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

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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

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Burn, Hollywood, burn, I smell a riot goin' on, First they're guilty, now they're gone!
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Men have periods they're called wars.
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What made me want to become a recording artist I was the first artist that was repeatedly asked by a label to record with them. That label was Def Jam Records.
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I think governments are the cancer of civilization.
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The powers that be are trying to meld, shape, and corral the culture of hip-hop into another speaking voice for the government.
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I always tell people that I was fortunate I was able to come in with a group of men. We didn't come into the game with a group of boys. We were young then. So your cats keep you in check.
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Bass! How low can you go? Death row...what a brother know. Once again, back is the incredible, The rhyme animal, the uncannable D! Public Enemy Number One. Five-O said, Freeze! and I got numb. Can I tell 'em that I really never had a gun? But it's the wax that the Terminator X spun.
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Black folks are judged by quantity, not quality. It's a decimal point or figure. How different is that from slavery? There's no moral code, it's just about successful business for America.
Chuck D
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Public Enemy is the security of the hip-hop party.
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Every time something tries to create respect with a machine it crumbles!
Chuck D
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I think traveling the world has helped to keep Public Enemy alive. We've never solely depended on the United States.
Chuck D
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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
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If you empty, you can be filled up with anything. It could be water or it could be gasoline.
Chuck D
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Comin' from the school of hard knocks, Some perpetrate...they drink Clorox. Attack the black, cause I know they lack exact The cold facts, and still they try to Xerox.
Chuck D
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As a late teenager, the punk movement pushed me further. In particular, the Clash, which happened to leak through the time of disco, showed me that there was this cross-cultural sound that could cut across genres and audiences. Like punk was to disco, rap music was a rebellion against R&B, which had adopted disco and made it worse.
Chuck D
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I wanna go to the clubs and actually have a good time too, but at the same time, when the party's over, I have to go back to the real world and try to figure out who I am.
Chuck D
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Our freedom of speech is freedom or death, We got to fight the powers that be!
Chuck D
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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
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I always remain optimistic. There are three levels of music production: the majors, indies, and what I call inties, music distributed via the Internet. The Internet is one area that I have used pretty effectively to break free of corporate control.
Chuck D
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A lot of the post-1977 dancefloor disco sounds had their place at one time, but you can't bring them back unless you bring back a floor.
Chuck D