I can't just make a song people can dance in a club to... it still has to be real.
Interpretation
Art should be genuine and authentic, not just created for commercial purposes.
Mary J. Blige emphasizes the importance of authenticity in her music, suggesting that while it's important for songs to be enjoyable, they should also reflect real emotions and experiences. This highlights the tension between commercial success and artistic integrity, advocating for art that resonates on a deeper level rather than mere entertainment.
In practice
During a music workshop to inspire creators.
When I was five years old I was molested and just, you know. I remember feeling, literally right before it happened, I just could not believe that this person was going to do this to me. That thing followed me all my life. The shame of thinking my molestation was my fault - it led me to believe I wasn't worth anything.
We are all spirits. We get depressed. But music makes you want to live. I know my music has saved my life.
I don't know. Only God knows where the story ends for me, but I know where the story begins. It's up to us to choose, whether we win or lose and I choose to win.
As a child I always wanted to be a singer. The music my mother played in the house moved me - Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Mahalia Jackson. It was truly spiritual. It made you understand what God was. We are all spirits. We get depressed. But music makes you want to live. I know my music has saved my life.
Really, every woman is an example to me, because as women we go through so much pain. We have to live this perfect life when we are messed up inside. We all go through trials and tribulations.
I've been praying to God to show me how to forgive myself. Because... maybe... that's the thing I've been searching for.
The odd thing about being a writer is you do tend to lose yourself in your books. Sometimes it seems like real life is flickering by and you're hardly a part of it. You remember the events in your books better than you remember the events that actually took place when you were writing them.
You don't go out and play Beethoven's 'Opus 111' without having rethought about it every time you play.
If I weren't a Jew then I wouldn't be an artist, or at least not the one I am now.
If anyone should want to know my name, I am called Leah. And I spend all my time weaving garlands of flowers with my fair hands, t o please me when I stand before the mirror; my sister Rachel sits all the day long before her own, and never moves away. She loves to contemplate her lovely eyes; I love to use my hands to adorn myself: her joy is in reflection, mine in act.
Always be a poet, even in prose.
It is through the intentionality of poetic imagination that the poet's soul discovers the opening of consciousness common to all true poetry.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.