BJ the Chicago Kid Quotes

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

I write about emotions - falling in and out of love, finding what you want to do, no matter where you are or who you are. I think that's why people feel connected.

When I was in school, I really thought about soul a lot. I was listening a lot to Bjork and to the Commodores. I really wanted to know how they felt. And especially with Bjork, the music there told me wow, that's really her soul there.

In '92 - '93, I was at that age when I was looking for my identity and that's when I found dance music and I really fell in love with it.

I sometimes wonder if the inability to find oneself makes one seek oneself in other people, in characters.

When I went to see certain shows when I was a kid, they changed my life. They made me tap into that place inside myself that I was unable to get to, so music is that tool, that bridge, and that's the kind of music I'm interested in making.

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

Then I met people at school who were into Erykah Badu and Snoop Dogg. I like heaps of different music, but that was a real pivotal time in terms of finding my way.

'Aura' is a song where you're looking at yourself in the mirror, and I was personally impacted when I recorded it. I identified with it.

I want my music to evolve to become more me.

This race and this country and this life produced me, he said. I shall express myself as I am.

It definitely sometimes feels like a suit that I wish I could zip off. But I don’t feel bad about any of the things I’ve gone through, whether it’s divorce or breakups or anything like that, because that’s all part of the life journey, and I have those experiences just like anyone else. And I think it deepens what you tap into creatively.

I'm not very good at sounding like other people. When you're going through your 20's and trying to get a break and that kind of thing, and you're trying to do something that sounds like film music, your idea of what it would be, it never really worked out for me and it's only really when I learned to trust the fact that I could only really sound like me.

Guided by my heritage of a love of beauty and a respect for strength - in search of my mother's garden, I found my own.

Don't you ever wish you were someone else. You were meant to be the way you are exactly. Don't you ever say you don't like the way you are. When you learn to love yourself, you're better off by far.

We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or other people's models, learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channel to open.

Know yourself fearlessly (even quietly) for all the things you are.

My name was given to me. I didn't just decide to change it one day. But I ran with it to reflect a more peaceful and positive attitude for my new Reincarnated project. The Snoop Dogg name is so connected to hip-hop, and I didn't want to change that. Hip-hop raised me, and I would never turn my back on it.

There's no such thing as being perfect, and that doesn't just mean the perfect body. I talk about my body, my relationship with food, men, and sleeping around to find love, my relationship with my family - trials and tribulations. I want people to know they're not alone. And this isn't just about people younger than 30. I have fans who are 30 or 40 telling me, This is exactly what I needed to hear.

The reality is, I like imperfection. You take away from the world when you're not yourself. Whatever is unique and special about you was designed by God. And when you try to be someone else, we don't get you. Who knows what you would have contributed to the world had you just been yourself, if you had just celebrated who you are and just walked boldly?

...but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself.

Live your life so that if someone says 'Be yourself' it's good advice.

This wasn't the person he'd thought he was, or would have chosen to be if he'd been free to choose, but there was something comforting and liberating about being an actual definite someone, rather than a collection of contradictory potential someones.

Having an identity that is specifically linked to your age or how you look would definitely set you up for pain because these things will change. If we have a broader sense of who we are, our identity never becomes threatened.

Take the time to define yourself and define your value. If you're having a hard time doing that, ask yourself: What is something I would say to someone I love?