J. R. Martinez Quotes

Because life is complicated and difficult. Anyone who says otherwise hasn't truly lived.

I got my bearings, I began to focus. My mother was very supportive. When I came back to New York I landed a job at Hot 97.

I'm on the radio because I love hip-hop. I represent that community, but there are so many other aspects to who I am as a person.

It's very important that you never depend on money to fulfill your creative vision. If you do that, you're doomed to fail.

Accepting yourself as you are is an act of civil disobedience.

I obviously have a different connection to each song in a different way, and they all mean something different to me.

I love Nicoletta Ceccoli , and I love Tim Burton movies. So those are like my biggest inspirations I think.

On the show [the Voice] I obviously wasn't allowed [singing my own original music], because it's not that type of show. I think it's really cool that I get to do my own thing now.

I love directing my music videos and writing video treatments, and I think it's all just because I love the visual aspect of it as well.

And still as an adult like I do as well, you know what I mean like I literally just cried in the first interview that I had today. Like, I'm just a very emotional human.

Baseball is a game of the soul.

It's nice to have some distance with your family. As long as you're closer to them by love.

When you're a foreigner, at the beginning you are far away from the culture. Then, little by little, you start to interact with people, have friends, have a life, and then you feel more comfortable.

Santiago Martinez Delgado made a Master piece in the Colombian Congress building worthy of admiration.

He may be taller, but I'm going to show that I'm bigger than him.

It hurts me because of what he's doing to boxing. Because one of the most important world titles is at stake now. The champion has to defend it against the best.

Despite what some would have us believe, success is not built on resentment and fear.

All the great guitarists have a spirit-a way they play and don't play.

I believe with faith all is possible. An answer to prayer is greatest positive feedback you can get.

I'm glad I got to introduce myself to America by doing a Britney [Spears] song, haha!

I always mention toy sounds when I go into any session.

I was genuinely happy when I wrote that song [Training Wheels] and very in love. That's a very rare emotion to evoke out of me.

I also made a lot of really great friends on that show [the Voice], so that's one of the most important things that I've taken out of that experience.

It's like visual is super important to me. So if I am writing a song, like, I have to have the title.

Cry Baby is a character so I think that the next album is going to be about a specific thing in her life or another place in her world. It's going to be a bit deeper into a bigger picture.

I wasn't playing mind games with anybody, I just said what I said. I am responsible for it, but I wish everybody would fall asleep for that one and let me go out there and do my thing.

I like Paris. My problem is I don't like Parisians.

Immigration is a kind of pilgrimage. That's the way I see it. Just to go back to the desert, biblical metaphors, that's the story of great migration right there, the Old Testament.

I am not my self, I am the result of all my ancestors.

He needs to have a strong heart, because critics don't have a heart.

At 18, I guarded the parking lot at the Catholic Church bingos. Now my dad made sure I could take care of myself. I carried a Smith and Wesson 357 Magnum .

One shouldnt ask oneself how a person flies or why, but simply start flying.

Death should take more care with his paperwork.

He gives me the hairy eyeball, and asks me to help him find his pancreas.

New Mexico is an environment where we are open for business.

I'm open to play for anybody that would give me respect, treat me the right way, and actually going to make me feel comfortable.

Success, they taught me, is built on the foundation of courage, hard-work and individual responsibility. Despite what some would have us believe, success is not built on resentment and fears.

I fear some of our leaders today have lost the courage to stand up. What we have now are politicians. They won't offer real plans, and only stand up when they want to blame someone else.

Love is based on imagination.

All coincidences are Odd. That's what makes them coincidences.

The wisest man knows he know nothing.

Terrible errors are rarely made all at once. Usually they are performed one small misstep at a time.

I went to night school and summer school, I made that whole year up and I actually graduated on time. Also, I got a part-time job at the radio station.

I knew that when it came time for me to finally make my own album, it wasnt going to be about being a jock. It had to be more personal and intimate.

The projects I'm working on are all diverse, but each represents a different passion for me. I'm constantly looking to stretch myself.

I've been doing a lot of yoga to help with my running, recovery, and mental clarity. It works great for me.

Always keep things in perspective.

Back then, Lisa Lisa was somebody that I liked. She was Puerto Rican, and I related to her somewhat. I was a little bit of a fan.

Imagine the first time you are about to rap in a studio and you find yourself in a booth with Redman and KRS!

The people I chose to work with me on this album are there because I have a personal relationship with them.