140 Jhene Aiko Quotes on Creativity and Self-Love

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1. “Change is inevitable. Why hold onto what you have to let go of?”

2. “Shame on you for staying the same.”

3. “Every other day’s a different game that you just can’t win.”

4. “I just love to have a clear mind.”

5. “Life only gets harder, but you gotta get stronger.”

6. “I think if a woman is feeling aggressive, she should be aggressive and not hold back.“

7. “I am not perfect. I would never let you think I was more than this.”

8. “I just like being a regular person.”

9. “You have gotta lose your mind, just to find your peace of mind.”

10. “My main goal in life is to just be happy. I don’t compromise my happiness for anything. If I find what makes me happy I’m going to do that. That’s really going with the flow of life.”

11. “What you create for you, no one can take from you.”

12. “You have to realize that you are everything and more just on your own.”

13. “I am a sailing soul, a free spirit. I don’t think I could ever be tied down.” 

14. “We were free to be everything we dreamed.”

15. “If you don’t learn, you’ll never know a good thing.”

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16. “The way you feel is not my problem.”

17. “You have got to trust the signs. Everything will turn out fine.”

18. “I love me enough for the both of us.”

19. “I’m not being difficult, I just see things differently.”

20. “I’m cool with nothing, ‘cause even nothing is something.”

21. “I’m a homebody for sure. I love to stay at home.”

22. “I have a crazy sense of humor so if someone is just trying to be rude to me, or if you can tell that someone is angry for no reason, I like to entertain them.”

23. “Females in our generation’s morals are just out the window. Materialistic things aren’t life. I’d rather walk in the rain with a man who treats me like a queen than to ride in a Benz with a man who treats me like crap.”

24. “I belong to the world. I’m in a relationship with the world.”

25. “We are all slaves of desire, controlled by the things we think that we need.”

26. “I’ve always been an over-sharer to the point where I’ll meet someone and just start talking and telling them everything about my life.“

27. “There’s no place quite like here, there’s no better time than now.”

28. “Writing has always been my go-to form of expression. Whenever I was going through something as a kid, I would write it down and I would turn it into a poem.”

29. “Suffering is optional. You’re gonna have some pain, but it doesn’t have to make you suffer.”

30. “I decided that what you give is what you’re given.”

31. “It gets crazy in my mind sometimes, but the reason why I like to express so much positivity on my Twitter is because I think we all are battling evil thoughts. I think it’s important to not ignore them but to try to understand where they are coming from and get through them instead of suppressing them.”

32. “There’s no slowing down as the globe spins around and around. You gotta keep going.”

33. “I stopped looking at people’s opinions. It’s easy to get caught up in what other people think.”

34. “Oblivion is kind of like nirvana, where you become nothing and you don’t have to suffer over and over again. You’re free to just be nothing.”

35. “In a sense, I am like a volcano and this album is an eruption.”

36. “I definitely think that people confuse their ego with their spirit. Your ego is always there telling you to ‘be better and work harder,’ not telling you that you’re already enough. You need to silence your ego to hear your spirit and that’s what I had to do.”

37. “I’m probably my biggest critic. There’s nothing anyone can ask of me that I haven’t already asked of myself.”

38. “It ain’t perfect, but everything’s beautiful now.”

39. “‘Chilombo’ is a word that means ‘wild beast.’ They’re strong, confident and graceful. Beasts are also beautiful.”

40. “A lot of times, we talk about what we are going through and our problems, but now we need to focus on resolving the issues and how we can help each other get through this life.”

41. “‘Cause nothing really is, and everything really isn’t.”

42. “Sometimes, you gotta work through the darkness to get to the light.”

43. “I’m Black. I’m strapped with magic, bro. I’m nothing you have had before.”

44. “I’m trying to teach people not to be selfish. That’s the thing. If you have a good thing, share it. Of course, we’re not in a sexual relationship.“

45. “I don’t feel like I have to use big words or theories to get my point across. People are like, ‘Whoa. That’s crazy,’ and make it into this crazy thing.”

