DJ Premier Quotes

Very few artists are as independent as I am mentally, physically, spiritually and technically. I sit in my home studio and record things by myself. I don't need to get anybody's approval or validation.

I've never let producers tell me what to do. Even when I was making television, I always did what I wanted to do, and if I couldn't, I didn't do it. It was a freedom that, these days, young directors starting out don't have.

I don't necessarily love all the collaborations that I've done; the more I work with other people, the more I realize that I want to work with myself.

I couldn't be an artist who was told what to do, what to be, what to sing.

I've always wanted to keep my own personal creative space, and do everything myself.

I'm building my own brand outside of the Peas. It's not Black Eyed Peas, it's Zumbao. Zumbao is different from the Peas because it's all on me and I can't feed off of anybody other than me.

I didn't come to Hollywood to be subservient to anyone else's vision.

If I'm going to go out to be a solo artist, it's because I want to do something different without having to wait on someone else's schedule or hobbies or be limited by other people's prejudices. I'd be kind of stupid not to exercise that.

I don't like people telling me what to do, or trying to MAKE me write songs.

I'm not interested so much in collaboration. You see that from the history of my albums.

The way I look at a solo project is, I create what I want with whoever I want.

I've been lucky enough to have had the luxury of being able to make the picture I've wanted to make each time on my own terms and without compromise.

Yeah, I like to be the maker of the art. And I like and want the money. But I don't really dig being famous.

I do love being solo because I can have more of my own creative input to every aspect of my career.

I think the moment you start trying to please a fan base is when you start going downhill. I'm going to always, always write about what I want, even if it doesn't necessarily cater to most of them.

I don't much like being directed. I enjoy being allowed to play.

I think we're quite unique in that we do have our own sound and approach and we don't really care what's going on elsewhere... we've never wanted to be part of another trend or movement.

John Waters has certainly gotten to a place in his life where he doesn't do anything he doesn't want to do. He's always been that way, but at this point, he's greatly respected for it.

I financed and made my own films from the start. My path has been autonomous and independent, so I don't have any horror stories about glass ceilings and expectations and tense studio meetings.

I've gone places where they've told me what I need to do, what I need to say, who I need to be, what moves I need to perform. And at Impact I get to just be me. I have creative control to be me and do what I want.

If someone, a director, tries to tell me the way to do something, I'm not good at adapting. I need time to go away and think about things.

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've avoided situations where I wouldn't have creative freedom.

I would design for anybody who gives me a free hand and who doesn't sit on my head.

When I can make music and don't have to think about anyone else's ideas or voice - when I'm making something that only I can make - it feels good. It's nice when you can find a sound that only you can make. No one else can make 'Cosmogramma.' No one else can make 'Until the Quiet Comes.'