Quote

I think hip hop should be a living word. And what I mean by the living word is like yo, you gotta have the words that provide life.

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
Like
Provide
Word
Words
Living
Mean
Think
Hops
Thinking
Hips
Life
Gotta

More quotes by Chuck D

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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.
Chuck D
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If I can't change the people around me, I change the people around me.
Chuck D
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Excuse us for the news, You might not be amused But did you know White comes from Black? No need to be confused.
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Many have forgotten what we came here for, Never knew or had a clue, so you're on the floor. Just growin' not known' about your past... Now you're lookin' pretty stupid while you're shakin' your ass.
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Rap comes from the humble beginnings of rebelling against the status quo. Now, rappers have become the status quo themselves. You can't rebel against the Queen and then become the Queen yourself. I attribute much of the blame to testosterone-male dominance and patriarchy.
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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Share and enjoy the fruits of this planet.
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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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.
Chuck D
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I'm a multi-tasker. I was down with that stuff before they invented the term.
Chuck D
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I'm envious of the way that electronic dance music has organised itself. It has been able to understand what it ain't rather than what it is. And I think that slipped away from hip-hop as soon as the DJs lost the majority of the say so in the direction of the music.
Chuck D
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I think governments are the cancer of civilization.
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 never live alone, I never walk alone. My posse's always ready And they're waitin' in my zone.
Chuck D
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DJ culture always made us aware that the best records were going to come from the small shops
Chuck D
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Culture is this thing that we can exchange among ourselves as human beings to knock aside our differences and build upon our similarities. Cultural exchange is the ultimate exchange.
Chuck D
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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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The best American is one who considers themselves as a citizen of the world.
Chuck D
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Getting on the road and driving along a road at night, or even in the daytime and seeing the oceans or whatever, is always liberating.
Chuck D
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Rappers should just be able to perform what they create and satisfy the people that like and love them.
Chuck D