46. “I do not depend on nothing or no one.”

47. “Just be yourself and wear deodorant.”

48. “Love side, hate side—never in between.”

49. “If you don’t get a hold of yourself, then you will end up with no self.”

50. “I’ve been offered things from a lot of different labels and stuff like that, but it’s just like, it has to be perfect. I’m not going to sign my life away.”

51. “Growing up, I was always self-conscious and dealt with a lot of self-esteem issues. I don’t know, I just never liked my face. That was one of the things I dealt with when I was younger. I couldn’t look at pictures of myself.” 

52. “Where I’m from, we live by the love, die by the love.”

53. “When I became a teenager, I started reading about things like Buddhism, which made me find inner peace. was like a spokesperson for world peace, so I just fell in love with him and Yoko’s relationship. They were always in pictures together, and you could just feel the love. That was something I really admired because people are so afraid to admit when they’re in love with someone.”

54. “Loving you was nice, but it’s a new day, a new season.”

55. “Don’t you know there’s a line for my love? And you be out here lying on us.”

56. “I’m an acquired taste—not for everybody, but for the ones that get me—I will give you all of me, all the time.”

57. “I’m not the type that would ask for a number or ask him on a date, but I have approached a guy. I probably would tell a joke or say, ‘You’re really cute.’”

58. “No music while making love—the sound of the love being made is better than music.“

59. “We made love like the world would have ended.”

60. “I’m friends with exes and they hear the songs. I can honestly say I don’t have any exes I hate. They’re artists in some fashion so they understand.“

61. “It’s not love, but it’s pretty close.”

62. “Everything I do is for you and I really do adore you.”

63. “Because people love music, I feel it’s my responsibility to produce more of the music and to get it out to more people, so like I said, if the mainstream route does that without compromising me being happy as a person then that’s something I’ll do.”

64. “I make music for healing purposes, for myself. It’s like journaling or when people paint. It’s sort of an escape. It’s turning pain or frustration into something; into art. Sharing it is also therapeutic because when people express to you that they are relating to it, you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m not alone in what I’m going through.’”

65. “I always say the person who taught me how to sing indirectly because I listened to her all the time was Brandy. I fell in love with her voice when I was six years old. I always loved Brandy.”

66. “I sing songs to express myself, so if it’s someone else’s words, then it’s not really me telling my story. At that point, I’m just like an actress, and I’m not an actress.”

67. “I appreciate all the people that can respect and appreciate my music.”

68. “I’ve always been very spiritual, since I was a very, very young child. The older I get, I’m reading more, I’m experiencing more, and so that’s all reflected in all of my music. All of my fans are pretty familiar with me and my beliefs. It’s all about connecting to yourself and sticking to your own spirituality.“

69. “I appreciate when people listen to sad songs, because it’s almost like telling someone your problems and having them listen with a compassionate ear.”

70. “I am the youngest of five and growing up my dad always had an interest in being a musician—he played the guitar and wrote songs. So, he converted our garage into a studio. He instilled that musical interest in us when we were very young.”

71. “You know how a lot of people say, ‘I lose myself in music,’ or ‘I like to escape,’ but I want my music to be more of an awakening. I want it to make people to be aware of life; I don’t want my music to be a distraction. I want to light a path.”

72. “A lot of times, when I’m creating songs, they’re in real time. When I’m writing the song, I feel what I’m feeling for its full potential. As soon as the song is over, I’m like, ‘I created art.’”

73. “I know like the Wiz Khalifah one, got me excited because I like his music, and it’s almost like you know I can relate to his music, so I feel like dang if he listens to my stuff and thought it was good then maybe I’m as good as him, you know what I mean?”

74. “It’s humbling because a lot of times people think because they are the artist or the celebrity or whatever they want to call themselves that they’re above being a fan. If you like something, you can like it. You don’t have to be afraid to say that so I really appreciate it and you know, to me, people are people.”

75. “Before I had my daughter, I actually wanted to do something that I could put out for free, like a mixtape, but it wasn’t going to really be a mixtape, it was just going to be songs that I wrote and released for free.”

