Miriam Makeba Quotes

I'm a big fan of cultural music, and that's how I try to expand my playing, by listening to music that is not conventionally American.

English music is white - it evades everything.

I always knew that women, some women, at times find it very difficult to find music.

People are people, and I get a bit annoyed that the music business only focuses in on the big metropolises. I find that people that don't live in big cities are just as likely to enjoy music as people that do live in big cities.

People just want to have access to all of the world's music.

There is a definite Chinese pop sound developing, but I was shocked at how influenced it is by American music.

When there's an imbalance in terms of what people get to hear, then that's negative. Then blues, jazz, it will die.

American music is a powerful ingredient in international music, and as much as it comes from within, it also comes from without.

The international music scene has grown so much, and America is sort of following that.

In the '50s, listening to Elvis and others on the radio in Bombay - it didn't feel alien. Noises made by a truck driver from Tupelo, Mississippi, seemed relevant to a middle-class kid growing up on the other side of the world. That has always fascinated me.

I make music for the whole world, not just one borough.

The 'low' quality of many American films, and of much American popular culture, induces many art lovers to support cultural protectionism. Few people wish to see the cultural diversity of the world disappear under a wave of American market dominance.

There's so much beautiful music in the world, and the kids are getting robbed.

As a black artist in America, you know, it is so segregated as far as the radio goes and how they position music on the radio.

I've always tried to listen to a lot of different music from around the world.

And why is our music called world music? I think people are being polite. What they want to say is that it's third world music. Like they use to call us under developed countries, now it has changed to developing countries, it's much more polite.

The standardization of world culture, with local popular or traditional forms driven out or dumbed down to make way for American television, American music, food, clothes and films, has been seen by many as the very heart of globalization.

The whole path of American music has been so much about the recognition of stylistic diversity, and the recognition of the importance of music which was from one of the vernacular traditions.

What worries me are these so-called radio stations with program directors who don't play all the different flavors of hip-hop. They should play the old with the new, 24/7, 365 days a year. A lot of these program directors are just jiving around and not playing all the good music for the people.

You don't just have to be influenced by rock, or goth, anymore. It's okay to say, 'My influences are Tin Pan music from Bali and Rihanna.' There are still so many combinations that haven't been done yet.

I wasn't making music consciously when I was younger. I was a musician, but that has its own stigmas. Anywhere on the planet, it's one of the more undervalued positions.

I think Charley Pride has been one of the best things to happen to country music, to prove it belongs to everybody.

I'm not saying that what the radio plays isn't good. My issue is with what they don't play. You can play Jay-Z, but why don't you play Jurassic 5? You can play Nas and Nelly, but why don't you play J-Live? I want to open up the door to how it was back in the day.

I don't think I'm really so unique. If every black person looked at their life they would quickly discover that they have been influenced by every type of music prevalent in America.

One of the good things about globalization is it has created a single international music community, and I feel very much part of it.