My life is like a song and I think I know the words, And as I start to sing along the whole verse becomes a blur. So I freestyle improv, make mistakes and evolve, The obstacles repeat, cause naturally it revolves.

These niggaz ain't thugs, the real thugs is the government. Don't matter if you Independent, Democrat or Republican, Niggaz politickin' the street, get into beef, Start blastin'...now a new cat is executive chief.

I didn't want to do an electro-class album or complex rap album. I wanted to do something that was kind of like a political statement, but also club jams. I wanted it to be dancy, but intelligent at the same time.

Right after high school... the first time I ever recorded music was with a rapper, a friend of mine, and I would just be like, 'I'll sing your choruses.' So I would sing his hooks and he would go in there and rap.

When I was in fourth grade, I started writing a lot of poetry, and eventually, someone in the church was like, 'You should switch this over to rapping.' I went home and did that - started putting my poems over rap.

I remember when I fell from my first bike: There were no 'Are you okays?' and rarely 'Are you alrights?' Just dirt in my pockets, handful of gravel... That's when I realized that getting up is only half the battle.

Life is like a lunchroom at school. In this industry you've got little individual tables of actors, singers, rap stars, this, that, the other. But it's a big industry that also encompasses anyone in the public eye.

Truth brings light, light refracts off the mirror, Visions of yourself and error could never be clearer. The truth is that you ugly... Not on the outside, but in the inside; On the outside, you frontin' you lovely.

When I finish writing a rap verse. It's a lot like sex: You start off slow with ideas, like foreplay, and then you put your all into it. When you end it with the perfect thought, it's like that perfect last stroke.

When I heard my first rap song and figured out what that was, I kind've stuck to it. I always wanted to be a musician in general, an entertainer. I just started rapping. I never decided, 'Oh, I want to be a rapper.'

That's the beautiful thing about the saxophone. It can peacefully coexist with just about anything - whether it's hip-hop, rap, rock music, pop, R&B or jazz, there's a place for the saxophone in all of those styles.

Times were changing. Clothes were changing. Morals were changing. We went from romantic loves songs like I used to do to rock 'n roll. Now that has changed to rap. So, there's always a new generation with new music.

Rather than trying to put an end to Eminem or some other rapper, politicians should think about why they're rapping. It's easier to try to censor some kid who's swearing about poverty than it is to stop the poverty.

So lovers of life, don't keep your hopes up high. Why? Cause it's just a matter of time before it's your turn to die. But until then, when you stop breathin', It's time to stand up and fight for what you believe in!

It seems to me like all these people claim to be the victim, Acting like the whole entire world is out to get them. Stand up on your own, And prove that you are grown, Because the life that you save may be your own.

I am a firm believer in playing the type of music that compliments the song the best. If it's a folk song make it sound like one. If it's a rock song make it sound like one, if it's a rap song take it off the record.

At this point I feel like I could go out and accomplish anything. I'd just love to see Will Smith's face if he found out I, Z-Braff, have the number one rap album in the country. That'd show that no-talent uncle tom.

I got a funny feeling like something was real wrong... Looked at her shoes and her feets was real long! Then it hit me, Oh please God no, Don't let this ho turn out to be a John Doe... He pulled a fast one on me, yo!

In Hollywood, I think I get a bad rap for being a perfectionist. It's something that's not always welcomed in Hollywood, because you're always pushing people and you're pushing yourself to be the best that you can be.

I saw Nicki for the first time and, like, literally fell in love. She had this snap-back hat on that said 'Minaj.' She used to wear that every single day. She was like a theater student and she was so cold at rapping.

I feel like a lot of niggas in the rap game ain't do what I did in these streets and a lot of niggas in the streets ain't do what I did in the rap game. I still feel like a lot of people don't feel where we come from.

If you don't got endz, you won't be gettin' no skinz, And if you don't got money, you won't scoop a honey. If you don't got cash, you won't be gettin' no ass, And if you don't got loot, you won't be knockin' no boots.

Braniac dumb-dumbs, bust the scientifical, Approach to the course and the force is centrifugal. Can you find your way through the lyrics that be catchin' 'em? Throw another rhyme across the room, they be fetchin' 'em.

It's a joke to think that anyone is one thing. We're all such complex creatures. But if I'm going to be a poster child for anything, anger's a gorgeous emotion. It gets a bad rap, but it can make great changes happen.

This game is lame, the music comes second So you can save that stupidness for all them artists you checkin. Popularity don't last long, I'm in it for classics, Cause the other side of the biz is fake and it's plastic.

Not to toot my own horn, but I'm kind of easy on the eyes, I have my own swag, I love fashion, I'm not in a relationship, I don't have kids, I can rap and I have a very bold personality, so I can compete with the guys.

