In America we have big issues with education - in impoverished communities especially. I work with Teach For All, and so we're encouraging more people to get into teaching.
John LegendRead
I've never put out a song that I wasn't completely proud of and that I didn't love. In that sense, I've never felt like I sold out in any way.
Interpretation
The quote expresses an artist's commitment to integrity and passion in their work.
John Legend emphasizes the importance of authenticity and self-respect in his musical career. He conveys that every song he has released represents his pride and love for his craft, suggesting that true success aligns with personal values rather than commercial pressure. This perspective reflects a deep connection between the artist and their work, highlighting the fulfillment that comes from staying true to one's artistic vision.
In practice
In a music industry panel discussing authenticity in art.
In America we have big issues with education - in impoverished communities especially. I work with Teach For All, and so we're encouraging more people to get into teaching.
Hip-hop is one of the most free art forms there is. There's so many sounds you can use, so many things you can bring in. You never know, man. I bet years ago people would've never said they would hear me with Rick Ross, and we did four classic songs together.
For me as a songwriter, I love when other people cover my songs.
To have the chance to see your music be elevated and to have almost universally positive response to that music, makes me feel better every day. I feel more confident and inspired, and that's fun.
Why wouldn't I help? What good reason do I have as a human being with power and a sense of empathy and morality, why wouldn't I do something?
I wrote the song "Show Me" as a prayer to God asking simple, honest questions about life and death and why there is so much suffering in the world. As I grew with the song I realized I shouldn't limit these questions solely to God; I should ask those questions of others and of myself.
One of the glories and terrors of working in public is that you do see if your output means anything to anyone.
We feel the same emotions for our ideas as we do for the real world, which is why we can cry while reading a book, or fall in love with movie stars.
No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul.
I am the eggman They are the eggmen! I am the walrus!
An artist has to train his responses more than other people do. He has to be as disciplined as a mathematician. Discipline is not a restriction but an aid to freedom. It prepares an artist to choose his own limitations.
A novelist has two lives-- a reading and writing life, and a lived life. he or she cannot be understood at all apart from this.
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