You never have to choose between being the pure artist or the craven, sellout entertainer. You can be both.

Being a mathematical genius doesn't do you any favors as far as having something to say in music. You see every style as equal, and you want complicated music to devour.

If you're going to point out the ridiculousness of a rule, it's naïve to think that you can break it. It's the same way that rappers have embraced capitalism. Some people say they liked it better when rap was a literal protest form in the '90s. But I think it's more a form of protest today, because it's telling the story of what happens once something forbidden is within reach. I think rap is more political today when it speaks about luxury watches than it does about fighting the power.

Harmony is the third element of music, after melody and rhythm, and also the one which requires the most study to actually master. People can be very instinctive and extremely gifted melodically and rhythmically, and harmony can still be difficult.

A lot of comedians today have misunderstood the concept of a subversive comedian. If you really want to be subversive, you have to please and offend in equal amounts.

Europeans invented art for the last 300 years, and the Americans kind of killed it with a big, huge rock.

You never have to choose between being the pure artist or the craven, sellout entertainer. You can be both.