Fantastic Negrito

Growing up in the neighborhoods I did in Oakland, you don't know the Beatles, but I started learning their songs.

We should not fear what is new, but we should not throw out that which is in the past but is still valuable.

Live performance is everything. First of all, I have terrible stage fright. But beyond that, once the music starts, it's OK.

What did winning a Grammy do for me? It made me want to get rid of my Grammy, pack it away, and never see it again. It made me not want to speak to anyone who wanted to speak about my Grammy.

When I was a youngster, I wrote all this music - it just came out of me - and I think record executives were like, 'Oh, wow, he's a genius, let's give him a million dollars!' But the minute I started producing the records, they'd be like, 'Oh, my God, you're terrible! You're all over the place! We can't market this!'

I think that was always my strength. I was never a great player, but I could write.

Push back' is the word; that's what we gotta do against ignorance. I see so much of it, and it's dangerous.

I can't just sit back and write about the club when our democracy is under attack. I have to be a more positive force.

I could have worked with great people like Nile Rodgers, which I regret. I don't have many regrets, but I remember he'd shown some interest, and I was just in my own world, man.

Doing a concert, I look at a room full of different people, and I see you've got Muslims, you've got Jews, you've got Christians, you've got gays, you've got straights, you've got blacks, you've got whites. I think, 'How can I unite these people through song?'

As long as we have have predatory capitalism, we'll have guns because the gun industry loves to make money out of guns.

Without busking, there is no Fantastic Negrito.