Mos def quotes

Young bloods can't spell but they could rock you in PlayStation...

Don't look down, it's an impossible view; Fly like an eagle whatever you do.

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?

To me, playing an instrument and singing, all of these different things are just as natural to me as rhyming.

Yo, it's 1 universal law but 2 sides to every story, 3 strikes and you be in for life, mandatory. 4 MC's murdered in the last 4 years, I ain't tryin to be the 5th one, the Millennium is here. Yo, it's 6 million ways to die, from the 7 deadly thrills, 8-year olds gettin' found with 9 mill's. It's 10 P.M., where your seeds at? What's the deal?

I don't wanna get into that space where a lot of guys now, their solo album is like eight or 10 songs with other people, you don't get an idea of who this guy is. I just wasn't interested in that.

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.

All the things that are worth doing, take time.

I seen her on the ave, spotted her more than once. Ass so fat that you could see it from the front.

That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn't be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind.

What I take from writers I like is their economy - the ability to use language to very effective ends.

I'm retiring the Mos Def name after 2011. I'm actually doing it.

I thought everybody got into rock 'n' roll because they didn't want to follow instructions.

I don't mind being black. I'm black out loud. It's more than the people that they are, it's the condition that they represent.

Speech is my hammer bang the world into shape now let it fall - HUNGH

But even creeps deserve to live someplace halfway decent.

Fear not of men because men must die. Mind over matter and soul before flesh.

I'm doing exactly what I was supposed to do. Yeah. I didn't exactly choose this. My own life, if it were up to me, would be very, very quiet. I'd be like a shopkeeper, a book collector, or something like that. I'm not like this. Myself as a performer and an artist is totally different from who I am.

Why do I need I.D. to get I.D.? If I had I.D. I wouldn't need I.D.

They say that when a man faces his destiny, the destiny ends and he becomes the man that he really is.

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...

Restlessness is my nemesis. It's hard to just chill and sit still.

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.

That's what I've been trying to strive for - to draw a clear picture, to open up a new dimension.

I can't control what people think. I'm not trying to manipulate people's thoughts or sentiments. I write all the time. You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions. It's machine-like how things are run now in hip-hop, and my ambitions are different.

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.

Man, I smashed her like an Idaho Potato

Hip-Hop went from selling crack to smoking it

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.

Crack mothers, crack babies and AIDS patients Youngbloods can't spell, but they could rock you in PlayStation.

Why did one straw break the camel's back? Here's the secret: The million other straws underneath it.

You want to know how to rhyme, then learn how to add. It's mathematics.

What I take from writers I like is their economy - the ability to use language to very effective ends. The ability to have somebody read something and see it, or for somebody to paint an entire landscape of visual imagery with just sheets of words - that's magical.

We blasted holes in the night until she bled sunshine

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.

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.

I have no confidence issues with the impact or the quality of the music. No one in hip-hop, before this point and to this point, with all due respect, has done this.

Every time you ask yourself where hip-hop's going, ask yourself where you're going; how are you doing?

I give a damn if any fan recalls my legacy, I'm trying to live life in the sight of GOD's memory.

Breathe in...inhale vapors from bright stars that shine, Breathe out...weed smoke retrace the skyline.

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.

I ain't no perfect man I'm tryna do the best that I can with what it is I have.

I was taught when there's somethin' you can change around keep quiet, you got nothin' to complain about.

I'm inspired by playwrights, novelists, poets: The value of language has been a lifelong passion of mine. I enjoy it. I'm good at it.

Live now for the promise of the Infinite

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.

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.

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.

The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis. Shinin', like "Who on top of this?

I dreamt that I could paint you with words, but there were no colors bright enough, black or white enough, blue or green enough...they didn't mean enough

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.

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.

I've always loved rhyming. I love language.

It's possible and available to any artist to be himself or herself on their own terms, to be accepted and embraced by black people. You don't have to be a thug to get love from black people.

I'm trying to get low. People's personalities can get in the way of their own work.

Peace before everything, God before anything, Love before anything, real before everything, Home before any place, shoot before anything, Style and state radiate, Love Power slay the hate.

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.

I don't rap like nobody, I don't try to sound like nobody.

