Yasiin Bey Quotes
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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.
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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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Record companies are not necessarily interested in you realizing your artistic dream. The bottom line is that they got to sell records.
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Live now for the promise of the Infinite
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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.
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We can be beautiful and feel beautiful about who we are everyday.
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It’s one thing to be the greatest; it’s another thing to be necessary. The best are the most necessary: those who take less than they give and love more than they hate.
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Michael Jordan on the court is a completely different guy. If the play requires him to leap out all the way and grab the ball, that's what he'll do. He may be a completely shy, withdrawn sort of person [off the court].
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I'm not shy about heated debate or passionate discourse, but when people get crazy or rude, that's a buzz kill. There's got to be a better code of conduct, some basic etiquette.
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With guys I revere, like Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X, their look is less about style than purpose and the expression of beauty. It wasn't just about being noticed, you know?
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Hip-hop is rock & roll. What the hell is Wu-Tang but Motorhead?
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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.
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I'm a passionate person. I'm a lot of things, like most people are. Most people are dynamic. The focus is not on me though, I'm a screen. The aim is to always keep myself in the position where the screen is clear.
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Good art provides people with a vocabulary about things they can't articulate.
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Everything's got space between it, the planets, trees, your eyes. Your eyes get too close together, it's a whole different world. You can lose perspective.
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There's just some dysfunctionalism with artists.
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Every time you ask yourself where hip-hop's going, ask yourself where you're going; how are you doing?
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I give a damn if any fan recalls my legacy, I'm trying to live life in the sight of GOD's memory.
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All the things that are worth doing, take time.
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I thought everybody got into rock 'n' roll because they didn't want to follow instructions.
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I'm just an artist and I'm doin' what I like to do.
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People don't like the music that's out now, that's on their radio stations, and they want to hear something different, but they're just the audience. You know, people will keep the TV on even if a show is on that they hate - because, unfortunately, they've been programmed to do that. [But] they are really looking for something that's gonna speak to the world that they're living in. That's what people are looking for, but they're not finding it.
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We blasted holes in the night until she bled sunshine
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What I take from writers I like is their economy - the ability to use language to very effective ends.