Ryan Lewis Quotes

Powerful Ryan Lewis for Daily Growth

About Ryan Lewis

Ryan Lewis, born on July 28, 1988, in Seattle, Washington, is an accomplished American record producer, songwriter, and activist, best known for his creative partnership with rapper Macklemore. Lewis's musical journey began at a young age, learning to play various instruments such as the trombone, trumpet, drums, guitar, and piano. In 2009, he met Macklemore through their mutual friend, Seattle-based artist Sir Mix-a-Lot. Their collaboration led to the creation of several successful tracks, including the platinum-selling single "Thrift Shop" in 2012 and "Same Love" in 2013. These songs, along with the rest of their collaborative album "The Heist," won a Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2014. Lewis's production style is characterized by his integration of diverse genres, from hip-hop and electronic music to indie rock and folk. His work is deeply influenced by artists such as Danger Mouse, Kanye West, and Jimi Hendrix. Lewis's innovative approach to music production has earned him critical acclaim and a devoted fanbase. Apart from his musical career, Lewis is also known for his activism. He co-founded the Capitol Hill Art Walk, an event showcasing local artists in Seattle. In 2017, he launched VSCO, an app that aims to provide a platform for young artists and creatives to share their work and connect with others in the creative community. Lewis continues to push boundaries as a producer and artist, demonstrating his versatility through various collaborations and projects. His unique blend of genres, combined with his dedication to activism, solidifies him as a significant figure in modern music.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Creativity is just a fancy word for the solution or the answer to a problem."

Ryan Lewis' quote suggests that creativity is simply a method, a way to find solutions or answers to problems we encounter in our lives, whether they are artistic, scientific, or practical. By defining creativity as such, he emphasizes its utility and the practical application of imaginative thought processes. Essentially, he proposes that when faced with challenges, harnessing our creative abilities allows us to discover innovative solutions and make progress.


"The best way to predict your future is to create it."

This quote by Ryan Lewis suggests that instead of passively waiting for the future to unfold, individuals should proactively shape their own destinies. It encourages self-empowerment, personal responsibility, and actionable planning in life. In essence, the future is not a fixed reality but rather a product of our choices, actions, and efforts. By actively creating and pursuing goals, we can predict and influence what our future will look like.


"Being true to yourself means that you're not going to water yourself down, you're not going to try to be something that you're not."

Ryan Lewis' quote emphasizes the importance of authenticity and self-integrity. It suggests that being true to oneself involves not compromising one's identity or values to fit into societal norms, expectations, or roles. Instead, it encourages individuals to stay genuine, unique, and unapologetically themselves, without altering their core essence to conform to others' perceptions. In other words, this quote is a call to embrace individuality, originality, and self-expression, rather than attempting to fit into predefined molds or masks.


"Success isn't always about greatness; it’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come."

Ryan Lewis' quote underscores the idea that success often stems from consistent effort, rather than extraordinary talent or a single brilliant moment. He suggests that by maintaining regular, diligent work, one can achieve success over time. In this perspective, greatness is not an instantaneous achievement but a natural byproduct of persistent hard work. This quote encourages the idea that success should be pursued steadily and consistently, rather than aiming for unattainable greatness in one fell swoop.


"In order to make a positive impact on the world, we need to invest in ourselves and our dreams first."

This quote by Ryan Lewis emphasizes the importance of personal growth and self-investment as a fundamental step towards making a meaningful contribution to society. The implication is that one's own abilities, knowledge, and aspirations are the foundational tools required to create a positive impact on the world. By nurturing our dreams, we equip ourselves with the skills, passion, and purpose needed to make a significant difference in the lives of others. Essentially, this quote encourages us to start by focusing on ourselves, realizing that our potential for positive change is limited only by how much we invest in our personal growth and aspirations.


In 1984, my mom gave birth to my older sister, Teresa. Due to a complicated delivery, she needed a blood transfusion, and at that moment, my mom had HIV+ blood put into her body.

- Ryan Lewis

Birth, Delivery, Needed, HIV

Rick Rubin is super intriguing to me because he has become this god producer in completely drastically different genres, which very few people have done.

