Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
There was a long period where every time someone was shot or stabbed the BBC would call me. I started to think, 'I'm an actor and a musician, I don't want to be a politician or a spokesperson.'
They didn't know what to do with rap music. You walk into Epic, and they're wearing straight-leg khakis with creases, Prada shoes with tassels. They couldn't comprehend where I was coming from.
Every underground artist has that little chip on his shoulder, like "I'm stuck here, and I'm trying to get out of this little hole that I'm in." You've got this core fan base, but it's limited.
A big mistake people make when they are trying to lose weight is that they stop eating. They'll eat salads once a day and then their body starts trying to protect itself and holds onto the fat.
But 40 told me to do me and don't listen to anybody that knew me. Cause to have known me would mean that there's a new me and if you think I've changed, then the slightest could have fooled me.
I used to always crack jokes in class. I was a good liar and a good talker. I was just good. I was my father's son. I was slick. When it comes to knowing what to say, to charm, I always had it.
I just have a thing in my brain that when I'm about to do something that's genuine or authentic, I think of it in song form. I'll be like, 'Yo, this is a human emotion that no one talks about.'
Longevity has a lot to do with me continuously nonstop putting music on the shelf, and making myself be the face of the Bay, and continuing to carry the Bay on my back for many moons, you know.
Every project might only sell like 30 to 50,000, but I mean, I'm getting seven, eight dollars every CD. I make more money per record than an artist on a major label - I can definitely say that.
I wanna make my imprint in the game as far as music - hip-hop, and just music, period. 'Cause I come from hip-hop, that's my background, but I'm not gonna let that limit me from where I can go.
I think if you're constantly reinvesting into your content and giving the fans stuff, then you can continue to tour. You can continue to sell the merch and monetize the popularity of the brand.
I'm a far cry from politically correct, because I don't really care what the political views are. I don't care what the people say. I'll say my opinion. That will always make you controversial.
I've evolved, but I'm the same dude, I'm just in a different place. We all change, we all grow. I shouldn't be in the same place that I was 30 years ago; I should be more intelligent, you know.
I'll make a song with Rick Rubin, a song with Beyonce, a song with Lenny Kravitz. I just believe in making good music. I'm not trying to section myself off into just making hard-core rap music.
R&b, poetry, I'd like to do everything. But I'm an entertainer and entertaining is not just music. I can do comedy; I'm one of those guys, I can stand up there with a mic. I'm not gonna freeze.
I was born on a full moon. Both my children were born on full moons, too. Some people say that's scary. It is what it is, man, I don't be trippin'. I couldn't tell God when I wanted to be born.
I'm not really entertained anymore, everything sounds the same. We have a crisis right now of innovative music. I'm probably the only person left trying to do something different and brand new.
I think as Christians, we all have the same calling, and that calling is to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul and love others as ourselves and to glorify God in everything that we do.
Christianity is the truth about everything. If you say you have a Christian worldview, that means you see the world through that lens - not just how people get saved and what to stay away from.
Sometimes I'm dealing with so much business, and my mind will be so stressed, that I'll go a week without writing... But the benefit of doing everything yourself is that you get a major payoff.
I'm just trying to do the opposite of left, as long as there's the opposite of death, ya know Yes, ya test and I just might bring the opposite of life, til' there's no one the opposite of right
This nation was founded by rebels and revolutionaries, and its flags were carried across the battlefields by people who were very, very against the status quo and who questioned and criticized.
My life is not separate from my music, you know? It's not like a day job that I leave and go home. It's who I am as a person and how I am trying to grow, come closer to God, be a better person.
Me and hip-hop have a relationship that has nothing to do with no other rapper, no matter where you from or nothing. Every n*gga got his own personal relationship with hip-hop and this is mine.
'Stillmatic' is the rebirth of 'Illmatic,' my first debut album to come out in 1994. 'Stillmatic' is me coming full circle in my career and with everything, and just bringing pure hip-hop back.
