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

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

" 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'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'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. "

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

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

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

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

" 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. "

" 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? "

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

" 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. "

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

" 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 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. "

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

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

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

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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'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 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'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. "

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

" 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. "

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