Music Entrepreneur Quotes

Music is one of those businesses in which, if you're talented and hustle hard enough, you can make it - specifically as an entrepreneur. If you look as far back as Berry Gordy, Russell Simmons, Andre Harrell, L.A. Reid, and Sean 'Diddy' Combs, there's a whole lineage of successful black entrepreneurs who have built their own companies from scratch.

I can think of no one more relevant and credible in the hip-hop community to build upon Def Jam's fantastic legacy and move the company into its next groundbreaking era.

I have inherited two of the most important brands in hip-hop, Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella. Reid and Universal Music Group have given me the opportunity to manage the companies I have contributed to my whole career. I feel this is a giant step for me and the entire artist community.

I'm a fan of Jay-Z, I'mma always be a fan of Jay-Z.

I always look at Akon as inspiration, and the fact that at one point Lady Gaga was signed to Konvict Muzik.

The only biography I read was about Al Bell, of Stax Records. I wanted to follow in the footsteps of Al Bell.

Steinberg is great. I should like to meet him.

Pop managers are fixed in the dramatic stock character repertoire too, ever since the first British pop film musical, Wolf Mankowitz's 'Expresso Bongo' of 1959, with Cliff Richard as Bongo Herbert and Laurence Harvey as his manager. The key components were cast as X parts gay, X parts Jewish and triple X opportunistic.

I don't like to be considered a 'hip-hop mogul.' I don't know what that means.

When I grow up, I want to be like Diplo, for sure.

LL Cool J is a huge presence. He is a music mogul. He brings that experience and that life into the room.

I don't want anyone to fail, so if you can make money off music even though you can't sing or dance, that's genius.

I'm not a superstar, per se... but I'm a musical creator - a producer in the same vein as what Quincy Jones was, or Pharrell and Timbaland were.

Birdman is probably one of the most intelligent music moguls out there.

I'm trying to be the Dr. Dre of Cleveland.

John Peel made his reputation with his radio show and his record label, Dandelion, by championing the underdog.

Rick Rubin is interesting. He doesn't wear shoes, I think? No wait, he wears shoes.

I have the weirdest career in hip-hop, and I say that because I started so young. I started So So Def when I was 17 years old.

I want to be remembered as one of the best record producers of my era.

I like Simon Cowell - look at how many great artists have come out of the U.K. because of him.

Simon Cowell seems like a very nice guy, but I think he's a secondhand Mickie Most to be honest.

People are gonna get tired of Linda Perry the producer, but I will always be in the music business. And I will always be successful in it.

It's an honor for me to have the opportunity to work with Emilio Estefan.

My lifelong friend and mentor Frank Barsalona is gone. And the music business as we knew it went with him.

If anybody calls me a female Quincy Jones, that's way, way complimentary. That's something I'll cherish for life.