Music Mogul Quotes

David Geffen was a Bruce Wayne to me. He was extraordinary, but at the same time, his talents were something that I could dream of and could fathom.

I signed with Kanye back in 2003, and at that time, 'The College Dropout' hadn't even come out, so he was still relatively unknown compared to where he is now. He wasn't a household name; people were still calling him 'Kane.'

Music is one of those businesses in which, if you're talented and hustle hard enough, you can make it - specifically as an entrepreneur. If you look as far back as Berry Gordy, Russell Simmons, Andre Harrell, L.A. Reid, and Sean 'Diddy' Combs, there's a whole lineage of successful black entrepreneurs who have built their own companies from scratch.

I've always loved Jay-Z's music and loved what he's done.

Rick Rubin is super intriguing to me because he has become this god producer in completely drastically different genres, which very few people have done.

Babyface is definitely a big inspiration.

I don't want to be judged next to guys like Suge Knight. I want to be measured next to David Geffen, Irving Azoff, and Clive Davis. Whether I measure up or not, I let my record speak for me. That's how I want to be judged - by what I've done, not by what people like Ice Cube and Dr. Dre have said about me.

Cee Lo is the coolest human being I have ever met in my life.

Rick Rubin's amazing, by the way. I just need to say that.

I have inherited two of the most important brands in hip-hop, Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella. Reid and Universal Music Group have given me the opportunity to manage the companies I have contributed to my whole career. I feel this is a giant step for me and the entire artist community.

I'm a fan of Jay-Z, I'mma always be a fan of Jay-Z.

The only biography I read was about Al Bell, of Stax Records. I wanted to follow in the footsteps of Al Bell.

Nothing surprises me about Berry Gordy.

I can think of no one more relevant and credible in the hip-hop community to build upon Def Jam's fantastic legacy and move the company into its next groundbreaking era.

With Jay-Z, it's hard not to be amazing.

Steinberg is great. I should like to meet him.

I always look at Akon as inspiration, and the fact that at one point Lady Gaga was signed to Konvict Muzik.

My idol is Quincy Jones.

You wouldn't find a Joni Mitchell on 'X Factor;' that's not the place. 'X Factor' is a specific thing for people that want to go through that process - it's a factory, you know, and it's owned and stitched-up by puppet masters.

Dr. Dre is the most influential artist and producer in hip-hop history.

I've hung out with Jay-Z a couple of times, and he was awesome.

I was actually discovered by Kai Millard and Stevie Wonder.

Yes, I'm really inspired by people like Jay-Z and 50-Cent to develop more business savvy.

Jay-Z is a dude that can give you a hundred 'Simpsons' quotes, like, 'What you know about the monorail?'

Pop managers are fixed in the dramatic stock character repertoire too, ever since the first British pop film musical, Wolf Mankowitz's 'Expresso Bongo' of 1959, with Cliff Richard as Bongo Herbert and Laurence Harvey as his manager. The key components were cast as X parts gay, X parts Jewish and triple X opportunistic.