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" 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. "
Mos Def
Trying
Life
Time
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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? "
Mos Def
Style
Purpose
You
" 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. "
Mos Def
Joy
Purpose
Art
" I'm retiring the Mos Def name after 2011. I'm actually doing it. "
Mos Def
Name
Retiring
Actually
" 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. "
Mos Def
Love
Life
Reflection
" 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
People
Thoughts
Time
" 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. "
Mos Def
Me
Environment
Culture
" 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. "
Mos Def
Life
Place
Nice
" I don't rap like nobody, I don't try to sound like nobody. "
Mos Def
Like
Nobody
Try
" That's what I've been trying to strive for - to draw a clear picture, to open up a new dimension. "
Mos Def
Open
New
Up
" I just don't think it's very dignified to ask people to like you. You can just wind up being somebody's ottoman. "
Mos Def
You
Wind
Up
" My presence speaks volumes before I say a word. "
Mos Def
Before
Word
Volumes
" 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. "
Mos Def
Eyes
Together
Space
" I was taught when there's somethin' you can change around keep quiet, you got nothin' to complain about. "
Mos Def
You
Quiet
Change
" 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. "
Mos Def
Focus
Passionate
Me
" I'm growing as an individual, but your always growing. All of my albums are snapshots of where I am artistically. "
Mos Def
Growing
Your
Individual
" To me, playing an instrument and singing, all of these different things are just as natural to me as rhyming. "
Mos Def
Different
Me
Natural
" Good art provides people with a vocabulary about things they can't articulate. "
Mos Def
People
Good
Vocabulary
" Record companies are not necessarily interested in you realizing your artistic dream. The bottom line is that they got to sell records. "
Mos Def
You
Got
Line
" I never had any ambitions of being a movie star or anything like that, but you know, this is nice. "
Mos Def
Star
Nice
Know
" I don't hate nobody. I hate certain conditions that are inflicted upon the people - and they're helpless with it. "
Mos Def
Hate
Certain
People
" I have mad brims. "
Mos Def
Mad
" I've always loved rhyming. I love language. "
Mos Def
Rhyming
Language
Loved
" 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. "
Mos Def
Voice
Early
Like
" I don't want to waste anyone's time or money. I want to give people some truth and positive heart lift. "
Mos Def
Heart
Truth
Time
" 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. "
Mos Def
Thug
Artist
Black
" If 'Life in Marvelous Times' can't get on the radio, then I don't need to be on the radio. "
Mos Def
Need
Marvelous
Life
" 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. "
Mos Def
You
People
Say
" 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.' "
Mos Def
Grandfather
Fair
Bad
" You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions. "
Mos Def
Experience
Ask
You
" 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. "
Mos Def
Support
Trying
Right