Steve Stoute Quotations

I felt like I could take the responsibility and make the Nas movement bigger and not keep it confined to the Tri-State area, so to speak. He allowed me to do that. When we were together, we made a lot of noise, and I made him an international star.

Nas has always been uncomfortable with being famous and accessible. Nas makes music because he loves music, not because he wants the trappings of music, such as fame.

I tell young entrepreneurs to use the leader in their industry and as a benchmark as they work to create their own brand. Don't look at what your competition is doing - if you emulate the leader in your industry, you will achieve a higher level of engagement with consumers and make their buying experience richer.

When you grow up in life and you're poor, and because you're an athlete or you got rich overnight in music, unless you have access to financial advice or for the transition or matriculation of that process, then of course, you're going to go broke.

What's successful is when you are good at what you aim to do. And I don't think that Nas has aimed to do anything that he hasn't done. So he is a good businessman.

There's much more money being brought into the advertising and communications business than in the music industry.

I used to run record companies, and I went to the advertising business at 29 years old.

The ad business has some of the great artists, but because there are so many, its hard to determine the true gems.

I realized how far-reaching the effect of hip hop was when I walked by a jewelry store named Bling in a small, rural town in France. Hip hop has made a huge impact on urban culture. Yet many brands still don't speak to young people in a tone and manner that's representative of them.

Hip-hop started as this niche moment, and the values of it, the cultures that it carried on its back; language, clothes, the way you wear your clothes, the items that you consume, all came with the music as an art form. And those things helped transform how people buy, shop, speak, engage.

The diversity of America is a strength of the country, and I don't think that we use that. We don't talk about our strengths. I mean, having so many diverse people in this country from all aspects of all over the world, and we don't use that. I think we should talk about who we are - that melting pot that we've become.

What I want to do is basically tell my generation's story about how music and culture helped affect a generation, and a generation that's so profound, that it went on to elect the first African-American president.

Unlike the book, with a documentary, you get a chance to show much more texture and color. Film gives you get a chance to focus on much more individuals who are pivotal in changing the landscape of American culture.

Great ideas can come from anywhere. There are no titles around an idea.

Hip hop culture has done more for race relations in American than anything since Martin Luther King. And I really believe that.

I think kids today are going to look at their Facebook postings like bad tattoos one day.

Without curiosity, there will never be any innovation.

Trends come and go, but cool is forever.

When you're dealing with something sensitive, which is about culture, and its effect on a generation, you don't want any stones not to be turned over.

If people are saying you’re wrong that’s probably a good sign that you’re a genius.

I always say the first sign of a good idea is a lot of people not believing in it. I can tell you this right now, if you have an idea that makes complete logical sense and people don’t believe in it, then you probably have a brilliant idea.

I tell young entrepreneurs to use the leader in their industry as a benchmark as they work to create their own brand. Dont look at what your competition is doing - if you emulate the leader in your industry, you will achieve a higher level of engagement with consumers and make their buying experience richer.