List of Russell Simmons Quotes

I Signed Jay-z Because He Was On Fire. I Wasn't A Genius. The Record Was Great. I Put It On The Nutty Professor Soundtrack And We Signed Him.

Hip-hop Is About Tearing Down The System To Better It, Tearing Down The System To Better Themselves. No Matter How Flimsy It Might Seem, They Always Wanted The Finer Things In Life.

Being Materialistic Is Part Of The Hip-hop Community's Nature, Because Jazz And Blues And Rock 'n' Roll, When They Started Out In The Urban Communities, Were About The American Dream, And The Lack Of Opportunity In That Structure. So They Talked About Everything - Uplifting And Getting What Is Perceived As Success In America.

Young People, When They're Left Alone, Always Want To Have Compassion, And They Always Want To Give. They Always Want To Help People Who Are Less Fortunate.

I Know A Lot Of Angry Liberals Right Now. Hell, I Know A Lot Of Angry Vegans.

It's Always Marketeers Building Their Own Careers.

[performing Artists] Are Making Greater Percentages. People Are Going To Live Events More And It's A Big Success Story For Everyone - Except The Music Industry Itself.

I Really, Really Try To Be A Good Servant. It Makes Me Happy When I'm A Good Giver Without Expectations.

I'm A Full Disclosure Kind Of Person.

Nowadays, If You're A Great Artist, You Don't Have To Leave The House, Which Is A Really Big Difference. You're Closer To The Artist. And The Artist Can Be Closer To Their Artistry Without Having To Always Worry About Branding Themselves Or Building Something Image-wise.

People Build Themselves Up Before You Even Have To Deal With Them.

Most Artists Are Making As Much Money Now As They Could Have Made... In The Heyday Of Def Jam [when The] Beastie Boys Would Sell 10 Million Records Or Dmx Would Sell 6 Or 7 Million Records. Those Records Are One Thing, But Then All The Other Ways To Exploit The Emotional Relationship Between Artist And Community Is So Much Greater That I Would Guess That They're Making As Much Or More Money Than They Could Have Ever Made.