Donovan Quotes

Thinking about the artists I've loved through the years, my favorites are the ones who've made music with cultural, societal and political significance.

O thou who art able to write a Book, which once in the two centuries or oftener there is a man gifted to do, envy not him whom they name City-builder, and inexpressibly pity him whom they name Conqueror or City-burner! Thou too art a Conqueror and Victor; but of the true sort, namely over the Devil: thou too hast built what will outlast all marble and metal, and be a wonder-bringing City of the Mind, a Temple and Seminary and Prophetic Mount, whereto all kindreds of the Earth will pilgrim.

I believe the man who will go down in posterity is the man who paints his own time and the scenes of everyday life around him.

It is not about writing those hits again. I am sure I could write them, but it is about the sensibilities.

Films and gramophone records, music, books and buildings show clearly how vigorously a man's life and work go on after his 'death,' whether we feel it or not, whether we are aware of the individual names or not. There is no such thing as death according to our view!

I originally wanted to embrace the imagery and forthrightness of rap music. There are some interesting, dynamic voices in rap. But I find most of it irresponsible in its overt violence and commercialization of anger. As artists, we believe we can will action through language. If that's the case, we have to take responsibility for what we say.

Music is always a commentary on society.

I felt that the elegance of pop music was that it was reflective: we were holding up a mirror to our audience and reflecting them philosophically and spiritually, rather than just reflecting society or something called 'rock and roll.'

Always, however brutal an age may actually have been, its style transmits its music only.

True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time.

Film, therefore, is part of society, not distant from it, easy to experience for people regardless of class.

I think that hip-hop has done what it was supposed to have done, which is it defied all the laws of what is statistically a music genre and what statistically is not a music genre. Because it wasn't supposed to be here.

I think hip-hop is no more misogynistic than America is as a society. I just think hip-hop is a lot more brash, a lot more bold, a lot more loquacious. There are a lot more words that go into a hip-hop song than go into a regular song.

With rap, it's a funny thing. You can say things, and people can take 'em the way they wanna take 'em.

When I say 'hip-hop is dead,' basically, America is dead. There is no political voice. Music is dead.

I'm not proud of the lyrics to 'Shake It Up.'

Speaking out against rap music is useless, and it's futile. The reality is there's criticism for everything, but Jay-Z is one of the most remarkable artists of our time of any genre, and as a hip-hop artist he carries the weight of that art form with such splendor and grace and genius.

Hip-hop's always reached out to kids. If you look at the last 10 big albums it might seem ironic. But when I look at the history of this music it's always had a lot of positivity.

Observe that it is a great error to believe that all mediums of art are not closely tied to their time.

My whole thing is to inspire, to better people, to better myself forever in this thing that we call rap, this thing that we call hip hop.

I felt I had an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of great soul musicians of the past, who made a lot of social and political commentary through their music.

I think my first album opened a lot of doors for me to push the freedom of speech to the limit.

'Rapper's Delight' came from the TV entertainment show 'Good Times,' but when the times called for a shift in the narrative, artists answered, covering brutal truths in their rhymes that were uncomfortable for society to confront.

Music has always been my first love, and I appreciate how a great musician can bring awareness to tough issues through their work.

Cinema is very important to me. I derive a lot of strength from this art form, and I believe that it is very impactful socio-politically.