“You know, I hate to sound self-involved, but I feel like I haven't peaked yet.”
“Predating the Internet and predating videos, you had an active imagination. You would hear sounds and then get mental pictures of what these sounds felt like to you. It engaged you and made you more invested in it. It made you want to get tickets to the show, buy the album, put the poster on the wall. Now it's sensory overload.”
“I shot a movie with Nicole Kidman that I got cut out of - it was crap anyways.”
“If there's a 'Cruel Summer' then there's got to be a 'Cruel Winter,' right? That's all I'm saying.”
“On the radio there's only a certain amount of artists: Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kanye, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, T.I., Mary J Blige, Alicia Keys. Other artists are achieving things that are really special, they have a hard time getting people's attention. Music has been just a little bit lacklustre.”
“I read the Koran and it appealed to me. At the time I was agnostic and it really breathed spiritually back into me. For me it's really a cushion; it's cool, I'm cool with it.”
“The song, 'Life is Better,' is about hip-hop. It's about my love for hip-hop. And, you know, I go through all the artists from the beginning to the end, you know. And, well, not to the end, but since the beginning to now, you know.”
“In 1999, I just came out of putting out the song 'Vivrant Thing' and 'Breathe and Stop' off the 'Amplified' album. Clive Davis signed me to Arista.”
“For people who love Tribe, I'm the defector. They say, 'You should get back with Ali to do the beats.' But a lot of people don't realize I did all the music in Tribe. In the first three albums, I did all the beats!”
“I feel like Obama in a way. His idea that hope means not shrinking from a fight; it's the courage to reach for something. My music is that. Those are principles I try to embody.”