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To me, the job of the artist is to provide a useful and intelligent vocabulary for the world to be able to articulate feelings they experience everyday, and otherwise wouldn't have the means to express in a meaningful and useful way.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
If Islam's sole interest is the welfare of mankind, then Islam is the strongest advocate of human rights anywhere on Earth.
Yasiin Bey Black Star
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So rather than really have, like a close relationship to anything that's coming out today, people are just, they've got it on as background music. It's kind of the same way the cabdrivers use music; it's very disposable. But, that doesn't mean there aren't a great number of artists who are doing things to change that.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
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.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
I've always loved rhyming. I love language.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
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.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
In the early '90s, when I really started to find my voice, I was reading a lot of books, and I was moved by the writers, like Chinua Achebe, and I wanted to be able to write rhymes that were as potent as what I was reading.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
There was a time when hip-hop was its own musical principle, aside from sampling. Like the entire Wild Style break is instrumental. Kurtis Blow's earliest stuff was studio musicians playing. Whodini had a real clear sound, things like "five minutes of funk," stuff that you could write really beautiful, lush string and horn arrangements around, stuff that was just music.
Yasiin Bey Black Star
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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.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
Mos Def is a name that I built and cultivated over the years, it's a name that the streets taught me, a figure of speech that was given to me by the culture and by my environment, and I feel I've done quite a bit with that name. [But] it's time to expand and move on.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
I got my first exposure to Islam when I was 13.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
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.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
Live now for the promise of the Infinite
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
Focused. I'm a hustler. And my hustle is trying to figure out the best ways to do what I like without having to do much else.
Yasiin Bey Black Star
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The test in life nowadays is just trying to keep yourself charged up with enough good feeling. It's like, "OK what am I going to do to feel really good today?" Not like, some chick or a drink.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
I never had any ambitions of being a movie star or anything like that, but you know, this is nice.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
I learned [playing Chuck Berry] that there's something to be said for the courage of conviction, that sense of belief, being bold enough to believe in your vision. And there's a quote that really fits his particular energy. It says - they say don't go where the path may lead, but go where there's no path and leave a trail. I think that's exactly what Chuck did, you know. It's an inspiration to a lot of folks, not just musicians, but people everywhere.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
You're not gonna get through life without being worshipful or devoted to something. You're either devoted to your job, or to your desires. So the best way to spend your life is to try to be devoted to prayer, to Allah.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
I don't have advice for people on how to dress. People should dress based on what they find beautiful. My best advice: Keep your clothes clean.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
Record companies are not necessarily interested in you realizing your artistic dream. The bottom line is that they got to sell records.
Yasiin Bey Black Star
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I'm trying to get low. People's personalities can get in the way of their own work.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
I think hip-hop is actually one of the most challenging things that's happened in music in a long time. The people who are in charge of what people see or hear are afraid. What you hear on top 40 or what you see on BET or MTV is not a fair representation of what is really going on...
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn't be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind.
Yasiin Bey Black Star -
I don't hate nobody. I hate certain conditions that are inflicted upon the people - and they're helpless with it.
Yasiin Bey Black Star