I was a little nervous that people wouldn't take to 'Under Pressure,' because my style and what I embodied had previously been the braggadocious '90s fun rapper type. Before this album, I didn't rap about my life much.

I've been a Christian for a long time, and I think that Christianity gets a bad rap. I think that people's perception of what a Christian is today is something that is close-minded and narrow, and that's not what I am.

I don't listen to much rap, really. I can rarely listen to a whole record of it, because musically, it's very formulaic, and oftentimes it doesn't have the best hooks on every track. I like my music to be very musical.

The attitudes of many police organizations were extremely negative to the prospect of Rap, and many officials weren't afraid to say that they were against it. To them, Rappers were just criminals waiting to get caught.

I hate this shallow Americanism which hopes to get rich by credit, to get knowledge by raps on midnight tables, to learn the economy of the mind by phrenology, or skill without study, or mastery without apprenticeship.

...Shorty's laugh was cold-blooded as he spoke so foul, Only twelve tryin to tell me that he liked my style. Then I rose, wiping the blunt's ash from my clothes, Then froze, only to blow the herb smoke through my nose.

Valentine cards and birthday wishes? Please...be on another level of planning, of understanding The bond between man and woman and child. The highest elevation, cause we above All that romance crap, just show your love.

Hip hop is ever changing and has definitely entered a new era. Many fans have mixed feelings over the direction of rap as more and more artists are emerging with content that some would describe as less than meaningful.

I'm into the lyrical side of rap. I listen to some old Eminem songs and think, 'Wow, he's a genius.' He's one of the greatest poets of our time. Even when he's out of control, like on 'Cold Wind Blows,' it's incredible.

And I'm not sure why I'm infatuated with death, My imagination is surely an aggravation of threats... Maybe cause I'm a dreamer, and sleep is the cousin of death, Really stuck in the scheme of wondering when I'mma rest.

I called every day to see how she was doin, Every time that I called her, it seemed somethin was brewin. I called her on my dime, picked up, and then I called again, I said, 'Yo, who was that?' 'Oh, he's just a friend.'

Of course, growing up, I was a big fan of rap so that was something that I got into. I was a fan of a lot of artists. You can be a fan, but at the same time, you gotta carve your own swagger and carve out your own style.

My new shorty got a gymnastic back, '87 emerald green on a classic Jag. She had the cleft palate, I ordered chef's salad; She had the club foot, with that little arm, I couldn't help but laugh...she ordered Chicken Parm.

I actually don't like hip hop much; the music is too clichéd, the subculture, especially the macho strutting of gangsta rappers, isn't my thing. But, at the same time, rap is a simple, direct and strong musical language.

I listen to all the top 20 songs, and top 20 albums, even the rap albums. But I don't like negative messages. If somebody is putting a lot of ego out there, I don't like it. When I make my records I want it to be sincere.

We could fight the fuss till we get like friends, Or somebody bite the dust and we split like ends. Even in our wildest moments, girl, I'm on it cause you're worth it. Practice makes perfect, so we fightin' for a purpose.

It was mix tapes, that's my story, I did a lot of mix tapes, that's what I started doing when I was 17. I got with a hot DJ out here and you know Texas, the rap scene is different, everyone out here is on the Screw music.

The rap on me on the street is the opposite - I'm impractical, I'm more expensive, it's too complicated and I run over budgets, which isn't true. None of that's true and there's plenty of documentation if anybody needs it.

When we were growing up, I got kicked out of Timbaland's house every day. He was the DJ for my brother's rap group in junior high school. So I was 7, and while Tim's DJ'ing and my brother's rapping, I'd be upstairs dancing.

Get wreck in the kitchen like she on the Cooking Channel, And then hide the heat in the car door... God damn, she's a mother-to-be, ya hope for twins, Give me a whole tribe! And be as sexy as Janet was on the cover of Vibe.

Rhyme to kill, rhyme to murder, rhyme to stomp, Rhyme to ill, rhyme to romp, Rhyme to smack, rhyme to shock, rhyme to roll, Rhyme to destroy anything, toy boy. On the microphone: I'm Poppa Large, big shot on the East Coast.

The trouble with being an activist is you end up like Eve and you get kicked out of the Garden of Eden. You know, Eve was the first person who thought for herself. And she still gets a bad rap. I named my daughter after her.

The business of beauty isn't a natural model; It's built to be the opposite of the cultures we topple. These magazines got you caught in a hustle, Cause when you starve yourself, your body doesn't burn fat, it burns muscles.

A lot of the younger kids now can rap, but they're scared of the crowd. Mastery of that stage is an MC. I don't know if you've seen any great MCs on stage but when you do it's like wow, this is more than the words to rhymes.

Share This Page