Jay-Z Quotes

Nothing unifies people more than music, more than that universal riff. The one thing that unifies us and the hope that we can have, especially being an artist, is that we can create music that can build bridges and smash down very bad ideas.

'Provenance' is more than a multimedia concert. It's a journey that unifies cultures through music, theater and beautiful visuals.

'Station to Station' came out of a sense of urgency - a sense that culture, be it art, film or architecture, has become so compartmentalised. For this project, we wanted to break that and create a language that is more nomadic and less materialistic and really empowering for the creators and the audience.

One of the good things about globalization is it has created a single international music community, and I feel very much part of it.

For me, there are no borders in music in general.

I grew up influenced by different cultures, sounds, feelings, emotions, and I want Premiere Classe to be a representation of that.

There isn't only one way that black art or entertainment is represented, and that's the most important thing. We're permeating every style. We're claiming and, when necessary, appropriating all kinds of forms. Nothing is forbidden, because it's not what black people do: because it's not what we think of as black art.

At the heart, it is world music that I do. It's all connections. Ultimately, we're all connected.

If you like my music and it brings you emotions whether Joy or Pain, I feel I have done my part to give you insight from my perspective and that it continues. I think music suppose to bring us all together and I am glad I can take you along on this journey.

Music is the universal language ... it brings people closer together.

I've worked with jazz artists, country artists, classical artists, pop artists. I never wanted there to be categories, because when I was a kid there weren't.

If we can listen to English music without understanding nothing, and dance on it, and feel the groove, feel the feelings, I'm sure everybody can do exactly the same for each language.

I have learned that music comes in all shapes and sizes.

I would like to reach out to the global audience; Music is beyond all the culture and language barriers.

All rappers predominantly sound the same and want you to think their meanest person in the world, and that they're all gangster and all that. My acting allowed me to be playful and crazy, and it helps me tell stories and all that. I think it's a good time; rap needs that kind of stuff.

In short, [Coltrane's] tone is beautiful because it is functional. In other words, it is always involved in saying something. You can't separate the means that a man uses to say something from what he ultimately says. Technique is not separated from its content in a great artist.

I don't believe in the clash of cultures. The culture is one. The culture is a ring off the same chain. Picasso was very much influenced by the African arts, and he influenced a whole other generation of artists. So everything influences everything.

I think we are becoming more and more linked, and before long, we'll all be one culture. It's happening in every field, not just fashion. Actually, I think the only hope for peace is if culture is homogenized. Unfortunately, money seems to be the only solution to political disagreements. If we are all linked through culture and trade, it won't be worth fighting each other.

Country [China] needs to continue opening up and keep connecting. It needs to realize that the world has become one. The old concept of isolation, the idea that you can solve your problems on your own does not work anymore - neither in cultural, economic, nor political terms.

When I tour I'm going to countries to play music for people. My presence in a country is not an endorsement or a condemnation of that country's policies. My presence in a country is an effort to connect with people through playing music.

I started off just trying to make a wish list for myself. I wanted to work with people I really admire myself. I wanted to work with other artists from other scenes so they could make my songs improve in a different way - people who have artistically different things to say.

Everything is beautiful. Pop is everything.

It's a powerful thing hearing your friend on a very beautiful song.

Speaking in a common tongue, speaking through guitars and drums.

The reason you write [songs] is because there's something you want to say that is important to you - enough to go through all the torture of writing.