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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.

-Mos Def

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There Was A Time

Mos Def

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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.

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I Got My First Exposure To Islam When I Was 13.

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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.

I Don't Hate Nobody. I Hate Certain Conditions That Are Inflicted Upon The People - And They're Helpless With It.

Reckless Capitalism Kills Black People.

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

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 Feel Like Being Into The Beat Of Your Own Drum Has Become Too Prominent In The Culture.

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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.

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.

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

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

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.

I'm Blacked Than Midnight On Broadway And Myrtle

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.

Fear Not Of Men Because Men Must Die. Mind Over Matter And Soul Before Flesh.

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.

All The Things That Are Worth Doing, Take Time.

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.'

There's Just Some Dysfunctionalism With Artists.

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.

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Twitter Freaks Me Out. You Have Followers? It Feels So Obsessive And Proprietary.

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

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Family And Friends

We Blasted Holes In The Night Until She Bled Sunshine

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

Funny Retirement

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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.

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 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'd Bet A Million Dollars On Doom Against Lil' Wayne

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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 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.

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

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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.

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

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.

If Islam's Sole Interest Is The Welfare Of Mankind, Then Islam Is The Strongest Advocate Of Human Rights Anywhere On Earth.

My Presence Speaks Volumes Before I Say A Word.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

I Seen Her On The Ave, Spotted Her More Than Once. Ass So Fat That You Could See It From The Front.

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

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

Every Time You Ask Yourself Where Hip-hop's Going, Ask Yourself Where You're Going; How Are You Doing?

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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