Before the Music Dies

"Erykah Badu - Musician: There are three kinds of artists. The first kind are the ones who hurt to do what they do. It hurts to write, there's pain involved, there's experience in there, there's blood. The second kind of artist imitates the ones in pain. The third kind of artist just do what somebody tell them to do, learn the step, wear this wig, shake your ass, watch yourself. The first kind of artist are the ones who are more popular than the amount of money they receive. The second kind of artist is usually the rich ones. Third kind, they get dropped from the label because millions of them walking around... Be true. Be you. Don't let anybody infiltrate your dream. Make sure you're saying something when you're saying something. It's important to sound like you. To feel like you. To be you."

"Branford Marsalis - Musician: Students today are completely full of shit. Much like the generation before them, the only thing they are really interested in is you telling them how right they are, and how good they are. That is the same mentality that forces Harvard to give Bs to people who don't deserve them out of fear that they'll go to other schools that will give them Bs, and those folks will get the money. We live in a culture that seems to be in a massive state of delusion, where the idea of what you are is more important than you actually being it. It works as long as everyone is winking at the same time. And then if one person stops winking you beat the crap out of that person, and they either start winking or go somewhere else. My students just want to hear how good they are, how talented they are. Most of them aren't really willing to work to the degree to live up to that."