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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.

-Mos Def

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Focused. I'm A Hustler.

Mos Def

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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.

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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.

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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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I Never Had Any Ambitions Of Being A Movie Star Or Anything Like That, But You Know, This Is Nice.

Why Do I Need I.d. To Get I.d.? If I Had I.d. I Wouldn't Need I.d.

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...

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.

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.

I'm Just An Artist And I'm Doin' What I Like To Do.

The New Moon Rode High In The Crown Of The Metropolis. Shinin', Like "who On Top Of This?

Reckless Capitalism Kills Black People.

I'm Blacked Than Midnight On Broadway And Myrtle

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 Retiring The Mos Def Name After 2011. I'm Actually Doing It.

Funny Retirement

This Thing Called Rhymin' Is No Different Than Coal Minin'; We Both On Assignment To Unearth The Diamond.

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.

Restlessness Is My Nemesis. It's Hard To Just Chill And Sit Still.

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 Know What It Feels Like To Have The Door Slammed Firmly In My Face, So I'm Cool With That.

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."

I Don't Want To Waste Anyone's Time Or Money. I Want To Give People Some Truth And Positive Heart Lift.

That Idea Of Peace And Love Toward Humanity Shouldn't Be Nationalistic Or Denominational. It Should Be A Chief Concern For All Mankind.

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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.

What I Take From Writers I Like Is Their Economy - The Ability To Use Language To Very Effective Ends.

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."

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!'

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.

Why Did One Straw Break The Camel's Back? Here's The Secret: The Million Other Straws Underneath It.

I Like To Read The 'financial Times' When I'm Traveling. 'economist.' 'ad Busters.'

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.

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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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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Speech Is My Hammer Bang The World Into Shape Now Let It Fall - Hungh

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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.

Hip-hop Is A Beautiful Culture. It's Inspirational, Because It's A Culture Of Survivors. You Can Create Beauty Out Of Nothingness.

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 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 Just Don't Think It's Very Dignified To Ask People To Like You. You Can Just Wind Up Being Somebody's Ottoman.

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You Can Positively Affect And Change A Social Circumstance With Art, And It’s Vital That A Change Happens Now.

I'm Growing As An Individual, But Your Always Growing. All Of My Albums Are Snapshots Of Where I Am Artistically.

Good Art Provides People With A Vocabulary About Things They Can't Articulate.

All The Things That Are Worth Doing, Take Time.

To Me, It's Like Happiness Is About Happiness, But Happiness Is A Fight.

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.

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.

Breathe In...inhale Vapors From Bright Stars That Shine, Breathe Out...weed Smoke Retrace The Skyline.

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've Always Loved Rhyming. I Love Language.

That's What I've Been Trying To Strive For - To Draw A Clear Picture, To Open Up A New Dimension.

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 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

Man, I Smashed Her Like An Idaho Potato

You Want To Know How To Rhyme, Then Learn How To Add. It's Mathematics.

Don't Look Down, It's An Impossible View; Fly Like An Eagle Whatever You Do.

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.

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.

You Have To Experience Life, Make Observations, And Ask Questions.

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.

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.

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.

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].

Live Now For The Promise Of The Infinite

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.

I Was Taught When There's Somethin' You Can Change Around Keep Quiet, You Got Nothin' To Complain About.

Record Companies Are Not Necessarily Interested In You Realizing Your Artistic Dream. The Bottom Line Is That They Got To Sell Records.

I Don't Rap Like Nobody, I Don't Try To Sound Like Nobody.

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.

Family And Friends

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.

To Me, Playing An Instrument And Singing, All Of These Different Things Are Just As Natural To Me As Rhyming.

Make Today's Solid Ground Out Of Yesterday's Quicksand.

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.

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.

Hip-hop Is The Last True Folk Art.

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.

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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