Quote

Being called Black in America is the struggle to keep us moving and breathing over bloody water. Being a Nig**r or [Ni**a] without the context of history is like drowning in bloody water, dragging down those yet knowing to swim.

Chuck D

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Chuck D
Age: 64
Born: 1960
Born: August 1
Composer
Journalist
Musician
Radio Personality
Rapper
Record Producer
Singer
Television Producer
Writer
New York City
New York
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour
Without
Called
Like
Knowing
Dragging
Water
Drowning
Moving
Bloody
History
Context
Black
Swim
Keep
Breathing
America
Struggle

More quotes by Chuck D

Image
Oh, America is slipping away from the rest of the consciousness of the planet - slipping away.
Chuck D
Image
If you want to be an artist, truly try to write what you believe, and if you write when you don't believe then you should try to become an actor.
Chuck D
Image
I'm not a firm believer of mo' money mo' problems - I think that's stupid. I think it's that problems are already there that can be exacerbated by more things you don't understand.
Chuck D
Image
I have to be conscious of what I'm sayin' because people are gonna come at me about this sh*t.
Chuck D
Image
You can actually take your pain and processes it into some kind of form of art. So I mean, I've easily always been able to do that, but also I've always been able to give myself perspective - or, you know, older people always give you perspective.
Chuck D
Image
Downloadable music is the biggest musical phenomenon since the Beatles, and the music industry is slow to come to grips with that.
Chuck D
Image
DJ culture always made us aware that the best records were going to come from the small shops
Chuck D
Image
Today, a young person that doesn't know themselves will totally be sold some other situation. Let's do your avatar. You know? And young people are going out, spending what little they have to try to buy themselves when they don't have themselves, or they feel like they don't have themselves. To me, that's like a damn pimp tragedy.
Chuck D
Image
Knowledge, wisdom, and understanding don't come out of the microwave. You got to keep moving forward because the evil doesn't sleep.
Chuck D
Image
The biggest thing that has happened to hip-hop is the clinging on to the corporation as the all-mighty hub of the music.
Chuck D
Image
Eminem has talent, and his talent is the thing that influences many young people who would have never gone anywhere near rap. White kids in different parts of the world use him as a barometer and the standard to live up to. In some ways, Eminem is an artist who has ushered in a new movement.
Chuck D
Image
I totally hate when somebody takes a classic and desecrates it. I like Jimmy Page and P. Diddy, but what they did to 'Kashmir' was a debacle.
Chuck D
Image
People aren't going to support an artist just because they have an audio file. They have to feel a real connection.
Chuck D
Image
Music and art and culture is escapism, and escapism sometimes is healthy for people to get away from reality. The problem is when they stay there.
Chuck D
Image
Burn, Hollywood, burn, I smell a riot goin' on, First they're guilty, now they're gone!
Chuck D
Image
Ever since I was a teenager, I was always kind of, like, checking myself. You know, like, Come on man, don't get your head all swollen. Life and time itself will give you perspective on what you're doing. So, that's actually what's always been a reminder in my own head.
Chuck D
Image
Truth is truth no matter what I think.
Chuck D
Image
In the past, people were going to record stores and buying albums or CDs. And the label was exposing their artist as much as possible and maybe getting them picked up by a major. Now I tell people to cut a good tune and have it up in the marketplace the next day. You better be prepared to give it away, and people will come pay to see you.
Chuck D
Image
I don't believe that everybody is out of some kind of cookie cutter, so the thing that protects me is always being level with myself, even to myself.
Chuck D
Image
You know, it's nothin' quick overnight. If anything happens to you quick, you need to start questioning that. You know, you hear young people go, aw, I'm gonna blow up. You gonna blow up but with a controlled explosion. Don't just blow up all over the place.
Chuck D