Tupac Shakur Quotes

I feel like I have some stuff that matches 'Fight Song,' not in necessarily the message exactly but in the emotion and honesty.

I think people do want to relate their entertainment to what's going on in their lives. Not everything.

The way I write my songs is that I have to believe what I'm writing about, and that's why they always end up being so personal - because the kind of artists I like, they convince me, they totally win me over straight away in that thing. Like, 'Oh my God, this song is totally about me.'

I would much rather have watched Jill Clayburgh in 'An Unmarried Woman' than 'Star Wars.' Even though I saw that movie when I was 11, I related emotionally to being left and thrown in a trash can on the side of the road. Her damage - I got it. I didn't understand Han Solo at all.

I like movies I can relate to.

The character is close to me, except that I haven't lived through those situations, so it's not completely me.

When I look at female characters, I want to recognize myself in them: my trials, my tribulations as a mother, as a lover, as a daughter.

When the TV version of Annie came on, I was drawn to it. It was the struggle of this poor kid in this environment and how her life changed. It immediately resonated.

It's warts and all in my songs, and I think that's why people can relate to them.

I try to do women's-point-of-view comedy. The joke is, 'This is what I think; there's the truth.' I try to think of stuff that's real broad, but the more personal it is, the more universal it is. All my friends go through the same stuff.

I'll never sing something that I've never been through. So even if I didn't write it, I have to have at least experienced it.

People see truth in my films. That's what they react to, and that's what they relate to.

What I've learned over the years is that the craft of songwriting is trying to take the personal and make it universal - or in the case of telling a story, taking the universal and making it personal.

You can't be a human and a guy and not connect with Pippin... I often feel like Pippin. I come offstage sometimes like 'Oh my God, I've got to do this next time! I've gotta go there. I'm going to make this choice.'

I always assumed people wanted to hear me tell stories, but then I had 'The Sunset Tree.' It turned out, my own stories were the ones that registered with people the hardest.

I only record songs that touch me in some way, ones that I can relate to.

But in film you always watch situations or stories that you really have no relation to. A lot of times just because there's no personal connection doesn't mean you can't connect with the film or the characters in the film.

Everything is an open book. I don't speak on other people's hardship, but if it happened in my life or something that has been an experience on my particular journey, I'm going to talk about it. That's what my fan base appreciates the most. I'm universal. You can relate to the things I say or that I go through.

As a fan, I connect with realness. Whether it's strong or vulnerable, if it's real, I can connect with it.

There's a certain edge about cruelty. If you're honest about it, most people wince, but say it had to be said.

Issues become much more real to me when I have stories back home.

I use myself as the barometer to gauge what is scary. I like to think if something scares me, then there's a very good chance an audience will feel the same way.

I felt like an outsider, so listening to a bunch of outsiders' music like Bjork and Patti Smith made me feel better. But at the same time, I didn't have anyone singing specifically 100% about things I could relate to.

The inspiration to write a song comes to me when something has happened to me more than once. If it's happened to me more than once, it's probably happened to other people.

My music is straightforward because I want to give people me and let them know they're not alone in going through the things that they go through.