El-P famous quotes
Last updated: Jul 22, 2024
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The fact of the matter is, if you're not putting out stuff that people are feeling, then your record label doesn't mean a ***** thing.
-- El-P -
I try to take a snapshot of who I am now, who I am becoming, as opposed to who I was when I was first starting to make records. I'm not trying to make boring adult music, but I try to make music more reflective of what matters to me now.
-- El-P -
I think that people have been claiming hip-hop as being dead since the moment it started. I think there are people - and I can be included in that category sometimes - that get frustrated feeling like maybe the industry has handcuffed itself, or trained its artists to do or think about music in a way that classically hasn't led to the greatest records in hip-hop.
-- El-P -
Hip-hop is always moving. It's always looking for the next style; it's always trying to one-up the last person.
-- El-P -
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I'm trying to consciously evolve myself. I have no delusions of grandeur.
-- El-P -
I don't have any delusions of grandeur. I just want to make music that doesn't make me bored.
-- El-P -
There's a responsibility as a musician to do the music that you want to hear.
-- El-P -
Change is a direct element of hip-hop. That's the whole thing with style.
-- El-P -
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My whole mode is to do what I want to do and let people understand me through that.
-- El-P -
The crews that are going to be self-produced are going to make the great albums, as opposed to making these mix-tapes, these compilations - "Me over this guy" It sounds good individually, but the art of the record is something that is lost. It gets to the point where it's just vocalists and producers coming in and piecing things together.
-- El-P -
I think that every record label has its trials and tribulations, its ups and downs. The only thing you can do is hope to recognize what it is that makes you great, and to try and continue to capture it.
-- El-P -
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When we're putting out records that people are responding to, it's amazing. And it's obviously what we shoot for every time. It's a tricky balancing act. But as long as it's sort of a righteous idea, then you're good to go.
-- El-P -
I always wanted to do a deal with Russell Simmons, and now I've got my signature on a piece of paper with his.
-- El-P -
I think branching out is cool, but I think that you have to branch out in a way that makes some sort of organic sense. I would love to put out a rock record eventually, but it would have to somehow philosophically make sense for me.
-- El-P -
I'm a fan of some of the hyphy stuff. Hyphy has been going on a lot longer than the press has been recognizing it.
-- El-P -
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My problem is not to reinforce or destroy any ideas anyone might have about me, how I do what I do, what my intentions are, the way that I do it. My only job as far as I can see is to do the music that I want to do. All those other things are completely out of my control.
-- El-P -
For me, growing up in hip-hop culture, it's all about having the next style, the new fashion, the new way to express yourself, the fly new beat. I can't sit still; I have no nostalgia. I don't have to have nostalgia.
-- El-P -
I believe that if you're an artist, it's like a gift. If you can do this for a living and you can be involved in it, it's something that you can't ignore. It's the chance for you to have a
-- El-P -
There are two types of people, two types of performers: Performers who know how to keep a show going literally when the power is gone and performers who haven't had that much experience and will panic and freak out and don't know what to do.
-- El-P -
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There's nothing worse than being shackled by some miniscule sort of technology you have onstage, and I think your mettle is going to get tested in those moments.
-- El-P -
I'm a pretty intense person. And I don't know if intense is fun. I put myself through the wringer. That's just how I work.
-- El-P -
Everyone just wants to feel good, and I don't think that all music is designed to make you feel good.
-- El-P -
I've never had a huge collection of records; I've never been a beat digga.
-- El-P -
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My favorite era of hip-hop was between '85-'89. That was the era that got me to love hip-hop.
-- El-P -
At the core of everything I do, is not my ambition but my desire to make music. Somewhere along the line I stumbled onto something that was bigger, different than anything I had ever imagined, which was actually being involved with other people. I just don't live the average artist's life.
-- El-P -
There are all the offsprings of people who are influenced by punk. It sounds completely different - but it's still rock 'n' roll. When hip-hop came on the scene, it was the last legitimate creation of a new genre.
-- El-P -
I'm not trying to change the face of hip-hop music. I'm trying to make my records and always take the next step for me.
-- El-P -
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A good rapper is a good rapper, a good album is a good album. I don't think anyone is inherently good.
-- El-P -
I don't think hip-hop is a dying art form. I think it's impossible for hip-hop to be a dying art form.
-- El-P -
That dark humor has always been a part of what I've done. It's always been somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
-- El-P -
There is a difference these days between who's making the music and buying the music, in terms of the way that they think, grew up, and their perspective. It's become much more diverse.
-- El-P -
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The emergence of the independent hip-hop scene has replaced what we called the "underground scene". It's what the underground scene has evolved into: actual businesses.
-- El-P -
I've been approached by major labels every single year of my existence as an artist. Since 1996.
-- El-P -
As you get bigger, your staff gets bigger, and your costs get bigger.
-- El-P -
I've always believed that if you cannot do it, then you should not do it.Only when it comes to the point where you've literally dug yourself into a hole, where it's sink or swim, is that viable to me.
-- El-P -
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The worst part is that if you become part of a major - all these independent labels become farm teams for your corporate parent. Basically, you do all the work for years, blowing up an artist - you discover them, blow them up, you build their fan base. And then that artist is like, "Okay, now I'm here. Now I want more. I want to be bigger." And you're either going to be able to accommodate them, you're going to be able to figure out how to take that step with them, or you're going to lose them.
-- El-P -
Most people aren't happy about being consistent and staying at the same place for years. People want forward progress and motion.
-- El-P -
Why should I be sober when God is so clearly dusted out his mind?
-- El-P -
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Oh my god what am I doing with my life?
-- El-P
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