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Creativity Quote by Ike Turner

"I can put a hip-hop beat to reggae. That is, I can have real reggae in the drums and in the rhythm, and on top of it I can put The Rolling Stones' feeling, anyone's feeling on top. Nobody has ever done this before, man!"

About this Quote

Turner isn’t just bragging about a studio trick; he’s staking a claim to authorship in a culture that loves to treat Black innovation like a public utility. The line is built like a producer’s manifesto: start with “real reggae” in the drums and rhythm (authenticity, craft, roots), then layer “The Rolling Stones’ feeling” on top (commerce, crossover, the global rock brand). What he’s describing is a template now so common it’s practically invisible: rhythmic DNA from Black and Caribbean music, emotional posture and market packaging borrowed by (or routed through) white rock, then resold as something “new.”

The phrase “anyone’s feeling” is the tell. Turner’s framing makes genre less like a sacred category and more like modular parts: groove as infrastructure, vibe as décor. That’s a musician’s way of talking about power. If you control the rhythm section, you control the body of the song; everything else is costume. In the 60s and 70s, when reggae was becoming an international language and rock was absorbing everything it touched, Turner positions himself as the engineer who can fuse worlds without flattening them.

“Nobody has ever done this before, man” carries a familiar edge: excitement mixed with pre-emptive defensiveness. He knows the history of being early and not being credited. The quote reads like a warning shot at the gatekeepers: if this hybrid catches on, remember who figured out the wiring.

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TopicMusic
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APA Style (7th ed.)
Turner, Ike. (2026, February 18). I can put a hip-hop beat to reggae. That is, I can have real reggae in the drums and in the rhythm, and on top of it I can put The Rolling Stones' feeling, anyone's feeling on top. Nobody has ever done this before, man! FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-can-put-a-hip-hop-beat-to-reggae-that-is-i-can-79788/

Chicago Style
Turner, Ike. "I can put a hip-hop beat to reggae. That is, I can have real reggae in the drums and in the rhythm, and on top of it I can put The Rolling Stones' feeling, anyone's feeling on top. Nobody has ever done this before, man!" FixQuotes. February 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-can-put-a-hip-hop-beat-to-reggae-that-is-i-can-79788/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I can put a hip-hop beat to reggae. That is, I can have real reggae in the drums and in the rhythm, and on top of it I can put The Rolling Stones' feeling, anyone's feeling on top. Nobody has ever done this before, man!" FixQuotes, 18 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-can-put-a-hip-hop-beat-to-reggae-that-is-i-can-79788/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

Ike Turner

Ike Turner (November 5, 1931 - December 12, 2007) was a Musician from USA.

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