The challenge is to get everyone to respect music again, to recognize its value. — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Rap has been a path between cultures in the best tradition of popular music. — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
In the end, you can't censor the truth, especially when it comes packaged in hot music. — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
I'm a person that works off of music. I let the music dictate the direction. — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
I'm just going to make the music I love to make, and I'm going to mature with my music. — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
All these ways we classify things as R&B and hip-hop and rock... It's bullshit. It's all music. If you put yourself in… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Music is everywhere - you consume it every day, everywhere you go. The content creator should be compensated. It's only fair. — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
I came into this music business at 26 years old. I was a fully developed man at that point. At that age,… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Hip-hop is more about attaining wealth. People respect success. They respect big. They don't even have to like your music. If you're… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
I'll make a song with Rick Rubin, a song with Beyonce, a song with Lenny Kravitz. I just believe in making good… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Everyone who makes music is a good collaborator at their foundation because in order to make music, you have to connect to… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
People really feel like music is free but will pay $6 for water. You can drink water free out of the tap,… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Music is the soundtrack to your life. It's not going to go anywhere. But the way people are purchasing music has changed.… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Hip-hop from the beginning has always been aspirational. It always broke that notion that an artist can't think about money as well.… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
When I came into the music, I was forced to be a CEO. I was forced to be an entrepreneur; I was… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
That's why this generation is the least racist generation ever. You see it all the time. Go to any club. People are… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
I don't profess to be a political rapper, like groups such as 'Dead Prez' or 'Public Enemy', but I think social commentary… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Hip-hop has done so much for racial relations, and I don't think it's given the proper credit. It has changed America immensely.… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Around 20. I'd been trying to transition from the streets to the music business, but I would make demos and then quit… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
When I listen to great music, the first thing I wonder is what people were saying when this came out of the… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
When you have a reputation for making not only good songs but great albums, that in itself creates added artistic pressure. But,… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
“The music is meant to be provocative—which doesn’t mean it’s necessarily obnoxious, but it is (mostly) confrontational, and more than that, it’s… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
“The story of the rapper and the story of the hustler are like rap itself, two kinds of rhythm working together, having… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
“Rappers, as a class, are not engaged in anything criminal. They're musicians. Some rappers and friends of rappers commit crimes. Some bus… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
People really feel like music is free, but will pay $6 for water. You can drink water free out of the tap… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
The experiences that I've had growing up with music, you know, I couldn't trade them for any money in the world. Dancing… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
We create music to express ourselves and when the world relates, that’s a beautiful thing. We’re all trading off each other’s culture,… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Which is the other reason hip-hop is controversial: People don't bother trying to get it. The problem isn't in the rap or… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
I'm just saying the producers and people who work on music are getting left out - that's when it starts getting criminal.… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
As an artist, you make music. And if you see people who don't know how to market your music, you get involved… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
For me, the challenge is just making great albums, because talent - and writing in general - is not tangible. There's no… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
When you listen to an album, it shouldn't feel like, "That's the girl song," "That's the club song." I shouldn't know what… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Racism is taught in the home. We agree on that? Well, it's very hard to teach racism to a teenager who's listening… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
I think the consumption of music is at an all-time high. But I think the ways that record companies are trying to… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
My passion is music, you know, and music influences culture, influences lifestyle, which leads me to 'Roc-A-Wear'. I was forced to be… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
When I listen to Amy Winehouse, I believe that her heart and soul is in the music, or if I listen to… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
My first album was mainly dealing with street issues, and it was 'coded': it was called 'Reasonable Doubt.' So the things I… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Wherever I go, I bring the culture with me, so that they can understand that it's attainable. I didn't do it any other way… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Everyone who makes music is a good collaborator at their foundation because in order to make music, you have to connect to it in… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
New York - I'm connected. This is my core. I feel like if I'm not connected to New York, then I don't even know… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
It was a very intense and stressful situation. There was playing in the Johnny-pump (an opened fire hydrant) and the ice-cream man coming around… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
“THEY NEVER TAUGHT MARCUS GARVEY IN OUR SCHOOL CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS IS THEIR GOLDEN RULE” — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
I'm a person that works off of music. I let the music dictate the direction. — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Tears on the mauseoleum floor. Blood stains the coliseum doors. Lies on the lips of a priest. Thanksgiving disguised as a feast. — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
Around 20. I'd been trying to transition from the streets to the music business, but I would make demos and then quit for six… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
There's the gift, there's the spirit, and there's the work-all three have to come together. If one of those things is off, it can… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
All black everything, Ni**a you know my fresh code. Im out here fightin for you, dont increase my stress load. — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
I couldn't even think about wanting to be something else; I wouldn't let myself visualize another life. But I wrote because I couldn't stop.… — Jay-Z Copy Share Image
