Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I came in the gate as an African-American poor kid wanting to be a neurosurgeon but - with American life and the places I was put due to American history and laws and the oppression of black people - I had to make it work in other ways.
There's this thing that publishes pictures of people out and about. So when I go out, I do see pictures of myself. I don't know where those pictures come from - I mean, I don't see the cameras. But I guess I'm just not looking for them.
In the beginning, yes I did go back... (but) I learned that if it's continued abusive, you just can't stay there. When guys are young, they make mistakes. Nobody's perfect, but, if they do it more than once, then it's definitely a habit
Do it even when you don't feel like it. You need endurance to get through life... When you say you're going to do something and don't do it, you'll feel like you can't trust yourself. How about being able to trust the man in the mirror?
I definitely want to work with Thom Yorke. I want to work with Damien Marley; there's a few international artists I wouldn't mind working with - like Massacre Children would be ill, and I still have an affinity for the UK hip hop scene.
I like Beyoncé because of her tenacity and strength and for giving 1000 percent to her performances, which is a lost art these days. She's cut from the cloth of some of us that really like to perform are cut from. I'm a big Beyoncé fan.
Abortion is abortion. Maybe you should have more protected sex? But if you get raped and get pregnant why would you keep that kid? I believe you should make your own choice - you're human. That's for you and God to deal with afterwards.
I think people understand me, me as a person and what I went through because I kept it on the plate. I never hid nothing. I was never in the closet. I smoked dope, I gang banged, I did this, I did that; whatever I did it was always out.
I didn't think it was a wise decision for me to stay once I seen my second album wasn't going to go good. I didn't like how it went out, how the singles went or anything and I just didn't see myself being successful a third time around.
My kids are the most inspiring thing that pushes me. It used to be because they were born, and I had to take care of them. Now it's because my son raps, and he's better than me. So now I gotta keep up with him, you know what I'm saying?
There's consciousness in my music, and my music comes from a conscious place. And when people say that, I certainly take it as a compliment. But my job, in terms of selling my music, is to be universal and to try to get it to everybody.
I went to Brazil in 2010 and pretty much did songs about that trip. I was there just to hang out, chill with the people, and feel the vibe. It was great - tons of great women, great skin, good beaches. Can't complain; the food is great.
I'm a man of different types of flavors and tastes. I like listening to things that inspire me. Older music, when instruments were being played, not just people hitting buttons. It's manlier. You're touching things to make sounds appear.
I worked with Snoop, but I would love to work with him again, but DMX I would love to work with him as well I met him in Atlanta; I went to one of his concerts; I would love to do a song with him. I respect him and really like his music.
I honestly never sat down and said "OK, here's my style," because my whole thing was knowing everyone's style. Everything I've ever written has bits and pieces of everything I've ever heard. Any rapper that tells you different is a liar.
There will be days when I walk in an arena and people will cheer and then there might be days when I walk in an arena and people might boo, but it all sounds the same to me because it's all just noise that lets me know that I'm relevant.
I do say things that I think will shock people. But I don't do things to shock people. I'm not trying to be the next Tupac, but I don't know how long I'm going to be on this planet. So while I'm here, I might as well make the most of it.
Whoever makes big records is a winner to me. Not the person with the mumbo jumbo, or the biggest diss record, or whatever the case may be. In the end of the day, whoever is most successful, whoever puts out a big record, wins the battle.
Before I had a son, I used to look at my father's example: he left me, he left my mother. When I had a son, I got caught in the same situation that his mother don't want me to see him. I started looking at my father in a different light.
I'm just really a free spirit. You gotta be like that. 'Cause life ain't that complicated. It's only that complicated when you make it that way. I just wanna wake up and move with the way it goes. If it's meant to happen, it will happen.
I started writing rhymes first and then put it to the music. I figured out I could lock it to the beat better if I heard the music first. I like to get a lot of tracks, put the track up and let the music talk to me about what it's about.
Any artist that's as serious about making music as I am, I'm cool with that. But if you tellin' me, "Man, send me a verse and I'ma send you a verse." No. That's not collaborating. We don't know each other and I'm serous about this music.
World is not designed for you to win; it's designed to be played. It's designed for you to play your position until a certain point, when you get a chance to actually do some good, make a statement, get on your soapbox and say something.
You got a handful of great guys - Ne-Yo, R. Kelly, Usher. You have a handful of great female artists. But for the most part the music world's changing and change is good. You have to make adjustments if you want to survive in that world.
We'll never change the fact that we are hardcore hip-hop and we make rebellious hip-hop music, and we're going to keep doing that and progress with our production, progress with our lyrical styles, be creative, and just have fun with it.
