Jon Batiste Quotes

If it’s a pure expression of yourself no matter what it is or what medium, it’s going to shine. It’s going to resonate. You could look inside of yourself and you could have a canvas and you could paint a dot in it, but if that is where your creative purpose is taking you then it needs to be that dot.

Love the art in yourself and not yourself in the art.

Every script I've written and every series I've produced have expressed the things I most deeply believe.

I get very frustrated by this term 'genre exercise.' I mean, what exactly is that? Genre is not really relevant when you are writing a song; hopefully you are doing it to explore something, to create something, and I don't agree that any of my albums are genre exercises.

I don't like to be entertaining. I don't like the feeling of being entertaining. If there was a musical or a comedy that was not just for entertainment but was rooted in something I could relate to on a real level, then I think I would do it.

What really matters is that you do what you think is right, what you believe in, and you surround yourself with the people you care about in this world. That's what counts in this life.

My music is going to be true. I'm not out to sell records. I'm experiencing something, and it's what I feel.

You can't make your choices based on what critics think. You have to make your choices based on what's honest for you.

I had chosen to use my work as a reflection of my values.

It can become an exercise in trying to get the reader to like and admire you instead of an exercise in creative art.

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.

I have to stay true to myself.

A heartsong doesn't have to be a song in your heart. It doesn't have to be talking about love and peace. It can just be your message. It can be your feeling. Some people might even call it a conscience, even though that's not really what it is. It's your message, what you feel like you need to do.

I don't think the goal is, 'How big a star did you ever become?' I think the goal is, 'Were you able to express yourself?'

As long as it feels valid to me and feels sincere, I'll do what I do under the moniker of Nine Inch Nails if it's appropriate. I would hate to think I would ever be in a position where I'm faking it to get a paycheck.

For me, I really feel like if there's not a real, true connection to the material, I don't need to sing it. I don't need to sing songs just because I like them anymore. I've done that.

The thing is, about a character, it's not about being right, it's about the truth. The truth comes from within, so you have to search as an artist for the truth.

Maybe it goes away, but this is the way I've chosen to live: I want to go down or rise up as an artist. I don't want to get swept up in lipstick or whatever the hell.

I think that people should do what their heart and soul tells them to do.

I have a very clear picture of what I want to do and what I feel is important as far as my contribution or my appreciation and respect for this life that we're living, and to try to make it better. I can't feel that I'm making it better playing commercial music, and I never could, and I never will.

The music is the thing. I am not writing for critics; I don't want to become a personality.

I'm just trying to be myself - make music how I make music.

We make music that we believe in. That's all it is.

It's very important to me to stay true to who I am as a musician and the songs that I love.

Be true to yourself and your values.