Statik Selektah Quotes

Look at someone like Ke$ha. I wouldn't say she's got the most rangy, incredible voice, but she's got a thing. She stands for something, and people are buying into that.

Popularity has everything to do with business and nothing to do with music.

People know 'Milkshake' like a jingle, but they don't really know who I am.

I went from a playing in a bar on a bar stool for free beer and tip money, where people weren't paying attention to me, to now I've got their attention. It's up to me to what I feed them with my music. It's up to me how I do that. I've put a lot of thought into how great the songs are, and how I want people to perceive me.

Rappers should just be able to perform what they create and satisfy the people that like and love them.

I am a touring artist - I get a kick out of it, like, a huge kick.

Bands like Culture Club and artists like me, you tend to concentrate on the live arena because that's where you can be your most authentic. That's where you have the most power.

The songs were there before the band was there, and it's my songs. And it's like, we're not in the 1950s. We can't call ourselves, like, 'The Revolvers' - it just doesn't work that way. And 'The Lukas Graham Band' just sounded wrong.

You don't write songs, really, when you're on tour.

I love singing opera, but the world surrounding it is not me. I want to be barefoot. I want to be in control of my own career. I want to put on a show. In the opera world, you wait for people to call you until you get to a certain level. In the folk world, it's a lot easier to have control from the beginning.

The thing is, I'll always be a touring artist. It's what I am; that's what I love doing.

I'm not just a rapper. I like to produce music.

Not to name names, but a lot of pop female artists you see, they don't write their own songs. Lot of top male artists and boy band artists, they don't write their own songs. They're just a product. They sell, they sell, they sell. They don't care about musical integrity, any of that kind of stuff.

When I started making music, I figured the name Rico Nasty would give a background of who I am.

I'd like to eventually be known as someone who emerged as a songwriter.

If people really like your music but you're not selling so many records, I don't think it really matters.

When I first was a part of 'The Monster,' I really wanted to put it out under my name, but no record label thought it was good enough - until Eminem liked it.

People just want the hottest records. It's not really about all the names attached to the project. It's about the work.

From Jay-Z to Nas to Kanye to whoever, I'm just not the type to say, 'Hey, let me get on your album.' If they want me, they're going to reach out and say, 'I need a joint from you.'

We didn't want to be tied to that damn teenybopper market. We tried to convince our record company that we could do more than silly AM hits, but they wouldn't listen.

Brand matters. And ESPN is, by far, the most popular sports brand. People trust ESPN.

As soon as I'm in the studio for too long, I wanna be out on tour.

I think the reason that we do things the way we do is because we respect the customer. And I don't look at what we do as anything less than any other brand.

Brands don't just care about views. Brands care about their brand first.

I don't want to be a rapper that puts out, like, 600 songs a year.