Lupe Fiasco Quotes

Everybody's out trying to be commercial. I'm not trying to be anything, really.

It's easy to get anonymous people to hate you. Have an opinion. Be creative. Be yourself.

We didn't think about it but we never wanted to sound like anybody else.

It's exciting to be able to do something completely independent without anybody challenging it, and it's a big part of the reason why I'm enjoying doing the stand-up comedy, is I'm able to go out and interact with people one-on-one after the show. It's very punk-rock.

Originality is independence, not rebellion; it is sincerity, not antagonism.

I mean, if I was living to please people, I'd have never been in a band at all. I wouldn't have anything awesome around. I'd just be bored.

No, because I don't want to hear what's hot and feel I have to copy it. I'll just make up my own thing.

I'm inspired by anyone who's honest in their own expression, people who truly beat to the rhythm of their own drum.

The most daring thing is to be yourself and to do exactly what you want to do at that point in time and not to be worried with what other people are doing or what's popular.

We have never considered our brand superior or inferior to any other one, and we have never spoken about our work in comparison to anyone else's. We are ourselves; we have never had the presumption to please everyone, but we believe in the utmost liberty to express oneself.

It's nice to create something you believe in. It's even nicer to dance to your own tunes sometimes.

I love people that willfully defy what you're supposed to be and create their own definition of their selves.

Do your own thing. Speak in your voice.

I'd just like to inspire people to be themselves and do what they want and not conform to the rigid guidelines of the music or entertainment business.

I don't want to be the cliche American Idol dude. I want to be different, you know - that's the whole goal, me and music. It's about being yourself and being unique.

Living courageously in your uniqueness is really important: just being completely yourself. I know that sounds really cliche, but just do what you want to do.

I think my brand is just being authentic and being me. Everybody goes right, I go left.

I don't want to emulate anyone.

We don't follow trends; I don't think we even set trends. We just do our own thing. We just do what we love. That's why Arch Enemy sounds like that.

Following the West is not surrendering. Following the West, the best of the West, is following originality.

I sang a song in Hindi; nobody even knew what that was. Singing about Native American issues, nobody did that... I had no reason to want to copy anybody else... All I had was my originality.

You have to be original. The people creating a buzz on YouTube are taking risks, and they're doing something different. I like it when 15 year-olds come on and tell me what to do rather than the other way around.

Never be afraid of a cliché, if it expresses what you wish to say.

I just tend to admire people who go for what they believe in, like David Lynch for example, and just say what goes through their heads, and are not afraid of people not accepting them. I have no respect for people who deliberately try to be weird to attract attention, but if that's who you honestly are, you shouldn't try to "normalize yourself". It's a fine line.

It's exciting to watch people do and write and say what they feel like doing, writing and saying.