Artist Relations Quotes

The American record company Geffen got so fed up with me that they said they weren't going to release my fourth record unless I gave it some title. So it was called 'Security' in America, and it had no title everywhere else in the world.

Me separating from CTE - I'm extremely happy about that because a lot of guys wrote me off, Jeezy included. He really wrote me off.

I see around 100 shows a month, going from Niketown-size palaces where you feel like yelling, to storefronts in Bushwick. Each has to pay the bills; keep artists happy; and cope with collectors (oy!), curators (ay-yi-yi), critics (woo-hoo!), and occasionally plumbers. That their fiscal life often hangs in the balance only adds to the energy.

Like any family, like any group - the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, EPMD, Public Enemy - they've had bumps in the road. I just think that because A Tribe Called Quest is so precious to fans, they were concerned about unveiling some of those things.

Gucci Mane is my brother, Birdman also, we're working together but it is a form of brotherhood. We're friends but there is no need to contract. In a sense, I'm signed on their labels, but there is no lawyer, no contract.

Nobody from my label called any of their labels to get this done. Most of it happened very naturally. Mary and I have been friends for a long time. Then Jay-Z offered.

I'm very good at separating things, and one of the things that I've always separated is that my business from one artist to the next has nothing to do with each other.

When I was managing Cream and the Bee Gees at the same time - when they were playing stadiums all over the world - it was very wearing.

Opening acts are hard, really hard. There's more politics involved than music, sometimes.

Making a record's really hard. You deal with the money stuff - you never have the budget you need. You're working with so many egos.

Even if you don't like what I do, and you don't like my band, you might have a fan that likes both of us, and why would you wanna alienate them?

I always thought the women of song don't get along, and I don't know why that is.

I certainly have gotten caught up in the music business at various times in my life, mostly because you want to get along with whatever record company you're dealing with. I don't want to be flaky. I don't want to be some temperamental, hard-to-work-with musician.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain the services of first-class conductors. They are sick and tired of dealing with singers, as I am.

I very often think about doing things that I would want other artists to do. Like, if I'm a fan of whoever, I want to be treated a certain way. So I realized it came off almost elitist to ignore the whole world of Twitter and Facebook.

The only thing I have no control over is the politics that goes on within the record company. It's always been the same, but it's far tougher now, because record companies are run by financial people; before, they were run by creative people.

I was brought onboard to strengthen the bridge between Spotify and the music community.