30+ Robert Glasper Quotes (Soulful, Innovative And Groovy)

Robert Glasper is an American jazz pianist, composer, and producer. He is known for his work in the jazz, hip hop, R&B, and rock genres. Glasper has won three Grammy Awards, including two for Best R&B Album for Black Radio 1 and 2.

Top 10 Robert Glasper Quotes

1. I've gotten bored with jazz to the point where I wouldn't mind something bad happening. Slapping hurts, but at some point it'll wake you up. I feel like jazz needs a big-ass slap.
2. Jazz is like a big secret club. The mainstream media doesn't pay any attention to it, it's like 1 percent of the music market - no one cares. Why? Because the majority of jazz is old.
3. Jazz is a state of mind. There's no boundaries.
4. I think there's good music out there. I just think that radio stations don't play it.
5. I grew up in church. That's how most young African American musicians learn how to perform. You could be six years old and playing organ or drums in front of thousands or hundreds of people.
6. "Cannonball Adderley said, 'First 20 minutes we'll jazz out, then the last hour it's gonna be songs that people paid to see.' Which is why he was driving a Rolls-Royce."
7. If you really dissect hip-hop you will find a whole lot of Charles Mingus, Ron Carter, Ahmad Jamal, a lot of classic jazz samples in there.
8. It's the repetitive thing that brings space. That's one of the things I love secretly about hip-hop. Jazz doesn't have that element. It changes every bar, nothing is ever the same.
9. There is a modern take on certain things you can do that, to me, is still jazz.
10. Everybody's not going to like jazz, let's just be honest about it. Everybody doesn't like everything. There's a disconnect in generations and some people just aren't going to feel that music.

Robert Glasper Short Quotes

• I feel like certain people think that certain styles of music will taint their jazz style.
• A lot of times, jazz musicians try to educate people. What other genre does that?
• My first memories of life were in rehearsal; thats why I can sleep through anything.

Robert Glasper Famous Quotes And Sayings

It came from my mother. She was a singer, and literally every day of the week she sang at a different club in a different genre of music: country, R&B clubs, jazz clubs, church on Sunday morning where she was the music director, pop hits, soft rock. I grew up listening to all this music, so it was never one thing for me. — Robert Glasper

I think there's beauty in repetition. And that's part of my culture and African culture as well: repeated things, mantra. It's spiritual, it's meditation, it's Buddhism, it's praying, it's all these things. — Robert Glasper

Ive heard some people say that Im selling out, but Im not. If I hadnt done Black Radio, and just kept on doing just piano trio stuff, I wouldnt be honest with myself; Id be doing it to please other people. That would be selling out. — Robert Glasper

Sometimes I'll write a song first and then I'm like, "Oh this person will be great on this song." But there are some artists I know what want, like off the top I knew I wanted Brandy and Faith Evans. Their music is like the soundtrack to my life, so it was a personal thing for me. So once they said yes, I wrote songs specifically for them. — Robert Glasper

A lot of people in the jazz community are looking at how much notoriety we're getting. And we're an inspiration to a lot of young people, because now there's something new they can aim for that's in their grasp. Because a lot of times when you attend a jazz college it's all about the history, none of the teachers there are forward-thinking, for the most part, so they don't teach you how to be yourself and embrace the music around you. — Robert Glasper

If I was a singer who won those Grammys, I'd be gracing all the magazine covers... I barely got asked to do an interview. — Robert Glasper

I think the people who are saying jazz has to sound a particular way, or "what you're doing isn't jazz," are just scared because they can't do it. A lot of them just aren't talented enough to do anything new, honestly. It's the people who are talented enough and who have the open mind and who are forward-thinkers are the ones who are doing something new. You tend to hate on what you can't produce. — Robert Glasper

I'm not really married to the craft of jazz - I'm married to me, and my style, and whatever I produce. — Robert Glasper

You’ve got to be uncomfortable and rise to different occasions in order to become your best. No one is born a hero, but things happen and your response makes you a hero. It’s instinctual, it’s something that you may not even realize is there. — Robert Glasper

When I hear the words jazz pianist, that just means I have the skills to do most things. Because to be a jazz pianist, even to be a bad jazz pianist, you have to be pretty good. — Robert Glasper

My fan base is extremely random. It's the 14-year-old white kid sitting next to your auntie from St. Luke's Baptist Church, to the 20-year-old Black girl who probably would go to a Rihanna concert, but she's coming to my show. — Robert Glasper

I think we're an inspiration to young people, to know they can be honest and not run away from influences that are not jazz. We're definitely breeding a new wave of jazz, for real. — Robert Glasper

Instead of hearing, "Oh, he's good," I'd rather hear, "Wow, you changed my feelings today, you made me feel different." — Robert Glasper

Experiment is actually doing the art. That's the experiment and then you get to experience the experiment. — Robert Glasper

I do feel a responsibility because most people like me that are my age or younger, they don't quite make it over to the jazz side. They flirt with it, but they don't quite marry it. — Robert Glasper

That's a skill that I'm proud of: to be able to be a jazz musician and go a bit crazy sometimes and other times be able to pull it all in and lay it down like a track. — Robert Glasper

Once I started getting mainstream people to my shows, I realized we were taking too many solos, and they were too long. I started gauging when people were going on their iPhones. — Robert Glasper

Life Lessons by Robert Glasper

1. Robert Glasper's work demonstrates the importance of collaboration and experimentation in creating music that is both innovative and accessible.
2. His willingness to embrace different genres and styles of music has allowed him to create a unique sound that is rooted in jazz but speaks to a wide range of audiences.
3. His work is a reminder of the importance of taking risks and pushing the boundaries of what is possible in order to create something truly special.