Black Artists Quotes

I was addicted to rhythm 'n' blues pretty much directly into folk music. I had my little 45s of mostly black artists. That was as close as I got. I've never listened to heavy rock or stuff that jangles my nerves, because I'm already jangled.

People always say, 'There are plenty of black country artists out there! There is Charley Pride! Darius Rucker!' That's all they can name. They don't understand what we go through, and a lot of people who are fans of traditional country music, as they call it, look at us and aren't going to say, 'Y'all like country music.'

With 'Black Panther,' black artists were provided with the opportunity and agency to create art that captures the full range of their imaginative possibilities. It matters that Chadwick Boseman is the protagonist and is supported by a cast of nearly all black characters.

There were certain expectations that were assumed of me as a young black American 20th-century - then 20th-century artist.

I think Charley Pride has been one of the best things to happen to country music, to prove it belongs to everybody.

The deals that were made for Black artists at that time were not the deals that were made for white artists.

White artists have made millions of dollars off music they stole from black artists. I don't blame all the white artists. I'm a huge Stevie Ray Vaughn fan, and he was always very gracious about where he learned his music. But a lot of the time, you'd think the white guys thought it up. Hey, hasn't anyone heard of Muddy Waters?

The great thing about being the son of Maya Angelou is that I had the good fortune to grow up around some of the greatest black artists, dancers, singers, musicians, and actors of our time.

If you're a Black artist, you could paint a wall of smiley faces, and someone will still ask you, 'Why are you so angry?'

You don't see a lot of black rock stars. The music industry tends to be segregated stylistically. It's hard for a black artist to cross over to rock music.

Malcolm X is a person who has inspired - he has been the muse of several generations of black cultural workers, artists, poets, playwrights.

When I think of the trials and tribulations that black men go through in America and that black artists went through, I feel very privileged.

I feel like I don't fit in. There's not a lot of outlets for urban music, for black artists who don't have that crossover thing going early on.

There seem to be a lot of black artists making very good videos that I'm surprised aren't being used on MTV.

The sad reality of it is, as black artists in the industry, we still have to work 10 times harder to get our voices out there.

Disco does work better with black artists or players. They just feel it more.

America's economy cannot be disentangled from the free labor that built it, just as America's culture cannot be unbound from the black artists who cultivated it.

Funny, I think that the only reason I'm compared to Prince is because of my skin color.

There is this feeling among black artists that you have to be really careful. We're not inclined to talk about this stuff because, if we do, we put ourselves in a position where we're not marketable or where we can't win.

When I started at Pratt, Spike Lee had his 40 Acres and A Mule studios down the street. You'd see Rosie Perez walking around going to Mike's Coffee Shop. So it was this black bohemian.

He revolutionized music videos. Before Michael Jackson, MTV refused to play African-American artists.

If black artists can win major commissions and international acclaim, why do we assume that to be black is always to be marginal, or in need of special support? We have to recognize how diversity initiatives can make black artists feel ghettoized and, as some cultural commentators have argued, bear 'the burden of representation.'

The record companies really do conspire against the artists. Especially the black artists

I remember getting flowers and champagne for being one of the first black artists on MTV. That was a big deal.

Just like in the art museum, and notions of beauty and pleasure, if the hero is always a white guy with a squared jaw or pretty woman with big breasts, then kids start thinking that's how it's supposed to be. Part of the problem was that black comic book artists were making super heroes with the same pattern as the white super heroes. When you read a lot of those comics, the black super heroes don't seem to have anything to do.