Rza Quotes

The business has changed so much that they're able - we're able these days in the music industry to be able to control our own destiny.

Mostly I've never let record companies become involved with my music, which was a very smart thing that my first manager Dave Robinson did, to keep them out of it.

I like directing myself; I feel like it's one less person to give notes to. There's an efficiency in it. I'm also kind of a control freak. So I like the fact that it gives me more control in the overall picture.

Whether you hear me come out with another album or whether you hear any one of the Clan members, we're always going to involve everybody. When I look at 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Part II,' I look at that as a Wu album. You feel me? Even though it was my brand and my thing that I done, I had my dudes on it.

With Crosby, Stills, and Nash and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young... we're very strong individuals, and we want our lives to be led the way we want them to.

Basically we just created our own label, but again we just did it to document our own music and create our own thing, so the major labels were just always out of our picture, we're not interested.

Putting out my album on my own label has been a great experience for me. It's been very inspiring. It's like a new start for me and having all this creative freedom is so liberating and exciting.

The movie business is very difficult but the music business is just impossible. So I'll play in bands and record and play songs with other people, but for me it's a form of expression that all I need is me. I don't need cameras or agents, I can just have a piano and sing and feel totally verified.

Democracy can tie your hands in a rock 'n' roll band, you know? It can be a great thing, but if you've got a certain amount of vision and you write a lot of songs, it's sometimes better to have your own band and make your own decisions.

It's really nice to be able to do what I'm doing without having to compromise with another musician.

If you're playing with a number of people, there are all sorts of textures, all kinds of possibilities you can get into. So why just play a theme together and then take solos?

When you play with Miles, you are on your own, and then it's you who decides what to contribute.

I mean, being a solo artist is very different than being a member of a band. It's absolutely different. The whole situation is very different - situations where you can't really compare, it's so very different. But I found happiness.

When it comes to being in a band or going solo, one is collaborative, and one is not. But generally speaking, when going solo, I am the boss. People can contribute ideas, but I am the boss. When collaborating, you make compromises and look for a common ground.

My priority is having the ability to be creative and to come up with the right decisions and not be fettered. If there are a lot of people involved in decision making, it can become frustrating.

Honestly, I never felt like I wasn't an artist on my own. I always felt like the music I made was mine, whether it was part of a collaboration with people.

I write these songs and I like the idea of letting the band interpret it as they will. This band is like any band; it's not just me. This isn't just a way for me to play my songs. There are four distinct artistic voices, and they deserve to be expressed.

Attention, it just comes and goes. Since we don't have a major label, it's like, what are we gonna do next? You have to make your own decisions.

Everybody in Odd Future is their own artist - they have their own friends and their own ideas for things - so we all spent quite a lot of time separated.

I don't think you can reach the same highs working in a band as you can on your own.

I have my own label and I'm my first artist.

At the end of the day, I earn a living by creating music and not sharing it with anyone because I am my own master. I know my worth.

When I work with other people, I have to try to make their vision happen. With my own, I don't think about it. The music has its own kind of agency.

I don't have to worry about what the average record company person thinks because I am the record company person.

I've always been independent with my music. I've always run my own music label.