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The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Free Literature Study Guides
The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Ezra Koenig Quotes

I do think sometimes there’s danger in guest appearance mania. I’ve seen too many examples that sound cool on paper, like ‘Oh, get that guy to sing the hook on that guy’s song,’ and then that’s all it is. It’s a cool idea that sounds good on paper.

– Ezra Koenig

Growing up listening to rap music, you almost feel like you should have haters. That’s an important part of being a successful musician. It’s a good thing, I guess.

– Ezra Koenig

Rapping and singing are not two polar opposites. There’s so much middle ground. And I think there’s a lot of people who find that middle ground.

– Ezra Koenig

Some people say video games rot your brain, but I think they work different muscles that maybe you don’t normally use.

– Ezra Koenig

Well, growing up in the ’90s, my first true love was ska music.

– Ezra Koenig

I still to this day get the most inspiration from rap lyrics.

– Ezra Koenig

I still think that if you’re excited about something, you have to work at it.

– Ezra Koenig

I remember the first pangs of stress arriving at the end of school. Once I graduated I had to get a full-time job, worry about health insurance, saving money, paying rent – things I’d never thought about before.

– Ezra Koenig

My dad has a really great record collection that basically went up to the year I was born: 1984.

– Ezra Koenig

In Europe, I always have fun bike riding in Amsterdam.

– Ezra Koenig

As an artist you have the luxury of maybe presenting an issue in a certain way, as opposed to actually solving it.

– Ezra Koenig

I go to great pains to find the best yogurt and granola.

– Ezra Koenig

Anyways, trying to express yourself to the press is often like arguing with a hysterical person.

– Ezra Koenig

Just because I grew up a white guy in America doesn’t mean that’s the music of my life.

– Ezra Koenig

If kids and teenagers can get into a band, it’s probably not because they think it’s brainy.

– Ezra Koenig

It’s pretty cool that people will pay for something even though they don’t have to. It’s totally different now to back in the day. Now you’re paying for a record because you believe in the band. In the future that will be the only time people will pay for albums, because there’s some kind of connection.

– Ezra Koenig

All I know for sure is that issues like race, like class, are always best approached with compassion and open-mindedness.

– Ezra Koenig

You can be 24 and continue to live like you’re at college, or even continue to live like you’re in high school. Or you can put on a shirt and tie and pretend to be an adult.

– Ezra Koenig

I’m a huge fan of the Bay Area so I always love coming to San Francisco.

– Ezra Koenig

It’s so easy for anyone to deal with their own guilt of being a middle-class white music fan by pointing to other people who they perceive to be richer than them, whiter than them.

– Ezra Koenig

My dad grew up in a working-class Jewish neighbourhood, and I got a scholarship from my dad’s union to go to college. I went there to get an education, not as an extension of privilege.

– Ezra Koenig

Making every record is a process full of tough times.

– Ezra Koenig

I went to Columbia University because I knew I wanted to go to a school that was academically rigorous. I prided myself on getting good grades, but I also hated it.

– Ezra Koenig

I like how Ralph Lauren creates a mystical world through his clothing.

– Ezra Koenig

Playing ‘Tetris’ for 15 minutes is like meditation.

– Ezra Koenig

I don’t like to generalize but I’ve had nothing but bad experiences with Mexican food in Europe.

– Ezra Koenig