Kanye West Quotes

I wanted to put out a solo record because I was stuck on a major label and sick of it.

I'm not going to do the Ben Harper house record or the Ben Harper drum 'n' bass record.

Jimmy Iovine signed me personally to a million-dollar contract, and I lost my identity for a long time. That system is so predicated on making a hit, or you're out of here.

Because I was independent for such a long time, and I was always just feeding my fans - every month, I'd be giving them something new. So I had to adjust to the process of making a record. And after signing with a label, there are just certain things you can't do anymore. It was frustrating at first, but as the months went by, I got used to it.

I never thought I would get signed to a label.

You wait all your life to be signed by a major label, and then when they sign you, they don't want you to do what you want to do.

I often call Daptone the Motown and Stax of today. But in some ways it's different. At Motown, a lot of the musicians didn't get recognized, music got stolen, and people didn't get paid. Or the label would just throw them a pinch of money for their songs. That is one thing we're not doing. Anything anyone writes here, we get a percentage.

Berry Gordy discovered more superstars than anyone I know. I grew up in that environment, and I know you can develop talent and market it.

'TTM' started off being a feature. A producer wanted me to just hop on the beat, like a Diplo type of thing. When I recorded the song, I liked it a lot, and I figured, instead of them paying me to do this, I'd rather just use this for my project, and we can just get money together.

Manny Smith & Interscope CEO John Janick understand me and my vision for myself and also my label. Interscope gave me the opportunity to take over the game completely, and that's what I'm going to do.

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.

I wanted a label that reflects the times... a center for artists who want to express themselves. That's what makes Interscope unique. It's about freedom.

When I got my first email from a record label, I decided I didn't want to go in with just one song, so I sat down and kept on writing.

Signing with Sony/ATV was life changing for me.

I've been with Def Jam Records for five years and they gave me my first recording contract so for that I'm forever grateful.

We as label executives, we have to know the limitations of the artists.

If a new artist comes, and he doesn't have a good record label to invest in him, then there is no point.

Labels and people didn't know if i could write original music or anything.

Like everything at Big Machine Label Group, the music comes out when it's ready.

I like work, I like song writing, and I like the history of Atlantic Records. They've sat in the studio with so many artists - like Ray Charles, for example - and created something amazing. As a label, they seem to be great at growing bands rather than telling you how to do it.

I'm 45 and I don't have time to spend two years of my life bringing in producers and dragging the record around the planet.

I'd like to make music for a long time, and all different types of music. Maybe I'll start my own label to get other artists off the ground.

I always knew I could rap, and in a sense I always rapped. And I've always behaved like a rapper. But I started to take it seriously when I recorded with the people of Brick when I started to receive some money.

I feel that puttin' in the hours and years in the studio, honing my craft, definitely played a part, me consciously networking and presenting myself as an artist that's commercially sellable led to me meeting the right people, which in turn led to them givin' me positive referrals to other people, which in turn led to me signin' a deal.

If you're an unknown artist you're lucky to get an hour in a studio - it's a hierarchy and if you don't have hits, you don't get recorded again.