too.

If we want to share the message of the composers, to give good things back to humanity, we have to dig deep while we can.

If it hadn't been for record people like Ralph Peer, the Chess brothers, and Alan Lomax, then life would've been unbelievably dull, and I would've been sacking groceries somewhere and probably, at this point, running a little 7-Eleven down by the airport.

Sales have never been a source of joy for me in terms of my music. It's really about who's turning up at your shows, what people are saying about it.

I just don't want any songs to go unheard.

We've been in the game for so long, it's great to be honored for our contributions to the game of hip-hop and be told that we're not forgotten about, that our music is timeless.

Music is fragile: people die, and it's forgotten.

It's kind of weird to think about our fan base now, where our hard-core fans have kids, families and jobs.

A lot of our fans, they always say Salt-N-Pepa and Spinderella was the soundtrack to their lives.