Nadia Ali Quotes

I just like blending all the genres together but blending them up in a good way. I try to be as free as I can with it.

My music is a direct reflection of the eclectic person I am. I don't like to be stuck in an R&B box.

A musician should only sound like what they do, and no two musicians sound the same. It's an individual-feel thing, you know?

My favorite band of all time is The Clash. The thing I love about The Clash is they started out as guys who could barely play three chords. They dabbled in reggae, punk, rap, jazz. They came to a sound that could only be defined as The Clash. It was impossible to say what it was. I admire them for that.

I wasn't trying to sound like anybody else. Basically, I was just experimenting all over the place.

I don't really like to stand in one spot. People say that you have your lane or a certain type of music. I don't believe that. You choose your own lane, whichever one you want, then the people decide whether it's good or not.

I'm totally open to exploring different types of music. I just have to always remember to be true to who I am.

I want to pave my own path artistically.

Music is my only guide. I don't care if people pigeonhole me. Miles Davis is my hero. He covered Cindy Lauper and Michael Jackson, and he didn't give a hoot about what the purists said.

My last two records that I made were both quite pointed in one direction and I think I do my best stuff when it's all over the map, when there's a couple traditional things, a couple pretty rocking things.

I didn't get into music to become a blues musician, or a country musician. I'm a singer-songwriter. In my book that means I get to do whatever I want.

A lot of singers find a musical genre people like and stick with it. That's being a conformist. I sing ballads, rock, salsa, rap.

I've always tried to stay clear of being labeled, putting a label on what type of music that I make.

I never was the battle rapper. That was never my thing. I always felt like it's enough room for everybody to do their thing. I like bringing new energy, re-inventing the wheel, so to speak, every time I come out.

I think a lot of singer-songwriters get compared to each other, but I'd like to think that what I'm doing is special and specific to me.

I don't ever try to make a song better than my last song. I just try to make it different from my last one.

I don't want to be held down by genres so much.

I found it liberating of necessity to devise my own style and my own tactics and to look for a voice on the instrument because there weren't really any that impacted strongly on me.

I think of a band like Animal Collective where they really follow their own sound and I think that's a really important thing to do. You can find an audience if you can find your voice.

Let me explain something about guitar playing. Everyone's got their own character, and that's the thing that's amazed me about guitar playing since the day I first picked it up. Everyone's approach to what can come out of six strings is different from another person, but it's all valid.

I always tell the fans, 'Screw it! Like what you like. Listen to what you want.' Insisting that one type of music is better than the next is snobbery, and I have no time for that. Check out all the music that's out there. There's great stuff you're probably missing.

I don't think that there's much that sets me apart from other musicians, but I think there are definitely things that set me apart from other kinds of artists. I feel that musicians do it their own way, write their own songs and put on a great live shows.

I've never wanted to be put into a box, not musically.

Every piece has its own identity which we develop by the rule 'We know no limits.' We follow the inspiration of the moment and don't worry if what we're playing is alternative, progressive or fusion rock.

Don't be afraid to take liberties with this music. Try and put some of yourself into it.