There's certain songs that you're gonna record that you hope to touch people and change lives, and there's certain songs that you know that are not going to be that serious.
Was 'Crucify Your Mind' dedicated to anybody? No, it was a generalization. 'A Most Disgusting Song' is like that, too.
There was a band in Australia named Midnight Oil, and they were a very, very political, and they literally hit you over the head with a hammer. U2 sometimes can hit you over the head with a rubber hammer.
I never care personally what people say about me. The music, and the message - this will always be more important to me than people thinking I'm the best.
We have quite a few political songs: 'Channel Z,' let's 'Keep This Party Going' on. Our lyrics aren't too hit-you-over-the-head, but they have political undertones. We're active politically.
There's always a message in my music, you just gotta be able to just sit there and be open-minded.
I hope that just what I sing about and how I relate to my audience is as much of a political statement as I need to make.
I'm not interested in how well someone can sing. It's what you're singing that interests me.
I'm a spiritual musician, I think there has been enough political musicians and I think everything that can be said has been said about political, social things, you know, and there's still some more to be said but not much.
I don't profess to be a political rapper, like groups such as 'Dead Prez' or 'Public Enemy', but I think social commentary should make its way into your music. Speaking on your neighbourhood is social commentary - what happens, what's going on.
I never believed that U2 wanted to save the whales. I don't believe that The Beastie Boys are ready to lay it down for Tibet.
If you wanna hear what the people are saying, you can hear what the Rastaman saying.
I think people relate to Skynyrd; it's a working class band. They're just songs with messages. To this day, there's never been a song written that didn't have a message.
There's a lot of spirituality and hope in our music that I think people are catching on to. It's not punk, it's not Green Day, not Offspring, not Soundgarden, not Stone Temple Pilots, not all of the other bands that are coming out.
My core thing is gangster rap, but a lot of my music is melodic and carries a message of survival.
I feel as a singer and musician, it's my responsibility to talk about social issues, and you will hear about them in my music as well.
When we talk about 'Firepower,' we're talking about the fire and power of heavy metal to prevail and endure difficulties. 'Children of the Sun,' is, to some extent, about climate change and the ecosystem... We want to deliver a message to the people without being too much of a teacher.
It takes people a little longer to get in to you when you have a distinct sound - especially if you're not force-feeding singles to pop radio. I try to be as much of an enigma as I can... because I want to be present and have people know what my message is, but then again, I want that mystery. There's a sensuality in the mystery that I think drives people to listen to my music.
I am a politically motivated person, and that will come through in the music.
Music should never be harmless.
Of course our music has a lot of positive messages and we try to reach out to kids our age or people younger because we feel we get motivation by songs.
Pop music has been the center of change, you know? And positive messages. I would love to get back to that place because I think we've lost it a little bit.
Not follow me but follow the lyrics.
I want to impact the world and the culture in a positive way, spread super dope messages and help people through my music.
I don't want to shove the Bible down someone's throat with my music. That's not my goal.
