Michael On
Michael On
art change culture east experience faith lost middle music open people playing restored seeing traveling
Traveling to the Middle East and playing music for people on the street, for soldiers, for people in hospitals, and for people who lost their homes, and seeing people open up through the experience of music really restored my faith in music, in art, and in culture to change things.
connect experience feeling identified life looking meet people
I always identified with that feeling of being an underdog. So I always was looking to connect with and meet people from other cultures, to experience people living a different life that I am.
ask baghdad duty iraqi life music night played soldiers streets talk took trip war year
I took a trip in 2004, a year after the war started in Iraq. I played music on the streets of Baghdad for Iraqi civilians. I'd also play for U.S. soldiers at night when they were off duty in the bars. Then I would talk to people, and I would film them and ask them about their life and the conflict.
somebody wished
You get everything you could have ever wished for if you're willing to give that eternal bliss away to somebody else, to give it back.
head kid lip realize shaved thinks white whose
After a show, I'll get the 16-year-old white kid whose lip is pierced, his head is shaved and his parents hate him, and the young gangster from the screwed-up 'hood, and they say that now they realize there's someone out there who thinks like they do.
matter single
It doesn't matter if you're black, white, gay, straight, come from different countries, different language... every single person is significant and is meaningful.
dissing egos factions grabbing issues possibilities rap social women
Rap has so many possibilities that need to be explored. There are different factions of rap, but some are in a rut. Rap doesn't have to be about boosting egos and grabbing your crotch and dissing women. There's a way to make political and social issues interesting and entertaining to the young rap audience.
best good greater kids rock saying wherever
We have a saying in my house, my kids and my girlfriend. We say, 'Be your best for the greater good, and rock out wherever you are.'
homophobic singled
The rap community has been singled out as more homophobic than other groups, but I don't think that's right. It's homophobic, all right, but no more so than the heavy-metal community or the Hollywood community or any other community.
bigger hope people within
I hope I inspire people to dream bigger than what they are living, but a dream within their reach.
living love peace time
I'm not an idealist. I know we're not going to be living in a world that's peace and love all the time. But we can live in a world where we kill each other a lot less.
airport bags bowl feet food ten
I eat bags and bags of cashews. I've got them in the kitchen, and about ten feet away I've got another bowl on the kitchen table. In my backpack, I've always got a bag of cashews. I started eating them in the airports because that's the one food that you can find in every airport that's actually nutritious.
good greek mythology span time universal versus
'Star Wars' is mythology. It's like Greek mythology or Shakespeare. It's the story of good versus evil over a very long span of time. The storytelling is universal and timeless.
circles circling goal nirvana pipeline ultimate water
When you surf, the ultimate goal is to get into a pipeline where the water circles around you and that's all there is. In writing, it's the same thing. You want to get into this pipeline where the story is circling around you and that's all there is. That is writing nirvana to me.