Michael Kiwanuka Quotes

Singing your own songs is all about individual expression.

Music should not be a contest, it should be an individual thing that each band is putting out from within themselves.

I kind of always wanted my own music to just sound like, like me, I suppose, like if I was music it would be the music I make, I think.

My music is the most 'me' thing about me. Everything is in my music.

Music is just kind of an expression of who I am. It's what I do.

It is rare that even a jazz musician finds an individual voice.

So it's not so much that I set out to do something different, it's just that the songs themselves require their own individual voice and attention.

I have never followed anyone's style of singing.

Don't worry about trying to develop a style. Style is what you can't help doing. If you write enough, you draw enough, you'll have a style, whether you want it or not. Don't worry about whether you're "commercial". Tell your own stories, draw your own pictures. Let other people follow you.

Playing the guitar is like telling the truth - you never have to worry about repeating the same [lie] if you told the truth. You don't have to pretend, or cover up. If someone asks you again, you don't have to think about it or worry about it because there it is. It's you.

Everyone has their own sound, and if you're heard enough, folks will come to recognize it. Style however, is a different thing. Try to express your own ideas. It's much more difficult to do, but the rewards are there if you're good enough to pull it off.

I don't want to sound like Ross; I don't want to sound like Puff. I want to make my own music: French Montana.

Comedy is the ultimate truth. Jazz is hitting the notes that that no one else would hit, and comedy is saying words that no one else would say.

Don't worry about what others say about your music. Pursue whatever you are hearing... but if everybody really hates your music maybe you could try some different approaches.

Everything I record, I just try to sound like me and come up with songs that suit what I do, and then just go for it.

I don't do anything specific for the stage. I'm just myself. I can't stand still for five seconds. I'm normally quite active, so that just comes out on stage. If I see people react to me and my music, I just have to give back and express myself.

I think my music speaks for itself - it backs me up.

I know what my sound is. I'm just trying to get it out there how I can explain it. I'm not trying to write or put out some music that doesn't represent me.

I'd hate it if everyone in the world liked me, my music and what I wore. It'd make it boring, and I wouldn't have anything to work towards. It's not to everyone's taste, but I can only be me.

I can only be me. I have a hard time being a chameleon as a singer.

Make your own music. It can be done.

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

The music is a personal expression, like art. It is something that you like doing that comes from within, and is an expression that comes from God. That is why artists are beautiful and why people who copy are not really artistic.

My style kinda comes from the music I listen to.

I write my songs and just play them, so there are not a whole lot of fireworks. As long as the music comes first, it's OK to have some fireworks. But not the other way around.