Yasiin Bey Quotes
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I've always loved music and I love the language, which is a huge reason why I'm part of theater.
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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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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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Hip-Hop went from selling crack to smoking it
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At its heart, music is all higher mathematics.
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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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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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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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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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Crack mothers, crack babies and AIDS patients Youngbloods can't spell, but they could rock you in PlayStation.
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Hip-hop is the last true folk art.
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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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I've always loved rhyming. I love language.
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I don't hate nobody. I hate certain conditions that are inflicted upon the people - and they're helpless with it.
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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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This thing called rhymin' is no different than coal minin'; We both on assignment to unearth the diamond.
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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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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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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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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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It's difficult to really be an artist nowadays. People are just on another page. You have a society that needs you to say something, but they don't want to give you the environment to be able to be just a functioning, happy, normal person. It's like, the industry is at odds with you, the society is at odds with you. You start to live in this very confined box where it's like, It's "me" and "them."
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Breathe in...inhale vapors from bright stars that shine, Breathe out...weed smoke retrace the skyline.
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Fame is like getting across the street. It's like, if there's nothing to be across the street for, it's a pointless destination. It's like, "I gotta get across the street, man! I gotta be there! I gotta be there!" Then you get across the street and you're like, "Yeah I'm here!" And then, that's it. Fame doesn't make you particularly happy.
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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.