A Quote by Nas

I used to carry a notebook to the studio. I don't do that no more 'cause I don't have the time to write anywhere but right there in the studio on the spot. So when you hear my stuff, know that I wrote it in the studio.
I moved my studio to Palm Springs 'cause I don't like the idea of going to a studio every day like a job... I need to make a personal record, so I need to be in a house... I don't want to be in a studio where people can hear the music 'cause I don't know what it is yet.
It used to take me a really long time, and I used to not be able to write in the studio because I felt there was a lot of pressure to be perfect. The more I'm collaborating with other artists, the more I realize being in the studio is about catching a vibe.
I'm very critiqueful of my own stuff, and I kick everybody out the studio when I'm singing, no one is in the studio, it's just me and the engineers, no one else in the studio when I'm doing my thing.
If you end up spending more time in the studio than you do on the road, that's not a good balance for me. Because I think when you're in the studio, you need to come off the road and go in the studio and that's when you're applying your best. That's when you've got the best attitude, best energy, all that stuff.
The studio is my main compositional tool. And I used to be horrible in the studio. I didn't know any kind of technical stuff. But when you have something in your head, you've gotta figure out a way of executing it.
I run into viewers all the time who have no idea I've moved to N.Y.C. I think, for many of them, a studio is a studio is a studio.
So for my studio purposes, I know that I'm in my studio with technicians who've done amazing things to my board and to my power amps and I know what I can deliver out of my studio.
I hate studios. A studio is a black hole. I never use a studio to work. It's very artificial to go to a studio to get new ideas. You have to get new ideas from life, not from the studio. Then you go to the studio to realize the idea.
I always have days off before and after I go to the studio. That's really important for me that I know that I have days off after, 'cause then I can give my everything when I'm in the studio. I love being in the studio and being able to think, 'Okay, I'm not doing anything tomorrow.'
My whole life at a certain point was studio, hotel, stage, hotel, stage, studio, stage, hotel, studio, stage. I was expressing everything from my past, everything that I had experienced prior to that studio stage time, and it was like you have to go back to the well, in order to give someone something to drink. I felt like a cistern, dried up and like there was nothing more. And it was so beautiful.
I thought I was going to be a rapper as a kid and used to hop the train down to Jazzy Jeff's studio for, like, six months straight waiting outside of the studio for the big break, and one day we got in the studio and played our demo for Will and Jeff and quickly learned that we weren't that good.
The studio is really fun because I don't make it into the studio unless I've got something I really like. I love working with different musicians in the studio; that's a real joy, working with someone for the first time.
What is it that an artist does when he is left alone in his studio? My conclusion was that if I was an artist and I was in the studio, then everything I was doing in the studio should be art . . . . From that point on, art became more of an activity and less of a product.
The studio is not the place to write. You need to be 75% ready when you go into the studio, and then the music can develop to the next stage.
The most calmest place I can be is the studio. And like, I stay in there 'cause I know, when I come out, it's back to reality. Man, if you're angry all day, man, stay in the studio.
All I ever hoped for was freedom of choice and to not have to just do work because I needed to pay the bills. If you can, weave your way into a studio in a situation where it's supportive of the other work you wanna do. Also, there is caliber and weight in studio films, and I think the ideal is to get that balance right: Do a studio film, go away and do something that is smaller.
This site uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. More info...
Got it!