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" Hip-hop is the last true folk art. "

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

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

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

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

" 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. "

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

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I come from a family of very devout, praying people. That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn't be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind. "

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

" 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? "

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

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

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

" 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. "

" All the things that are worth doing, take time. "

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

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

" I feel like I was the only person who was capable of making this type of music in this type of way. I don't rap like nobody, I don't try to sound like nobody. "

" I have mad brims. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

Friends And Family

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

" I've always loved rhyming. I love language. "

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

" 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. "