And remember don't high post when you're far from home, and high posting when you're all alone.

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.

I guess something that you love to do, you gotta ease up off it and give it a little space, come back and be fresh to it.

Twitter freaks me out. You have followers? It feels so obsessive and proprietary.

I'm growing as an individual, but your always growing. All of my albums are snapshots of where I am artistically.

There's just some dysfunctionalism with artists.

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.

I've always loved music and I love the language, which is a huge reason why I'm part of theater.

This thing called rhymin' is no different than coal minin'; We both on assignment to unearth the diamond.

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."

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.'

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.

I'm really quite bipolar, and the depressed times, when everything felt like night, sometimes you get to such a low point that you physically beat at it until it bleeds - as you would say - bleeds till sunshine. You get to a point where you say, 'I will not take it anymore! I'm gonna do something drastic if I stay this depressed. I've got to break out of there!'

Make today's solid ground out of yesterday's quicksand.

Good art provides people with a vocabulary about things they can't articulate.

I don't care about what brand you are, I'm concerned what type of man you are, what your principles and standards are.

Reckless capitalism kills black people.

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.

My Umi said shine your light on the world, shine your light for the world to see

I don't want to waste anyone's time or money. I want to give people some truth and positive heart lift.

At its heart, music is all higher mathematics.

There are a lot of people who call themselves teachers or leaders, but they're really just propagandists.

I just don't think it's very dignified to ask people to like you. You can just wind up being somebody's ottoman.

You can positively affect and change a social circumstance with art, and it’s vital that a change happens now.

I know what it feels like to have the door slammed firmly in my face, so I'm cool with that.

I got my first exposure to Islam when I was 13.

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.

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.

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.

I'd bet a million dollars on DOOM against Lil' Wayne

I believe the projects were a social experiment; we were laboratory rats stacked on top of each other, and people just knew, inherently, that there was something wrong. There's not a lot of regard for the property by the residents.

I don't hate nobody. I hate certain conditions that are inflicted upon the people - and they're helpless with it.

Hip-hop is the last true folk art.

If Islam's sole interest is the welfare of mankind, then Islam is the strongest advocate of human rights anywhere on Earth.

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.

Beef is not what Jay said to Nas; Beef is when the working folks can't find jobs.

My presence speaks volumes before I say a word.

You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions.

I'm blacked than midnight on Broadway and Myrtle

We can be beautiful and feel beautiful about who we are everyday.

It wouldn't be fair to cast aspersions on an entire cultural movement based on the actions of a few. To quote my grandfather, 'One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch.'

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.

I'm just an artist and I'm doin' what I like to do.

I feel like being into the beat of your own drum has become too prominent in the culture.

Record companies are not necessarily interested in you realizing your artistic dream. The bottom line is that they got to sell records.

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.

I get reminded a lot of the time that my life is a little bit different, but I'm just trying to keep it as regular as possible because I like it that way

I like to read the 'Financial Times' when I'm traveling. 'Economist.' 'Ad Busters.'

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."

You've got to validate every day. There are those who just put a stamp on it and say, "This is gonna be a good day and I'm not gonna let anything else make it a bad day."

To me, it's like happiness is about happiness, but happiness is a fight.

Hip-hop is a beautiful culture. It's inspirational, because it's a culture of survivors. You can create beauty out of nothingness.

I can't take it y'all I can feel the city breathin Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening Sigh before we die like the last train leaving

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].

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.

If 'Life in Marvelous Times' can't get on the radio, then I don't need to be on the radio.

I never had any ambitions of being a movie star or anything like that, but you know, this is nice.

I've been fortunate with my acting career. A lot of scripts come to me. I don't mind auditioning if something that requires that, but I haven't had to in awhile, which is a nice place to be 'cause I've been on quite a lot of auditions in my life.

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.

Bob Marley performed the 'One Love Peace' concert in Jamaica with the two different warring political sides. There's always been that in black music and culture in general. It's no surprise because black music is such a reflection of what's going on in black life. It's not unusual for hip-hop.

Hip-hop is rock & roll. What the hell is Wu-Tang but Motorhead?

If you're going to do Chuck Berry, you got to, you know, go all out, and the duck walk is just kind of you know, cursory. That's like standing.

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.