Demetrius Shipp Jr. Quotes

When I signed that major-label contract when I was 20 years old. I did it because I wanted to play music for the rest of my life. That's every 20-year-old's dream - to do whatever the hell you want.

I'd written songs since I was 16, but I never thought that I would be a musician full time.

All these interviews I'm doing - this is the kind of stuff that I was dreaming about doing when I was younger. I was praying for people to want to write about me. I wanted people to hear my music. I wanted to perform. I wanted to be on billboards.

I started playing guitar, like, when I was 17 or so, but where I'm from, you just don't hear about people moving to Nashville and making it. It was such a foreign thing to me. I never knew music was an option for me.

I've always written songs, even when I wasn't doing anything with my personal life in music.

I was pretty gung-ho about music and pursuing that and figuring that whole thing out, so I was wide-eyed and ready to go when I moved to Nashville. I never looked back.

All I could think about was, 'I just wanna blow him away. I wanna make him proud, because I really wanna sign with Timbaland and spend the rest of my career making music with Tim.'

No, in 1968 I still wanted to be a Pop Star, and be about the music. Now, I want to be just about the music.

There are plenty of people in the world who have tried to be rock stars and have not gotten there.

I loved music - listening and playing - but of course I could not imagine I would be a professional musician. It really happened step by step.

I'm desperate to start a career in music.

My only scheme was to be a rapper.

Then, for a hot three or four weeks I wanted to be a concert pianist.

I always knew I wanted to be in a band.

I always wanted to be in bands.

I just kind of went into the blue-collar workforce at a really young age and discovered music, in terms of being a musician, around the same time. The good news is, I was probably 17 when I knew that's what I was going to do with the rest of my life, no matter what that meant.

I moved to New York to pursue music.

All I ever wanted to do was be in a band.

When I see young people interested in music. I always look out for that passion in their eyes. You never know where that might lead.

I knew being a musician was my calling when I was 12 or 13. I started singing when I was six but didn't actually see myself being a singer when I was 12 or 13.

I grew up in a very musical family, but music was not encouraged as a career. It was a hobby.

When I left college, it broke my mom's heart, but I knew I had to be in Nashville. I knew that was the place you had to be in to become a better songwriter, and that's what I wanted to move there for and to ultimately get a record deal.

I grew a strong passion for music. The more I did the music thing it's like I saw myself going far with it. I believed in myself.

I stopped chasing the music dream back in '74.

Music was my passion, and I started out as a singer. It's just natural to me to keep pursuing my music career.