I'm not a classically trained composer, and I can't sing very well. — Boots Riley Composer Copy Share Image
Sometimes my influences are really on my sleeve. So I just make sure to wear a lot of sleeves. — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
Sometimes it takes time to get into what ideas actually mean to you. Even when you're not writing a song, it's like… — Boots Riley Ideas Copy Share Image
I've never really subscribed to the theory that repression breeds rebellion. I don't think that's really true. — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
I used to be mad, at first, that I couldn't sound like Ice Cube. And I think that was probably one of… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
'Redistributing the wealth' - that phrase gets used so much that you almost get numb to it. — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
All of a sudden it became that hip hop didn't used to be about partying; hip hop used to be about putting… — Boots Riley Hip hop Copy Share Image
Trying to get somebody to read your script and you're a musician? That's the last person whose script you're gonna read! — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
It's usually important to me to get my idea out first because a lot of times my ideas will seem weird to… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
We all - even at a base level, even a Republican - understand that the people with the money are the ones… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
The goal with a show is to push forward the passion in a visual and sonic way. It all comes out in… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
Capitalism and people who control the market have a large hand in everything. It doesn't have anything to do with figuring out… — Boots Riley Capitalism Copy Share Image
That punk approach of 'We don't wanna get big' is really a bourgeois thing. It's not a tactic of people that actually… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
I have tried to write songs quickly that get scrapped. I've also taken a long time on songs that get scrapped because… — Boots Riley Art Copy Share Image
Because of my politics, I don't necessarily think that the independent capitalist is that much better than the multinational capitalist; it's just… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
Music is first for me. How the music makes me feel, it's like energy. It has to match my life. What's happening… — Boots Riley Energy Copy Share Image
There's the part of me that's the organizer, part of me that's the artist, part of me that's the person who, even… — Boots Riley Art Copy Share Image
What I like about music is that you make a song, you've got your ideas in it, and people make that song… — Boots Riley Ideas Copy Share Image
I thought my parents were always having card parties - and they were - but they were actually also having meetings to… — Boots Riley Dance Copy Share Image
The things you have to do to be effective - like forming a union at a fast food joint or a telemarketing… — Boots Riley Business Copy Share Image
A record is a commodity, but so is a hamburger. Just because I work at McDonald's doesn't mean I reap the benefits… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
When we were doing shows in the mid-'90s, the audiences were 95% black. What's happened now is the gentrification of hip-hop. A… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
There are a lot of leaders that talk about ending things like oppression - whether it's discrimination or getting a job -… — Boots Riley Black people Copy Share Image
I always write knowing that people will hear it, but also hoping they'll see it. So a lot of times I make… — Boots Riley Decision Copy Share Image
Rappers are usually rapping about knowledge they think people need to get by in the world. If there's no movement that gives… — Boots Riley Giving Copy Share Image
The truth is, every movie is a message movie. It's just that most movies have messages that are in lock step with… — Boots Riley Message Copy Share Image
When my daughter was born, that was the first time I cried from happiness. — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
There's a very thin line between rock and funk. Funk is like a dirtier blues, and so is rock. They're close cousins. — Boots Riley Blues Copy Share Image
I am a person who always feels like I am not doing the right thing because there's always so many things that… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
The crux of our power isn't only in our voice. It is in our economic function in society. — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
Any collective action is made up of individuals who one day decided not to sit and watch anymore. — Boots Riley Action Copy Share Image
If people come to a record store, and they can't find your album, they buy something else. — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
A lot of us don't get a sense of our personal power. I know the vast difference that one person can make… — Boots Riley Differences Copy Share Image
I think voting is the lowest form of political action that you can do. A lot of times, it keeps people from… — Boots Riley Action Copy Share Image
With a movie, you have the power of putting out an idea about the world and for people to take it seriously. — Boots Riley Film Copy Share Image
If I want to get my ideas out, I have to be involved in the mechanism that the world is ran by. — Boots Riley Ideas Copy Share Image
I wanted to be part of changing the world. I don't want to just stand by and watch it be however it… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
This idea of 'cool capitalism' is still capitalism. It doesn't matter if Elon Musk quotes Nas. — Boots Riley Capitalism Copy Share Image
