Lyor Cohen Quotes

My week is full-tilt boogie. I wake up every morning, and the singular thought in my head is that maybe today is the day that I’m going to find an artist who is so amazing, an artist who will change pop culture. I’m in hot pursuit, always.

I used to have a gym in the house. I thought that was a fantastic luxury.

Hip-hop had become overly aspirational and shiny, full of vivid technicolors. Cosmetic fronting was not part of the ethos of our get down. Our get down was more blue collar. Our aspirations were to shine a light on the plight and experience of the inner cities of America.

Content that’s generated out of America, whether it be film or music, has, in my opinion, much greater impact in sustaining our credibility and our place as a cultural capital. This is our great export.

Everything gets thrown off depending on whether the Packers are playing. I grew up in L.A., and we had a terrible quarterback, Roman Gabriel. When I was 11 years old, I fired him, I fired the Rams, and I picked a quarterback I aspired to be. That was Bart Starr. That’s how long I’ve been a Packers fan.

I think it would be bad for culture and the art if artists and people who develop the apparatus to support those artists don’t get paid.

I don’t typically do what you’re supposed to do. I focus on what I should do.

Rap now is multi-generational, which has its own issues. My son is a big Cudi fan, but he does not like talking to me about Kid Cudi.