76. “When I was younger, I didn’t really have the chance to express myself, as I was just singing other people’s songs and singing their stories. At that time—around 20, 21—I had been through so much that I already had all these things to sing about. Now, we’re here and life is only getting crazier. I have more things to express.”

77. “I had my baby around 20 and I was always working on music, but I was always working on music, but I was doing other stuff as well.”

78. “I’m not a party animal. I’m a chill homebody. I like to watch movies and go out to eat. That’s my idea of a good time. I’m definitely able to be social.”

79.“I don’t think I have a sad life. I just talk about all my feelings and emotions.”

80. “Is it strange for me to say that if I were to die today, there’s not a thing I would change? I’ve lived well. Maybe I have made mistakes and been through my fair share of pain but all in all, it’s been okay. I’ve lived well.”

81. “Life can get wild when you’re caught in the whirlwind.”

82. “I think the journey is the reward, I think that it’s about being on the right path, the path for you. That’s what I felt I had to get back to because I was being nudged here and thereby not really listening to myself and not being in tune.”

83. “I just want to meet as many people as I can and talk with as many people as I can, but whatever allows me to do that then that’s my main goal. It’s just to understand as much as I can about life and how it happens.”

84. “Go with the wind, you know, like a sailboat. I think that’s really important when it comes to especially. You can’t help anyone else if you don’t have it together for yourself.”

85. “A lot of people ask me if I meditate, and to me, meditation isn’t taking five minutes out of the day to sit by yourself in solitary. I’ve found that it’s really a state of being. It’s more about mindful living and making sure that you’re constantly checking up on breath and breathing deeply.”

86. “I love to sit outside in silence, breathe, focus on a flower or look at the sky. These are things that I’ve done since I was a child because I was home-schooled and had a lot of time to sit and think before even realizing that was a form of meditation.”

87. “Every day though, I’m just looking for like—I always ask people, What are you listening to? What sounds are good to you? A lot of people are in their car, in the club, or on the internet looking and I just don’t do any of that. Usually, if I’m out and about it’s because I have something to do because I’m like a really big homebody. If I’m at home, I’m watching Nickelodeon cartoons, so sometimes I’m out of the loop with the cool music, but for sure I’m predicting that J.Cole is going to be good.”

88. “That’s what’s so beautiful about art is that you can just throw paint on a blank canvas, and do something crazy and that’s your release. You didn’t hurt anyone, you know?”

89. “When I find something good, I stick to it for like a month. I’m usually late on, like, other stuff. Kendrick Lamar, I can play that often.“

90. “I guess I just developed more of an interest to actually be a part of the design, picking out the fabric and just being more involved. I never really considered myself a fashion person, but then I just realized that fashion is just another way of self-expression and that’s pretty much what I’m most passionate about.”

91. “As I got older, I really got into Tupac’s poetry, his books, and just learning about his life and what he was into.“

92. “I actually have a young readers’ series that I wanna do, kind of in the same lane as , or Narnia, or Twilight. I want to write stuff like that.”

93. “When I’m writing, I’m not trying to save the world. I’m just trying to help myself, but it’s a plus that people can relate to it.”

94. “I want to write some books. Books that have nothing to do with music, just some fiction type of books for a whole different audience of people.”

95. “I’m creating songs. I do it most of the time—in the car or in the house.”

96. “I think I have patient fans that want quality over quantity. It’s more important to me that the project be the best that it can be and the most real it can be rather than rushing a whole bunch of generic songs because I could do that. I could just put together some songs real quick that I really like. I only write and I only sing for a purpose, so if it’s not, then it’s not going to be rushed.”

97. “I share about one percent of my whole being with the internet.”

98. “My advice for women who are feeling insecure is to get off of social media and stop comparing yourself. That’s the one thing that definitely affects everyone. We’re always comparing ourselves and being told that one type of beauty is the best type of beauty.”

99. “The internet has made everyone aware of their opinion. As many people as there are in the world, that’s how many opinions there are. If you let that many opinions affect your own opinion, and your own way of looking at things, you’re going to be so confused.”

