Barry Jenkins Quotes

Everyone has the notion that hip-hop is messy and loose, but there's also another level to it.

In hip-hop, I wasn't very focused on delivering a message. It was just a string of lines that didn't connect. What I wanted to do is write stories... and affect someone's emotions with that song. I think as a soul singer, I'm able to accomplish that.

I write poetry, and I put it to a beat - I mean, that's what they call rap.

That's what hip-hop is: It's sociology and English put to a beat, you know.

I close my eyes when I sing so I can feel the song better.

That's what my music... I'm working on a solo record right now, it's gonna be more hip-hop than anything, like electronic hip-hop, futuristic hip-hop. I'm probably gonna be rapping on it.

A lot of rap songs don't usually have a lot of melody per se.

You have to feel that music. You just can't play it sterilely.

Rap is just somebody getting something off his chest. That's all it is.

The thing about hip-hop today is it's smart, it's insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable.

There are words I don't want to say in my music. Some will say: 'Don't forget me.' I prefer: 'Always remember me.' I'm very wordy and psychological.

We always do kinda like the bare bones representation or variation of the voice and drums, which is what we feel is the foundation or backbone of rapping and hip hop.

I definitely think the best songs are written when you feel something strongly.

The fundamentals of hip-hop still play an important role, cause it's about those similes, those metaphors, those parallels. And to some people it's just about, "Man, I'm really relating to the lifestyle."

I still to this day get the most inspiration from rap lyrics.

It's always nice to be able to capture your life's experiences in a song and hold the emotion in that way.

Yes, you've got to sing from the depths of the heart.

Rappers tend to use words sometimes that just rhyme and don't really mean nothing.

Rap helps me connect emotionally.

A lot of the music, and especially rap, I don't understand.

Biggie and Big Pun were the best storytellers of the '90s. I would get wrapped up in the narrative of what they were talking about.

You can say things a million times, but if you can't sing it, then it really isn't much of a song.

When you're listening to the radio, you're hearing dance beats, all the bells and whistles, and 'Say Something' makes you quiet and forces you to listen.

The Blues are the true facts of life expressed in words and song, inspiration, feeling, and understanding.

Love cannot express the idea of music, while music may give an idea of love.