*I may not completely agree with every statement listed, but I do find them all either amusing or important to consider.
Andy Warhol (artist)
Art is what you can get away with.
Chuck D (rapper)
Rap music is the black CNN.
David Byrne (singer)
The better a singer's voice, the harder it is to believe what they're saying.
Frank Zappa (composer)
Rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, in order to provide articles for people who can't read.
Classical music is this music that was written by a bunch of dead people a long time ago. And it's formula music, the same as top forty music is formula music. In order to have a piece be classical, it has to conform to academic standards that were the current norms of that day and age: "the cadences fall at certain points in the structure, the structure must be set up thusly." And once all these criteria are met, you have composed your little classical symphony.
Harlan Howard (singer/songwriter)
Country music is three chords and the truth.
Jimmy Swaggart (televangelist)
Rock and roll is the new pornography.
John Cage (composer)
Begin anywhere.
If your art doesn't irritate people, you aren't doing your job.
Lester Bangs (critic)
The first mistake of art is to assume that it's serious.
The whole concept of "good taste" is concocted to keep people from having a good time.
Lou Reed (singer/songwriter)
If I hadn't heard rock'n'roll on the radio, I would have had no idea there was life on this planet.
(on Metal Machine Music): Anyone that gets to side four is dumber than I am.
Pablo Picasso (painter)
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.
Art is a lie that helps us see the truth.
Richard Wagner (composer)
Imagination creates reality.