Rostam Batmanglij Quotes

Art and culture and all of these things - they really matter. They shape your individuality.

My songs are about who I am.

R&B is everywhere, and I am who I am.

Poetry is a sort of homecoming.

Even the most incorrigible maverick has to be born somewhere. He may leave the group that produced him-he may be forced to-but nothing will efface his origins, the marks of which he carries with him everywhere. I think it is important to know this and even find it a matter for rejoicing, as the strongest people do, regardless of their station. On this acceptance, literally, the life of a writer depends.

Ice Cube is the piece of me that I give away to the public.

We all need a firm sense of identity.

I feel, as an artist, I should be able to express who I am and the things I come from, and the places I want to also be.

If I walk away from music, I walk away from myself.

I needed freedom to really express myself. That's really what Justified is about.

I'm very proud of my roots, and I would never try not to be who I am.

All that I am is me. So I'm not really a poet or a writer or an actor or an activist; I'm me, and these are things that I do.

Art is the signature of civilizations.

No matter how widely spread out the films are, how different, you still are you.

Great personal style is an extreme curiosity about yourself.

I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art.

How do I tell people who I am? Not being a writer, the only way is to sing songs that reflect my opinions.

I've spent a lot of time self-reflecting. Especially as an actor, you have to know yourself really well in order to do things effectively. And when I dress, I dress for me. I don't dress to make other people think that I'm this way or that way.

If I'm gonna tell a real story, I'm gonna start with my name.

Whatever's going on in my life shows up in the writing room.

The things that are going to be in all my records, for as long as I'm making them, are going to go back to who I am and where I'm from and the lifestyle that I live and come from - and I don't know how I could ever get any of that close enough to pop to be considered a pop act.

I think, for me, it has been important to remain 'Petra from Fulnek.'

I write for my people.

My music is a whole reflection of who I'm as an individual.

Music is part of our culture.