Vince Staples Quotes

We always talked [with Andrew Ridgeley] about when it would happen - we always knew that I would go on to have a solo career.

You know, like, there's songs like "Valerie" and "Bang Bang Bang" that I was so proud of. And, you know, the level of success that they had - if they were little cult hits meant that, you know, I could sellout Webster Hall or Williamsburg Musical Hall or the El Rey theater in LA. Like, that was having made it to me. So the thought of having a number one song in my own career, like, never even registered.

I liked 'Rumours,' but to me, there was some point where the focus became the sales, not the music.

In my opinion, some of the hip-hop records that come out, people are willing to compromise. I'm not.

Ultimately, our goal was to be a band and be recognized for our songs and making records. And I think that has been the case.

I'm not some cute guy who is trying to be successful off that. I really want the music to come first.

There are so many young singers I meet from Delhi, and I am sure they will attain heights some day. They all are very good, and I am very proud of them.

Some musicians don't have strong opinions, or they deliberately don't have strong opinions because they want to try and sell as many records as possible.

When we got quite big and were generating a lot of money through the arenas, we became quite a big thing, and a lot of managers appeared, and it became a big machine, like we were in Pink Floyd or something, and I don't think we were into that. We didn't really compromise.

A sold-out crowd is better than a number one. But being in the studio is better than all of that.

I wouldn't trade what Coldplay have achieved for any of my songs.

The DJ role, it's never been a big thing for me.

I feel like I've won the musical lottery.

I didn't plan to go to Eurovision and I didn't plan on winning. I was a struggling musician, hoping for a couple of gigs.

I know how to make a record that commercial radio or Triple J will smash now... It's kind of hard to stay true and write what you would write if you didn't have that in your head. Because I know I can get way more airplay and get this much bigger... and that's what I'm trying to avoid doing. Trying to avoid the poisons of success.

If we were to find a drummer that we were comfortable with and who we felt could really become a part of what we're about, it'd be great. But would we ever rush to find a guy just get back on the road? No. I think we'd rather go down with the ship.

I really wanted a No. 1 single from my first album, but I would not do anything different. It was real and honest and I didn't pretend anything.

Musicians are all about celebrity first and foremost, and I just can't do it. The second any sort of popularity contest comes into the picture, I have to walk in the other direction. These people are sociopaths.

I don't want to do films for the fun of it.

I'd get another job before I would play music I don't enjoy. But then, I'm really not qualified to do anything else.

You come up, you love music, and then business interferes.

If I was going to sell out, I would do it for more than 10,000 records.

Forget about musical credibility. I think, unless you're Radiohead or whatever, it's pointless striving for that. What I would like is some respect.

I've never commercialized my music. I've seen that ruin too many people who think two-minute ditties are the answer.

In the beginning, because of the Pavement thing, we were able to sell a certain amount of records. We were able to sell not such a great amount of records, but enough to live on. So there was no incentive to do what didn't come naturally.