Top 50 Jidenna Quotes

I was raised in Nigeria, and my mother is white, but I never saw her as white, not until I came to America. She was just my mother. She didn’t really have a color.

The affinity towards suits was a functional thing for me early on because I was thrifting at secondhand shops, and it was also initially a way of grieving – my father had passed, and he used to wear suits all the time.

I describe myself as a big kid with an old soul, I’m very playful whimsical, but I definitely have that old soul as well.

I’ve always been dabbling in suits, but like a lot of people in the neighborhoods I grew up in, I had my snapback; I had my v-neck. I still got them in the closet. I got my J’s, my Forces; it was standard.

People thought ‘Classic Man’ was processed. But then they realized, ‘Oh, this guy actually is that man, and he actually dresses like that.’

I think a lot of people try to be someone else, and Young Thug really is who he is. I love his melodies, how he dresses, how he carries himself.

I myself have been scrutinized by militarized police, but I know officers who actually handle themselves in a certain way that makes me feel safe.

Yes, it’s still a man’s world, unfortunately, and we have a long way to go in this country and all countries – but there’s something to be said for just feeling the spirit of a true man, and I think that’s what ‘Classic Man’ speaks to.

I was raised with a father who really believed in the bridge between all Africans around the world.

Ever since the decision of Robin Thicke and Pharrell, we believe that it was important to make sure that we are safe. When that Robin Thicke verdict came out, we realized that the game had changed in music.

In Brooklyn, all the kids call me the ‘Willy Wonka of the Hood.’

I think one of the things that I picked up from Nigeria is the constant pressure to be excellent. Parents drill in this responsibility towards family, but also a responsibility toward making sure your family name is heralded.

Nothing I’m doing is without its predecessors.

For me, I wear a suit because I need to remember what’s happened before me.

I was born in Wisconsin, but I quickly moved to Nigeria as a toddler.

For me, it’s important that as you’re introducing yourself, you show different dimensions.

One day, my mum bought me this music production software for my computer, and I started making beats… I realised it was more like production than a video game, but it was a video game when I was playing it. That’s how I got into music production.

You love who you love. I happen to just love a lot of women.

I like quality over quantity.

When I brought home a 98 percent on a test, my father would say, ‘Ah, ah, where are the other two points? Go and get them, then bring them back.’ My father and Nigerian culture has always stood for excellence.

Willy Wonka had his chocolate factory; I have my Fear & Fancy Parlor.

America is haunted by an apparition steeped in slavery, and I wanted to remind everyone that, ‘Yo, we’ve got to handle this.’

Everything you touch touches you.

I think it’s the job of the artist to reflect the times and also reflect his or her views of the world.

I wanted to remind myself and others of the old Jim Crow, so that we can remind ourselves that we’re still living in the new Jim Crow. I feel it’s important to dress in the fashion of the times.

I’m the guy on the corner that is slightly peculiar but fun and funky.

Does Martin Luther King really want his birthday commercialized?

I don’t have one geographic location that I’m exclusively loyal to.

We’re social beings, and I need to know and remember where I came from.

Like most people, I had several awakenings.

I work predominantly with tailors from Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal.

My nickname is ‘Chief’ because my father was a chief in Nigeria.

I am, always have been, and always will be proud of my Nigerian heritage.

I began my studies in a sound and electrical engineering program, but I ultimately created a major called ‘Ritual Art.’

My style is not specific to the antebellum South, but it’s heavily inspired by the Jim Crow era.

There are always pluses and minus to commercialization. It broadcasts something to the masses. So that’s the plus. The minus is it may lose some of its meaning if you dilute it.

First of all, I respect The Game. He’s trail-blazed for artists like myself. I appreciate him, having – living in L.A. myself and knowing what he stands for and what he stood for.

I think it’s important to not just think about what you want but what’s needed in the world.

While the majority of my childhood memories are beautiful, I also have experienced the challenges that Nigeria has faced since independence.

Swanky means classy and funky.

Not unlike our country’s history, my personal history was founded upon an unfortunate history of racial conflict between black and white.

Most of the suits I try to wear are bespoke.

Jesus’ birthday is commercialized, so of course, Black History Month is commercialized.

There was no question that I was going to school.

If we can believe in our own value, then we won’t try to denigrate and diss and just roast women all the time.

Even if the production doesn’t feel African, the vocal delivery – singing through your nose. Specifically, Highlife music from Nigeria. That was the first music I ever heard as a child. So singing through my nose is something I do often, and that’s directly rooted in my heritage.

In music, I wanted to make sure I was innovating.

The trick of Afrobeats is it doesn’t just move your upper body, it moves your hips as well, and I think that’s what people have been missing in popular music for a while. I think that’s what people need around the world.

I started singing because it was a natural evolution in hip-hop to me. Without Prince, I wouldn’t have embraced that. I wouldn’t have been able to embrace me.

A great tailor is like a great personal trainer – they tailor that suit to your natural physique.