Tag Archives: Kamasi Washington

Even the greatest musicians, they only represent themselves. You represent who you are and what your experiences are and what you have in your heart, and it's the same for me. I represent who I am and what I've been through and what I'm bringing to the music. Kamasi Washington

The song 'Leroy and Lanisha' on my album 'The Epic' is really my homage to 'Linus and Lucy.' Kamasi Washington

The thing about hip-hop is, like, that the instruments were taken out of schools. But – you might have taken the instruments out of schools, but we'll take the records and sing over them! Kamasi Washington

As musicians, we have one of the greatest tools of bringing people together in music. Kamasi Washington

I started playing with this band, the Polyester Players. It was my introduction into funk. So I went and got a James Brown record. 'Black Caesar' is a film score, but it's so dope. Kamasi Washington

One of the things I did learn from 'The Epic' was that we don't have to feel so much pressure to conform to set formats. A song doesn't have to be three minutes and 30 seconds. Kamasi Washington

I grew up with a sense of music being a very spiritual experience while playing in church and with parents who were socially aware, always teaching me to look beyond the obvious in understanding how the world works. Kamasi Washington

When you bring multiple cultures together, there's a degree of push and pull. Kamasi Washington

You have to dig deep to make great music, and it gets harder and harder. It's a difficult, painful process to reach deep in there and pull out the real gems. And you have to have that little bit of anxiety of, 'Can I really do this? Am I good enough?' You need that in […]

It's either, like, 'Your album was the first jazz album I listened to,' or, like, 'My friend took me to this show, and I've never been to a jazz show before, but, man, I'm so happy I came. I can't wait to go home and see more.' And you can feel it in the crowd, […]