Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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I have to be able to rap. I don't have the look. I don't have the typical slim-dude, fancy-clothes look. That's not me. I have to be able to rap - there is no other choice, or else I get eaten alive.
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Outside of hip-hop, it was in comics that I most often found the aesthetics and wisdom of my world reflected.
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There's so much bigotry that needs to be overcome.
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Back in the day, when the D.J. would be playing a record, I'd be on the mic trying to hype up the crowd. So once Public Enemy became a rap group, I decided that that's the role that I wanted to take on. I wanted to be the one that was hyping, because I've always been good at it. I can hype up any crowd.
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I'm a total hip-hop geek. That's my favorite kind of music to listen to while getting ready.
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The problem is that rap is so often a caricature of its own image. Nobody comes to the table with the seriousness of the effect that it can have; nobody is prepared for that.
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When I first got into the rap game, I had an early dream of unifying rappers.
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I'd like to do a completely off-the-wall collaboration. I would like one of my songs to be the hook to a rap song. That would be so much fun!
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I don't know if I'll ever make rap music, but I just like people who are like, 'I am going to just find the medium that's best for this idea and master it and do that.'
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I never liked socially conscious rap. I like rap that's physical, that's about a beat and bass and repetition.
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Rap is from the streets and I'm from the streets. That's why a lot of people accept me.
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If, after obtaining Buddhahood, anyone in my land gets tossed in jail on a vagrancy rap, may I not attain highest perfect enlightenment.
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When you talk about rap you have to understand that rap is part of the Hip-Hop culture.
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It's funny: I don't listen to too much rap. I don't listen to too much older hip-hop. If I do, it's Ja Rule.
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Moms in fiction and memoir get a bad rap.
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I stand up for other people, I'm very protective of people around me. If I feel like somebody is getting a bad rap or being unfairly picked on, I will stand up for them, absolutely.
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While I am not a musician, I love music. I have over 15,000 songs on my iPod. Everything from hard core rap to the soundtrack from the original 'Cinderella.'
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Rap is hardcore street music but there are women out there who can hang with the best male rappers. What holds us back is that girls tend to rap in these high, squeaky voices. It's irritating. You've gotta rap from the diaphragm.
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I loved rap, especially in the early days. But I wasn't trying to shove it down anybody's throats.
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I try to find out what there is in the character that in a way, you can't put into words. If I could put it into words, then it wouldn't be a performance. And if I do put it into words, as I play it, I start to get boxed in by those words.
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A prophet or an achiever must never mind an occasional absurdity, it is an occupational risk.
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America is a nation of immigrants, but it is also a nation of people who never emigrate. Notably, Americans living outside the United States are not called emigrants, but 'expats.
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Why do I need I.D. to get I.D.? If I had I.D. I wouldn't need I.D.
