Kamasi Washington Quotes

When I work with artists, I give them a general guideline of what my vision is. Then they're going to speak their minds on how they view it, too. The song that defines 'Neon Future' the best is the title track. I wrote that with Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun. It's through his words. We had an amazing songwriting session together, connecting.

When I go in the studio with Post, I have a really good idea of what he's going to gravitate to, what we can work with.

I feel like I'm a secondary artist, a kind of a conduit for the writer, and if it's a good writer, then I have a great road map.

It has been a pleasure to play with all these artists. Pretenders was a real highlight, but also Damon, aka Badly Drawn Boy, Sinead... Ian Brown... all of these people I learn from and love to work with.

The studio is really fun because I don't make it into the studio unless I've got something I really like. I love working with different musicians in the studio; that's a real joy, working with someone for the first time.

I had my own musical ideas that Mick helped me with as well.

Whatever Kanye tells me, I just try to put it in my little machine and make the perfect solution for it. That's always our collab formula, and that's just how 'Gorgeous' came about.

There's no better feeling than just going in and just working with someone and what comes out is something that the world knows about.

I would say almost 60 percent of working with Kanye - let's say 53 percent of working with Kanye - is speeches.

When I work with Future, it's almost like a work of art.

For the last 10 years, I've been working with Donald Glover and Ryan Coogler, and we've put down so much time really trying to make the best that we can, whether it's a movie, a film score, or a song.

Collaboration is part of what keeps me interested in music.

We can be in the studio with the hottest producer, but we might not be able to create any magic! It's not about the hottest. It's about who we feel we have that connection with, and that's who we're going to be working with.

Jeff always had a huge part in making a song a record. You felt like you were capturing lightning in the studio. It was never boring. He always was there to serve the song.

I'd love to get in a room with Kanye at some point, have a conversation, and see if something cooks up.

Even when I'm making my own solo records, I'm collaborating with people. It keeps things interesting for me.

One thing will lead to another and somebody will come up with a riff or a line or something we build from.

I don't ascribe to the idea of the ivory tower composer who sits alone in a room composing his masterpieces and then comes down from Mount Sinai with the tablets. It doesn't work like that. The job of a composer is putting something down on a piece of paper that will inspire the person who's playing.

I like messing around, and I like working with artists who I respect.

You can never tell when an artist really will take up someone's work and work with it happily.

It involved a lot of trust, but I love Bobby Harlow, and I loved the albums that he made.

I would probably work with Drake as he is massively inspirational to me as a writer as well as an artist. If not him, then Susan Boyle!

That's the cool thing, when I get to work with people I love. The biggest has probably been Kris Kristofferson on 'Bloodworth.'

I just try to get inside the song and imagine what comes next.

Fashion is much more collaborative than one might think. You have to have an idea and vision, and you have to communicate that vision to a team of people, and you have to create an environment that allows those people to give the best that they can give.