Man, I just feel blessed... I was in a situation where the only way I could come out of it was by putting my faith in God. No matter how good my lawyers were, no matter how much celebrity I had, everything was just stacked up against me.
You'll be fooled if you only get your hip-hop from the mainstream, you know. The things that move people are not just found in the mainstream cultures. And when we talk about hip-hop in general, hip-hop's basically preoccupied with life.
My mom used to sell fabric and lace when I was younger. She would bring back these elaborate fabrics from Nigeria. I always enjoyed being around it. However, it wasn't until I started making music that I started taking a vested interest.
I set goals, take control, drink out my own bottle, I make mistakes but learn from every one, And when it's said and done, I bet this brother be a better one, If I upset you don't stress, Never forget, that God isn't finished with me yet
Everybody has a responsibility for what they put out into the world. Rather than trying to figure out what other people should be doing, work on your own interactions in the world and whatever influence they have. All of it has an effect.
People see you on screen and they like you, but they never really get a chance to meet you. When you're doing music, you know you have to go sit at in-stores, and you're actually in the street, so there's more of a hands-on kind of thing.
In my opinion, gentrification can sometimes affect what's happening on the ends. You're placing people in different places, moving them around, and you're taking them out of their comfort zone and into places they're not used to being in.
Im a hard worker, and everything with me is, if I work hard, I should get paid for it. Everything with me, I try to symbolize something flashy like jewelry or a car. The rubbing hands is a symbol of hustling, so it goes back to the money.
Brie Larson had a great run, don't get me wrong, she's had amazing films, but this movie itself, the entire concept of it as her as a mother and coming back and trying to assimilate herself in the child's life - Room is a beautiful movie.
The new artist is meeting the general public before they meet the record company. They're able to put the material on YouTube and have a million views before they even meet an executive at a record company, and get the deal based on that.
I used to do the beat box. A friend of mine, he was the rapper and after, we'd be doing a block party or something or a house party, and he's gettin' all the attention and I'd end up with a handful of spit, you know, from doing the beats.
In terms of a comedy plan I don't really have a list of what I want accomplish. I'm just riding the wave! I think I will always come back to stand-up and comedy in all its forms. I just don't think it will ever be the one sole thing I do.
I did a lot of songs that I sold, but then they never came out and I never got paid for it. You learn real fast that the music industry, in the beginning, you're not going to get paid for a while, and then you start getting the accolades.
I think that learning to read between the lines of traditional media is one way to stay informed, and also realizing that eventually you're going to have to cross-reference all sorts of different information coming from different sources.
I just always wanted to study human behavior because every psychologist that I would talk to would tell me I was bipolar, and I know I'm not bipolar, so I had to perform a psychoanalysis on myself to find out that I have unresolved grief.
Honestly, if a girl's wearing, like, a Gucci shirt with a Gucci belt and a purse and a visor, that's not cute at all. You can't get away with that - with me - but you can always sprinkle it in there with your own stuff, and it's all good.
In short-to overstate the point only slightly-because people don't really know why they do what they do, they give explanations of their own behavior that are about as reliable as anyone else's, and in many circumstances actually less so.
I definitely want to work with Thom Yorke. I want to work with Damien Marley; there's a few international artists I wouldn't mind working with - like Massacre Children would be ill, and I still have an affinity for the U.K. hip hop scene.
It was, 'If you don't do 'The Show Goes On,' your album's not coming out.' I had nothing to do with that record - nothing. I was literally told how I should rap on it. But I'm a bastard, 'cos I'll turn around and put it back in your face.
My favorite tattoo right now is the one on my lower stomach that reads "Almost Famous" because as my career grows I'm still humbled every morning when I look at that tattoo, and I'll always remember how much it sucked to ALMOST be famous.
I put myself in the place of the listener when editing my writing. The last thing that I want to do is be preached at and told who to be or what to think when listening to an artist. However, I do want to be inspired. There's a fine line.
I'm the young city bandit, hold myself down singlehanded For murder raps, I kick my thoughts alone, get remanded Born alone, die alone, no crew to keep my crown or throne I'm deep by sound alone, caved inside in a thousand miles from home
I'm not talking about Russia in my music. I've never been to Russia. I'm not talking about Africa, Switzerland, China. I'm talking about me being American and growing up in a crazy world and helping to reflect all different sides of life.
Looking at 2014, I look back: we made more money off 'Mailbox Money' than we would have made off taking an advance from anybody. We made more money letting our fans buy the stuff directly from us than what any label could have offered us.
I'm doing a fun EP. It's called 'Songs in the Key of Phife: Eight Is Enough.' It's radio-friendly, but then a lot of it just has that raw hip-hop. Some of it will be vintage Tribe, but for the most part I'm just letting my voice be heard.