Taboo Quotes

One of the things that I am happy about in my life as an artist is that I am not considered a Hispanic artist.

You can't just look like one culture and expect to inspire a multitude of people. That doesn't work over time. Everybody wants somebody to look up to that looks like them so they can truly believe in that reality for themselves.

I want to represent my color and ethnicity. To be proud of our heritages is really cool.

But what I'm very interested in, whether it's writing, whether it's hosting a show, whether it's cooking food, I'm just into the discussions of identity, culture and the politics of culture.

I used to object to being called an Indian writer, and would always say I was a writer who happened to be an Indian, and who happened to write about Indians.

You cannot act a color. Do not tell me I'm acting black, because I'm not. I'm acting whatever you want to call it - urban. I don't even have a name for it. I just call it 'me.'

It's really empowering when you see yourself represented in entertainment and, especially, onstage when you're talking about how this country came to be.

When I asked myself what I'd want to see in a comic about a Pakistani superhero, the first word that came to mind was 'relatable.'

I think it's amazing that I can go out there and be myself, and the fact that I'm carrying Puerto Rico on my back a little bit is such an honor.

The American girl doesn't look just one kind of way - not in 2018, not ever.

I urge younger artists to know that you don't have to be anything you don't want. You can do whatever's comfortable for you. From the music I make, to the things I do in my life, I'm true to my R&B core. I have the capability to make pop records and crossover, but that's not my aim.

Wherever I go, people ask: 'What is she? What is she?' There has always been an agenda - they're excluding me or including me in something with that question. It is the first thing agents in Los Angeles ask me. And then I'd hear: 'You're not black enough, you're too black, you're Italian - no, you're Spanish.'

I'm unique - a cosmopolitan mix.

I always say that when I first started, my videos were very veered towards Indian people.

Writers can write outside their ethnicity or sex depending how open and vulnerable they wish to be.

I feel responsible to make something original as a Japanese artist. There are lots of singers and guitarists, but I feel that on stage it's meaningless to copy something someone has done before.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to put that out there so blatantly, so that before you listen to me you know that I'm Asian. But I thought it was sort of cool to embrace the Korean half of me, which I love.

I'm an immigrant writer, or an African writer, or an Ethiopian-American writer, and occasionally an American writer according to the whims and needs of my interpreters.

My music is really about people connecting with their identities, even if they aren't Jewish.

I didn't think it was fair to my music to label me as the daughter of somebody - I didn't think it described me very well and I didn't think it had anything to do with my music.

I think I'm always adopting a persona. That's how I look at pop music. I don't feel like I have to be myself. I feel like I have to be true to myself, but I don't have to show an exact picture of who I am.

I want to try different things but, most importantly, always be true to my roots and keep it organic. I'm never going to leave bachata behind. I'm always going to be a bachatero first.

I want people to know me for my singing. I've never been searching for a label of being a fashion plate or a top model. That's a thing that's very short-lived, and it's dealing with a superficial level of this which doesn't really appeal to me.

I feel like I've started to create my own culture of being a voice for something, and that's what people want to know about. I love that because I am a woman and because I a rap, and I look the way I look, I can connect with the demographic of people who feel like they have a voice in me.

I have tried my whole life to represent my Mexican roots with honor and pride.