Dr. Dre quotes: about perfectionism, longevity, lovin’ what you do, possibly becoming a billionaire, and more.
“You just have to find that thing that’s special about you that distinguishes you from all the others, and through true talent, hard work, and passion, anything can happen.”
“You can learn it. But in order to be good at it, to be really great at it, it has to be in you.”
“Don’t be worried about the next man – make sure you’re business is tight.”
“The good keeps you going. The bad motivates you, too.”
“Every person walking has some kind of talent that they can get on tape.”
“When the ideas are coming, I don’t stop until the ideas stop because that train doesn’t come along all the time.”
“There’s three types of people in the world: those who don’t know what happened, those who wonder what happened, and people like us from the streets that make things happen!”
“I love the new technology. New things give you a reason to want to go to the studio. New challenges mean you have to keep up, you know?”
“I’ve looked at pictures that my mom has of me, from when I was four years old at the turntable. I’m there, reaching up to play the records. I feel like I was bred to do what I do. I’ve been into music, and listening to music and critiquing it, my whole life.”
“I always loved the way music made me feel. I did sports at school and all, but when I got home, it was just music. Everybody in my neighborhood loved music. I could jump the back fence and be in the park where there were ghetto blasters everywhere.”
“Everything in my life has been about sound and making music, so Beats represents just that – the improvement of sound and the dedication to everything I’ve been doing from the day I started.”
“People are always coming up to me, thinking I’ve got some magic wand that can make them a star and I want to tell them that no one can do that. Making hit records is not that easy. But it took me time to realize that myself.”
“I don’t take any shortcuts. I don’t say, ‘Okay, it’s good enough.’ I try to get exactly what I’m hearing in my head to the tape, and I won’t let it move until then.”
“I don’t even listen to the records after they come out. It’s outlawed in my house. My wife and my kids can’t play any of my music around me. Once it comes out, for me, it’s just business. Numbers.”
“I’m not no egotistical person. I just want what I’m supposed to get. Not a penny more, not a penny less.”
“I think it’s incredible what I’ve done. A lot of sweat. But as an innovator, I look back and can’t help but go, ‘Damn, there’s things I could’ve done better,’ you know?”
“The record business. It’s exactly what it is. Record business. You have to take care of both, or they won’t take care of you.”
“I work hard making music – that’s how I earn a living.”
“I’m never gonna stop music, it’s like air to me.”
“I don’t ever see myself retiring totally from music, because I have a genuine love and passion for it.”
“Even when I was close to defeat I rose to my feet.”
“I’ve gone 79 hours without sleep, creating. When that flow is going, it’s almost like a high. You don’t want it to stop. You don’t want to go to sleep for fear of missing something.”
“I just want to get my music out and make sure that it’s heard in the right way.”
“No matter how hard you work to bring yourself up, there’s someone out there working just as hard, to put you down.”
“I have social anxiety. I don’t like being in the spotlight, so I made a f*cking weird career choice. That’s the reason for my mystique and why I’m so secluded and why everybody knows nothing about me.”
“If you’re not sincere with it, you shouldn’t say anything at all.”
“Kids are the ultimate form of motivation. They’re watching. They’re mimicking. They’re an extension of you. So you have to win.”
“My kids soak in most of what I’m saying. Sometimes they don’t get it right away, but it’s always good to hear, ‘Yeah, you were right.'”
“The only two things that scare me are God and the IRS.”
“You got to realize that when I was 20 years old, I had a house, a Mercedes, a Corvette, and a million dollars in the bank before I could buy alcohol legally.”
“I can’t see myself ever spending hundreds of thousands on anything that doesn’t come with a toilet.”
“I’m not a big spender. I don’t get into all the jewelry and all that.”
“I believe in reincarnation, and I believe I’ve lived quite a few lives.”
“I’ve gotten my personal life all the way intact and made sure that it’s straight. Without that, you have no foundation. Your building is going to crumble.”
“You see people talking about how, even if they get a lot of money, they’re going to stay in the ghetto. That means that if you’re staying there, you’re going to allow your mother and your family to stay there also. That’s bullsh*t. For my family, I’m saving money.”
“The secret to my longevity is that I’m a perfectionist.”
“It’s always weird when people approach me to make an investment. I tell them, ‘I don’t need any more money. I’m good.’ Then I wait for their expression. That part is entertaining, because people look at you like you’re crazy when you say you don’t need any more money. Who says that?”
“I’m not a billionaire yet, man. I will be, hopefully. One day. But let me tell you something: I never have to make another dollar in this lifetime. For the rest of my career, it’s just about having fun, being creative.”
“I’m living an incredible life. Making a living doing what I love and having people love it. I can’t even explain what that feels like.”
“I don’t think I would go back and change anything that’s happened in my career, because maybe those things were stepping stones to where I am now.”
“I’ve been living the American Dream for over 25 years – just being able to do what I do, be creative, and make money out of it. It’s incredible.”
