Adrian Younge Quotes

A lot of people record on a laptop and use plug-ins, which might be OK for the kind of music that they’re doing. But for the kind of music that I’m doing, that just doesn’t work. I can’t cut corners; everything has to be organic.

Having Ghost and Raekwon together on multiple tracks is almost like cheating because they fit so well together. Their chemistry is undeniable, and they clearly make each other better.

I grew up, and I’m getting the chance to make music with the people I idolized.

Basically, if you work hard and practice an instrument every day, you’ll learn how to play like a professional. You’ll get better and better each day. And that’s how it works for me. I wasn’t magically inclined to play. I had to keep practicing and practicing to train my fingers.

We love high-end art, but when you’re looking at high-end art in music, a lot of the time, it’s appreciated academically, but you can’t feel it as much.

‘Luke Cage’ came out in 1972 at the height of the blaxploitation era. It was a literary response to this notion of blaxploitation movies. It was the first time in American culture that Hollywood was embracing black movies.

To me, the Ennio Morricone kind of sound is a derivative of soul music.

I’m the black dude that loves old black culture. I also love old white culture. I just love history, but I’m the guy that wants to bring things back and push them forward.

I always compare myself to what I did last, so I’ve got to try and beat what I did last. I’m always upping my own bar.

Luke Cage is seen in ‘Jessica Jones,’ but he doesn’t really come into his own until the ‘Luke Cage’ series. That’s when you really see who he is.

When people make the educated argument that things should go back, it’s more like going back to a feeling they had when they heard some of the music that came out. Not going back to that music being rehashed. That’s stupid.

I started buying ill, obscure records, and then I saw Portishead and Air live, and my mouth was on the ground.

It’s important to the world to see superheroes that are spread across our demographic.

People like RZA and DJ Premier are really on the balcony to scope my musical theories. They also help me focus on making sure I make money, making sure I get the notoriety I should, just regular stuff that friends do when you’re in the business. And to call them friends is amazing.

Generally, as a composer, it’s perceived as an employer-employee relationship.

I’m a huge Stereolab fan.

A lot of Ennio Morricone’s music is just – it’s very soulful, very cinematic, and very psychedelic.

I’ve always been a big fan of Kendrick’s, but it’s different when you hear him on your own production.

When you get older, you try to get what you wanted as a kid. Maybe you wanted an arcade in your house or Q-Tip rapping on your beats.

Change the sound. Make people rethink what they’re doing. That’s what I really wanna do.

I’m a hip hop dude who loves scoring for film.

I try to find a vocalist that I don’t have to make better. I try to find a vocalist that can make me better, and in turn, I can make them better so that we are, as a team, making ourselves better. I like the vocalist to challenge me. I love to challenge a vocalist.

I was really raised on hip-hop, and hip-hop introduced me basically to all the music I listen to now.

When Curtis Mayfield made ‘Super Fly,’ he used the lyric to make a statement.

It’s important for a young black kid to see a Mexican hero, just to know that we’re all equal.