Yasiin Bey Quotes
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When people say I don't see you enough, well just because you don't see me don't mean I don't exist or just 'cause you haven't heard me don't mean I haven't been making noise. But if I keep making noise, you'll pick up.
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To me, playing an instrument and singing, all of these different things are just as natural to me as rhyming.
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Hip-Hop went from selling crack to smoking it
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And from the moment that I saw you, I knew you was trouble, But I disregarded detour signs, And did not stop til you was mine. I guess God was like, 'Aight, fine.' Careful what you wish for, cause you just might get it in heaps. Try to give it back, He be like, 'Nah, that's yours to keep.'
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I know what it feels like to have the door slammed firmly in my face, so I'm cool with that.
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At its heart, music is all higher mathematics.
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African art is functional, it serves a purpose. It's not a dormant. It's not a means to collect the largest cheering section. It should be healing, a source a joy. Spreading positive vibrations.
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Hip-hop is the last true folk art.
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The moment you start thinking it's hopeless, then it is. [But], if you think it's gonna get better, it really does. Life is a test.
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I began to fear that Mos Def was being treated as a product, not a person, so I've been going by Yasiin since '99. At first it was just for friends and family, but now I'm declaring it openly.
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That's what I've been trying to strive for - to draw a clear picture, to open up a new dimension.
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History has proven that it's impossible to crush the artist. There's always gonna be a need for somebody to write a poem or sing a song about something, about life - that makes it real. There's the word that goes beyond the word.
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You have to be an extremist to believe that you're gonna be the president of the United States and your name is Barack Hussein Obama! And he's using extreme methods, but his application is very smooth. Michelle Obama is extreme, her presence is extreme. And it's an extreme good. Extreme is not negative.
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I feel like being into the beat of your own drum has become too prominent in the culture.
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They say that when a man faces his destiny, the destiny ends and he becomes the man that he really is.
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Don't look down, it's an impossible view; Fly like an eagle whatever you do.
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This thing called rhymin' is no different than coal minin'; We both on assignment to unearth the diamond.
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Breathe in...inhale vapors from bright stars that shine, Breathe out...weed smoke retrace the skyline.
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If Islam's sole interest is the welfare of mankind, then Islam is the strongest advocate of human rights anywhere on Earth.
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I'm an independent thinker. And I'm not the poster child for any movement. I'm trying to support whatever's right no matter where it is.
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I've always loved rhyming. I love language.
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If it's just fame for the sake of being famous, no one even cares about you - and you don't even care about yourself because you're like, "This is so ridiculous."
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I tell people all the time, I've always loved music and I love the language, which is a huge reason why I'm part of theater. But, I didn't wanna do all of this. I would've been satisfied to do it, like, on the weekends among friends, and to have a regular job.
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I want to be necessary and do good works. I ain't here to waste nobody's time, because I don't want you to waste mine.