I bet you never heard of a playa with no game, Told the truth to get what I want, but shot it with no shame. Take this music dead serious while others entertain. I see they makin' they paper so I guess I can't complain...or can I? I feel they disrespectin' the whole thang. Them hooks like sellin' dope to black folks, And I choke when the food they serve ain't tastin' right, My stomach can't digest it even when I bless it.
Interpretation
The quote addresses the complexities of authenticity in art and commerce.
In this quote, Andre Benjamin reflects on the struggle of creating meaningful art amid commercial pressures. He acknowledges the tension between artistic integrity and the need to succeed financially, expressing dissatisfaction with the superficiality surrounding the music industry, particularly how it can commodify culture to the detriment of its authenticity and depth. His metaphorical references reveal a critique of how art can sometimes serve harmful stereotypes rather than elevating the community it represents.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of genuine creativity, I might say, 'As Andre Benjamin once reflected, we must be cautious of superficiality in art.'
I met a gypsy and she hipped me to some life game,_x000D_ _x000D_ To stimulate, then activate the left and right brain._x000D_ _x000D_ Said, 'Baby boy, you only funky as your last cut._x000D_ _x000D_ You focus on the past, your ass'll be a has-what.'_x000D_ _x000D_ That's one to live by, or either that's one to die to.
I just use fashion as an excuse to talk about politics. Because I'm a fashion designer, it gives me a voice, which is really good.
Sometimes it's difficult directing yourself on film because you can't quite separate yourself from the subject.
As art sinks into paralysis, artists multiply. This anomaly ceases to be one if we realize that art, on its way to exhaustion, has become both impossible and easy.
C'est véritablement utile puisque c'est joli. It is truly useful since it is beautiful.
I work with few colors, what creates the illusion of quantity is that they fell in the right place.
Style is not something applied. It is something that permeates. It is of the nature of that in which it is found, whether the poem, the manner of a god, the bearing of a man. It is not a dress.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.