- Ryan Lewis

Intriguing, Very, Which, Rick

I don't think I would be here in an interview if YouTube wasn't in existence, if social media hadn't been developed, or if these platforms for artists to promote and develop their own careers hadn't become available.

- Ryan Lewis

YouTube, Here, Been, Interview

I have an AIDS ribbon tattooed on my arm.

- Ryan Lewis

AIDS, Arm, Tattooed, Ribbon

Seattle isn't known for a particular production sound, so that leaves a lot of great producers in Seattle doing kind of their own thing. And I think, for me, I was probably enough removed from hip-hop that my style was even a little bit weirder than that.

- Ryan Lewis

Doing, Production, I Think, Seattle

How do I use my platform? How do you join in a way that is useful and not distracting and not shining a light on you?

- Ryan Lewis

Light, How, Use, Distracting

Coming out of the Northwest and that environment to shoot hip-hop videos, it's a little atypical of a place to be, you know.

- Ryan Lewis

Out, Videos, Northwest, Hip-Hop

I didn't grow up listening to hip-hop since I was six.

- Ryan Lewis

Listening, Grow, Six, Hip-Hop

I graduated in 2009, which - if you think back to where the economy was at that time - was an interesting time to graduate.

- Ryan Lewis

Interesting, Think, Which, Graduated

I love history, cultural and religious studies, philosophy, photography and traveling.

- Ryan Lewis

Love, Cultural, Religious, Studies

The music industry is transforming fairly rapidly.

- Ryan Lewis

Music, Music Industry, Rapidly

I think most producers and MCs are constantly in this competition, but it's usually with yourself. It's usually wanting to be innovative: wanting to catch yourself when you're doing the same thing or throwing out the same art you've already done.

- Ryan Lewis

Doing, Wanting, I Think, Producers

I guess my job has always been to build the music, direct the videos, to do all the things that usually fall behind the scenes.

- Ryan Lewis

Behind, Always, Been, Scenes

You have no idea what you're passionate about until you give it a shot. If I hadn't been given a guitar or a camera or whatever, I'd be doing something different.

- Ryan Lewis

Give, Been, Given, No Idea

When artists who are not associated with the typical infrastructure get recognition, that becomes a cultural movement.

- Ryan Lewis

Cultural, Artists, Typical

I would love to be one of the few artists that hits a point of success and can go back into the studio and make another album that matters and relates to people and not go back in and be super tainted by this whole thing.

- Ryan Lewis

Love, Studio, Relates, Tainted

I have never been wired to be front and centre of spotlight and ready to dance.

- Ryan Lewis

Never, Been, Wired, Spotlight

I'm not trying to make beats that are better than somebody else's. I'm trying to make beats that are genuine to me.

- Ryan Lewis

Trying, Better, Else, Genuine

There is something about me that is collaborative, that wants to get the best performance out of somebody else or to hear something that somebody else has done that's good and to try and make it great.

- Ryan Lewis

Best, Done, About, Collaborative

The process is so much longer than the result for almost everything all of us are doing.

- Ryan Lewis

Process, Doing, Almost, Almost Everything

I bring up 'The Heist,' and you can almost cut that record down the middle between songs where the beat came first and the words came second, and songs where the words came first and the beat came second. It can start with a vibe, a beat that drives a story, or it can start with a story and then trying to identify the tone to tell that story right.

- Ryan Lewis

Tone, Vibe, Cut, Beat

Any time we have the opportunity to play in a more intimate room, there's such a huge aspect of our set just built for that. And beyond that, we just love being that close to our fans.

- Ryan Lewis

Love, Play, Set, Aspect

Some songs go super-quick; some take a really long time.

- Ryan Lewis

Long Time, Some, Take, Really Long Time

I'm the only person in my entire extended family that plays an instrument or sings, really. Which is kind of weird. I don't know where I got it from.

- Ryan Lewis

Which, Sings, Plays, Extended

For me personally, to hop onboard and use the amazing success and blessings in my life to pull off something like the 30/30 Project is awesome.

- Ryan Lewis

My Life, Like, Use, Hop

There's an open door now more than ever to be making any type of beats that you want.

- Ryan Lewis

Door, More, Making, Beats

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