lyrical influence Quotes

When I was working on 'Night Falls Over Kortedala,' I was listening a lot to 'Graceland,' the Paul Simon record. I really got into the lyrics on that album. The opening line is so brilliant, the way he sets the scene.

I'm a huge fan of Joni Mitchell, and I think her music has inspired me lyrically and guitar-wise.

Lyrically and melodically, Drake was definitely a big influence of mine.

But I still rap like I'm on my Pharoahe Monch grind.

I think love lyrics have contributed to the general aura of bad mental health in America.

If I hadn't had Freddie Mercury's lyrics to hold on to as a kid I don't know where I would be. It taught me about all forms of music... it would open my mind. I never really had a bigger teacher in my whole life.

I wanted to be a poet. I fell in love with poetry around eight years old, but not through literature. Instead, it came through hip-hop lyrics and my obsession with reading liner notes. Queen Latifah's 'Black Reign' is the album that stands out the most.

If anybody can make a change it's the rappers.

Certainly, the Beach Boys and the early Beatles records were a huge influence on me lyrically.

When I hear from fans that they not only like the music but they're also very touched by the lyrics, or they also learned about a specific cause because of me, that's really rewarding.

I listen to music to try and focus or concentrate on emotional characters, which is quite common among actors. It might seem cheesy, but I particularly listen to Coldplay because I'm moved by their lyrics. But any music can help depending on the character and their mood.

When I was making my first record, I think I felt slightly trapped by my mind and my genre. I think in one way, that archaic language I was using came from a kind of mild obsession with the devil.

I liked the idea of having a record that's reggae-influenced but not musically, just lyrically. I think there's so much about Rasta culture that's interesting. Just the idea of preaching one-ness, that we're all in this together. Which I suppose is at the root of most any religion. You're gonna find it, if taken in the right context.

A lot of my philosophies came from sheet music. 'Some Day My Prince Will Come,' or 'Blue Skies Smiling at Me' - they were very uplifting, wholesome lyrics, and I really believed those words when I sang them.