Artist Mentorship Quotes

Bob Hurwitz, the president of Nonesuch, the company that releases my records, is a mentor. He taught me how to assemble a script to record an album.

I do a lot of collaborations and productions, whether it's Switch or Steve Aoki or No ID or Will Smith or No Doubt - I always like to collaborate and be a quality control person for the people 'cause I have my own taste in music and bring that to other peoples' brands and help them learn a little bit.

I probably wouldn't be singing if not for Michael Jackson. When I started singing, I didn't like my tone until my mom put me on to Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, so listening to the way they used their instrument helped me get more comfortable with my own.

Ask any rapper or singer what artist they are an expert on. What artist are they looking to emulate, and really, what artist is the one person they are an expert on? You see, if you want any kind of longevity, if you want any kind of legacy, you need to know what ancestral line you are from.

I did a show with Tori Kelly, and it was really cool that I got to meet her. She has always been a huge inspiration of mine, and I'm obsessed with her voice, so it was great to get to talk to her about the industry. The best advice she gave me was to just be myself.

Art can only be taught by artists.

I think I learned the most from Eminem because I spent the most time with him in the studio. Going to L.A. with Dre was a learning experience, just seeing how the dude works and being up-close and personal with a dude whose music I appreciated growing up.

I got Ice Cube his start. I also launched Eazy-E.

It's funny, I think after you are a star like Sting and you no longer think you need any guidance or aid - it would be great to see those stars work with other songwriters.

I like the idea of the museum world and the university-academic situation where artists talk to each other or where artists or art students study with artists.

On the artist side, we made a significant investment in very young artists from the very beginning of their careers and helped them become global superstars.

The only thing that I'm scared of is not livin' up to the expectations of Dr. Dre and Eminem.

I had been taking various lessons. I've also had a lot of incredible singers give me a ton of great advice. From Cyndi Lauper, who kind of taught me the basics, and I've also worked with Bird. She's a tremendous coach and she often coaches the contestants on 'American Idol.' I've had a great amount of support.