A Quote by Ali Shaheed Muhammad

I am the ambassador to the world. I use music to talk to the world - to try to unite masses. To try to spark conversations. To try and evoke legislation to change that'll really be for the people. That's behind-the-scenes kind of thing for me. And that's what the music is for me.

Ali Shaheed Muhammad

Quote Topics

Am Ambassador Behind Change Conversations Evoke For The People Kind Legislation Masses Me Music Music Is People Really Scenes Spark Talk Thing Try Unite Use World

Quote Author

Ali Shaheed Muhammad
American - Musician
Born: August 11, 1970

I was 21, and I was like, "Man, am I really gonna start over and try this whole thing over again? Do I want to start over and be in a rock band again and try to act like a 17-year-old for as long as I can?" Because that was what I was doing with Simon Dawes band. I decided that if I was going to go on playing music, I was going to try and work on it. So I got into Leonard Cohen and Will Oldham, guys that really inspired me not only as songwriters but also through their music as people, and that's kind of what the shift was for me.

Taylor Goldsmith

I try to get my subconscious to puke out as much stuff as I can because I'm really not judging myself while making music. If I crave a frequency in the mid, I'll just drag in a sound and try to mold it into what feels right. It happens very quickly. And if I've been making a piece of music for five hours and it sucks, I'll just throw it away. There has to be an entry point to learn about myself, or an idea I've never tried, because then I can try on a new skin and see the world through a different perspective. If I have that spark, then I'll save the file.

Arca

Help me to change the world is an invitation to be authentic, to follow your heart, to be free of superstitions and lies. And I'm not asking you to try to change the world. Don't try: just do it.

Miguel Angel Ruiz

I try to be as humble as possible and try to project that to the world. But some people don't see that. They think I'm just in Atlanta spending money. But I try to be humble. I try to let the world know that I am still humble.

Gunna

I like the idea of multidisciplinary conversations, so in that spirit, I try and make a contribution from the art world into the music world.

Fred Tomaselli

I think some modesty actually serves me by just accepting that I am an instrument. I'm not trying to match up to an ideal as some kind of challenge. It's more like I use the family tree of music and song that I feel has fit me as an encouragement; like it's a bed to rest in rather than a challenge to try to better myself over, to try to.

Mirah

When I make my music, I try and speak to me. I try to go back and hear it, so my music gets me through the times, you know what I'm saying?

Lil Tjay

I try and keep my pictures as natural as possible and try not to use too many filters, because now, it is such a world of making everything look so perfect, that in fact, it is the imperfections in people that are really unique and special. So, I try and get that across to people.

Dianne Buswell

I try not to worry about other people's music. But if there's one thing that I hear these days, it's that people try and put [music] down so tight that they take all the color out of it.

Tim McGraw

I use the music almost as a compass in some kind of quasi-romantic way. I try and go to places that I'm intrigued by, and I take this music with me, using my name at the front.

Robert Plant

I try to take a snapshot of who I am now, who I am becoming, as opposed to who I was when I was first starting to make records. I'm not trying to make boring adult music, but I try to make music more reflective of what matters to me now.

El-P

What Snapchat said was if we try to model conversations as they occur, they're largely ephemeral. We may try to write down and save the really special moments, but by and large, we just try to let everything go. We remember it, but we don't try to save it.

Evan Spiegel

One song isn't going to ever change things, but I suppose it's the accumulation of music generally [that is]. If you can imagine a world that has no music in it, it would be a very different world, so music does change the world by virtue of all the music in it. Cumulative music of every kind, from banging a drum to playing a flute or recording symphonies, or singing 'War, what is it good for?' All those things change the whole way we live.

Mick Jagger

All I want to do with my life is try and make music that I really love, and so every day I try and work on music.

Moby

I try to listen to as much as possible. I know some people really try to avoid music when they're writing and recording, but I am very inspired by so many different musicians, and I need to learn.