I view my hair and clothes as functional art.
Erykah BaduRead
I'm free. I just do what I want, say what I want, say how I feel, and I don't try to hurt nobody. I just try to make sure that I don't compromise my art in any kind of way, and I think people respect that.
Interpretation
This quote expresses the importance of personal freedom and authenticity in creative expression without harming others.
Erykah Badu emphasizes the significance of being true to oneself and maintaining artistic integrity while navigating life. She articulates a philosophy of living freely, expressing emotions openly, and prioritizing one's unique voice and art, all while being considerate of others. This embodies a balance between self-expression and respect for those around us, highlighting the value of genuine creativity and the respect it garners.
In practice
In a motivational speech about pursuing one's passion.
I view my hair and clothes as functional art.
Hip-hop was created out of necessity. We needed to create some digitized things to help us understand what we were feeling.
Hopefully my music is medicine, some type of antidote for something or some kind of explanation or just to feel good.
Hip-hop is not something we do, it's something we live. It's the way we dress, the way we talk... everybody bobbing to the same beat. It's a culture, and you have to find your own place in that culture. Top 10 or Top 40 can't dictate that. They can only dictate what's marketable.
We as Black people have to tell our own stories. We have to document our history. When we allow someone else to document our history the history becomes twisted and we get written out. We get our noses blown off.
Vegan food is soul food in its truest form. Soul food means to feed the soul. And, to me, your soul is your intent. If your intent is pure, you are pure.
I think of myself as a jungle musician because of my lack of formal training.
For me, the most exciting thing is to create good magic that's entertaining for an audience, and it would be lovely if a magician was fooled as well.
I think the point to be understood is that we're all different. I've never been a fan of theories of acting. I didn't go to drama school, so I was never put through a training that was limited by someone saying, 'This is the way you should act.'
For me, the creation of a photograph is experienced as a heightened emotional response, most akin to poetry and music, each image the culmination of a compelling impulse I cannot deny. Whether working with a human figure or a still life, I am deeply aware of my spiritual connection with it. In my life, as in my work, I am motivated by a great yearning for balance and harmony beyond the realm of human experience, reaching for the essence of oneness with the Universe.
The ability to be the first African-American painter to paint the first African-American president of the United States is absolutely overwhelming. It doesn't get any better than that.
Of course I want my films to look really good, but every single element is chosen for a reason. It's telling something in the story.
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