I think one of the things I was shocked about was how interested the world is in 'American Idol' and how people, writers, they write about 'Idol' all the time, and I guess I didn't expect that.
L.A. hip-hop is so different; it's so diverse. Out here, it's, like, funk-inspired; it's, like, '70s-skating-rink-inspired at times. It's Zapp-and-Roger-inspired; it's house-party-era-inspired.
My family had a lot to do with 'My Infamous Life.' They were the inspiration behind me starting to write. I had an interesting family life dating way back, and they did a lot in their lifetime.
I felt like my vote was the vote that put [Obama] into office. It was down to one vote, and that was going to be my vote. And that may not be true, but that's how much power it felt like I had.
I go to Queens for queens to get the crew from Brooklyn, Make money in Manhattan and never been tooken. Go Uptown and the Bronx to boogie down, Get strong on the Island, recoup, and lay around.
These soliloquies explain our people's lack of stability You keepin it real, but ain't got a clue what reality really be See the diameter of your knowledge Is the circumference of your activity
I quit school. I don't do good in following police guidelines or restrictions. For someone to put rules on a genre of music or put me in a category of rap, I can't even see how you can do that.
I have enough rhythm to blend at this point. I have enough rhythm to blend one song into another. But man, I have such respect for the art of deejaying. I hesitate to even call myself a deejay.
My favorite artist was probably Jay-Z. He's the one who inspired me to start writing music. He's a wordsmith. He's very clever. He uses a lot of similes and metaphors. He's a beast of a rapper.
Since I only got one life to ive, God forgive me for my sins, let me make it and i'll never steal again, or deal again, my only friend is my misery. Wantin revenge for the agony they did to me.
I'm working on this fashion line that's all inspired by Vietnam. I'm Vietnamese so a lot of the clothes are inspired by Vietnamese culture, and I'm trying to mix that with the streetwear style.
I want to take Justin Bieber for a month and just lock him up in a cage where we sit and make music. He's one of the most successful people in the world, but his music could be so much tighter.
Hip-hop is limiting itself and that also goes for editorially. Magazines and websites are the gatekeepers of what people think hip-hop is, but they actually end up limiting what hip-hop can be.
Why can' t everyone just smoke like me? Just gimme a quiet place and lemme roll my weed, where ain't nobody in my business don't nobody gotta know let all your conscious go and blow it by the O
I don't consider myself an A-list celebrity or a big dog, but every time I meet somebody, even rappers who've been in the game for years... they're like, 'Man, I'm trying to get on your level.'
Me and my father went through a war period where we wasn't talking. He wanted me to go to theology school - I didn't want to go. I wanted to do music. I told him I was a minister through music.
Another thing about being live or having power is having power is responsibility. When niggas respect you they respect how you move and what you are capable of doing and they follow what you do.
The State of New York City says in defense you can use as much force as you feel like the person that is coming for you with. So if I'm wrong than the law is wrong. That's really the way I felt.
I hate when any rapper would just use "Rapper X" because "Rapper X" is hot at the time and put them on the record. That's not how I do my thing. I work with my friends and people I consider fam.
When I was 20, I was the hustler - rubbing my temples, stressed, trying to get out the streets, trying to take my life to another side of the game with something I really loved to do: rap music.
When Bugs Bunny walks into rehab, people are going to turn and look. People at rehab were stealing my hats and pens and notebooks and asking for autographs. I couldn't concentrate on my problem.
My coldest days, my darkest days, ain't no sun out, all I got is my fans. They the only people I ride for. Believe it or not, if you're a real Fat Joe fan, a Terror Squad fan, I do it for ya'll.
My family never missed a visit in eight months, ever. I cried coming out. I didn't cry coming in. There's a big difference. I believe that God put me there for a reason, Incarceration is serious
If we're deciding about merch pieces, t-shirts or hats, they have to be well designed and cool enough for somebody to want to buy it and then wear it and walk around advertising me and my music.
I wouldn't write about sh*t I don't know. You won't hear me write about politics in Africa and stuff, because I don't know enough about it. And I would never rap about something I can't back up.