El-P Quotes - Page 3

If you ask me what people want from me, they would probably just want me to be true to what I'm doing.

The worst part is that if you become part of a major - all these independent labels become farm teams for your corporate parent. Basically, you do all the work for years, blowing up an artist - you discover them, blow them up, you build their fan base. And then that artist is like, "Okay, now I'm here. Now I want more. I want to be bigger." And you're either going to be able to accommodate them, you're going to be able to figure out how to take that step with them, or you're going to lose them.

As you get bigger, your staff gets bigger, and your costs get bigger.

My favorite era of hip-hop was between '85-'89. That was the era that got me to love hip-hop.

When we're putting out records that people are responding to, it's amazing. And it's obviously what we shoot for every time. It's a tricky balancing act. But as long as it's sort of a righteous idea, then you're good to go.

There is a difference these days between who's making the music and buying the music, in terms of the way that they think, grew up, and their perspective. It's become much more diverse.

I've been approached by major labels every single year of my existence as an artist. Since 1996.

I always wanted to do a deal with Russell Simmons, and now I've got my signature on a piece of paper with his.

I think that every record label has its trials and tribulations, its ups and downs. The only thing you can do is hope to recognize what it is that makes you great, and to try and continue to capture it.

Hip-hop is always moving. It's always looking for the next style; it's always trying to one-up the last person.

I don't have any delusions of grandeur. I just want to make music that doesn't make me bored.

There's nothing worse than being shackled by some miniscule sort of technology you have onstage, and I think your mettle is going to get tested in those moments.

I'm a pretty intense person. And I don't know if intense is fun. I put myself through the wringer. That's just how I work.

The crews that are going to be self-produced are going to make the great albums, as opposed to making these mix-tapes, these compilations - "Me over this guy" It sounds good individually, but the art of the record is something that is lost. It gets to the point where it's just vocalists and producers coming in and piecing things together.

The emergence of the independent hip-hop scene has replaced what we called the "underground scene". It's what the underground scene has evolved into: actual businesses.

That dark humor has always been a part of what I've done. It's always been somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

I've never had a huge collection of records; I've never been a beat digga.

I don't think hip-hop is a dying art form. I think it's impossible for hip-hop to be a dying art form.

I'm not trying to change the face of hip-hop music. I'm trying to make my records and always take the next step for me.

I think branching out is cool, but I think that you have to branch out in a way that makes some sort of organic sense. I would love to put out a rock record eventually, but it would have to somehow philosophically make sense for me.

There are all the offsprings of people who are influenced by punk. It sounds completely different - but it's still rock 'n' roll. When hip-hop came on the scene, it was the last legitimate creation of a new genre.

I've always believed that if you cannot do it, then you should not do it.Only when it comes to the point where you've literally dug yourself into a hole, where it's sink or swim, is that viable to me.

So inane-I cause Colon Blow pain