100. “I’ve never been in that position in my life where I hate a celebrity so much that I want to call them names.“

101. “Sometimes, I go and I’ll look at people’s comments and then responses, covers, choreography, and fan videos and after a couple hours it’s like, uhhh this is a little like—I’m like, don’t indulge in right now.“

102. “I never felt like I left. I think before anything, I am a writer and that’s something that I do almost every day. So it wasn’t, I guess, public, but I still would put out stuff on like MySpace or you know whatever social networks were poppin’ at the time.“

103. “I think that’s really, really important, you can’t get in the industry, because you want to make money because number one, I don’t think money should be motivation for anything because I don’t believe that it has any value.”

104. “Of course we live in a world where we have to make money to eat so that’s always nice to be able to sing and make money, but to do something I love and to be able to eat from—it’s great.“

105. “I am not writing this music from a place where I want to be famous or popular or to make money—this is what I am feeling. There is a higher purpose.”

106. “I think touring is one of the funniest parts of being a singer or entertainer or whatever.“

107. “If you look up in the night sky and see this light that’s flashing colors, that’s Sirius. It’s a star system, and it looks like there’s a party going on. What I like to believe in my dreams and imagination is, there are some of us on Earth that come from there, indigos and star seeds, who are hyper sensitive to feelings and seasons.“

108. “Nothing really came, everything was like, inspired by something.“

109. “Yeah, I mean, I’m a water sign. I’m a Pisces.”

110. “I finished school because I started when I was 13, so basically around 16 or 17, I just focused on finishing high school.“

111. “I never saw a distinction between a man and a woman. My and my mother were great examples of men and women, and they taught me equality. So I would fight with boys and wear my cousin’s clothes. I would do whatever I wanted, and that’s where I still stand today.“

112. “I want better for you movin’ forward, what’s better for you than me?”

113. “I’ve been taking time to put my phone down and focus on where I’m at and who I’m with at the moment. It’s as simple as allotting a certain amount of time away from your phone. Like, for one hour per day, I’m going to leave my phone in another room, and give it a break.”

114. “I have crystal bowls made of precious gems, and I’m building my collection. My in-house studio is now filled with all these bowls. They all work with your chakra system, which is healing on a cellular level. If I have a headache, I’ll go in my studio and play my bowl in a certain key, which represents the ‘crown chakra,’ and it’ll start to resonate in my head, and actually help my headaches go away.”

115. “Without a place to call home, I got so used to the changes.”

116. “I think, as a person, I have a whole bunch of different sides to me.”

117. “With my career, everything I do is me. There’s no one that handles telling me what I should be about or how I should dress or anything. I’m hands-on with absolutely everything. When I’m writing a song, I’m already thinking of the visual for the song and I’m already thinking of what I’m going to wear in that vision and what I’m going to wear when I perform. It all goes hand in hand. Everything I do is just me expressing different sides of myself.“

118. “Yeah, you hear me. You don’t feel me, though.”

119. “If this was not love, then please tell me what was it.”

120. “Please do not drive me crazy.”

121. “So you just go around breaking hearts just to see what is inside.”

122. “I started as a love song.”

123. “Have you seen my fucks to give?”

124. “I just wanna ease your mind and make you feel alright.”

125. “If your dude come close to me, he gon’ wanna ride off in a ghost with me.”

126. “And yeah, it’s obvious momma now probably can’t stand me.”

127. “And the more that I see, the more that I know.”

128. “Every weekend turned to every evening.”

129. “Up till the sun rises, there’s no compromising.”

130. “Yeah you know what I’m talking about, ‘cause you just get me.”

131. “It does not get better, you cannot do better.”

132. “These bitches don’t got no feelings.”

133. “You have been hoping I wouldn’t go.”

134. “Moving from stranger to strangest.”

135. “God damn, baby, my mind’s blown.”

136. “I chose happiness over everything.”

137. “Picture me rolling.”

138. “I’ve gotta save the world.”

139. “You better act like you know.”