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Every time you ask yourself where hip-hop's going, ask yourself where you're going how are you doing?

Mos Def

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Mos Def
Age: 51
Born: 1973
Born: December 11
Actor
Composer
Film Actor
Film Producer
Rapper
Record Producer
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
Songwriter
Television Actor
Brooklyn
New York
Yasiin Bey
Dante Terrell Smith
Dante Beze
Black Dante
Hops
Hips
Asks
Going
Every
Time

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The moment you start thinking it's hopeless, then it is. [But], if you think it's gonna get better, it really does. Life is a test.
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I can't control what people think. I'm not trying to manipulate people's thoughts or sentiments. I write all the time. You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions. It's machine-like how things are run now in hip-hop, and my ambitions are different.
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I think hip-hop is actually one of the most challenging things that's happened in music in a long time. The people who are in charge of what people see or hear are afraid. What you hear on top 40 or what you see on BET or MTV is not a fair representation of what is really going on...
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I'm a passionate person. I'm a lot of things, like most people are. Most people are dynamic. The focus is not on me though, I'm a screen. The aim is to always keep myself in the position where the screen is clear.
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To me, it's like happiness is about happiness, but happiness is a fight.
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You can positively affect and change a social circumstance with art, and it’s vital that a change happens now.
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But even creeps deserve to live someplace halfway decent.
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I don't rap like nobody, I don't try to sound like nobody.
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So rather than really have, like a close relationship to anything that's coming out today, people are just, they've got it on as background music. It's kind of the same way the cabdrivers use music it's very disposable. But, that doesn't mean there aren't a great number of artists who are doing things to change that.
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That's what I've been trying to strive for - to draw a clear picture, to open up a new dimension.
Mos Def
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I tell people all the time, I've always loved music and I love the language, which is a huge reason why I'm part of theater. But, I didn't wanna do all of this. I would've been satisfied to do it, like, on the weekends among friends, and to have a regular job.
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I thought everybody got into rock 'n' roll because they didn't want to follow instructions.
Mos Def
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If Islam's sole interest is the welfare of mankind, then Islam is the strongest advocate of human rights anywhere on Earth.
Mos Def
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You want to know how to rhyme, then learn how to add. It's mathematics.
Mos Def
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My presence speaks volumes before I say a word.
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You've got to validate every day. There are those who just put a stamp on it and say, This is gonna be a good day and I'm not gonna let anything else make it a bad day.
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I have no confidence issues with the impact or the quality of the music. No one in hip-hop, before this point and to this point, with all due respect, has done this.
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Peace before everything, God before anything, Love before anything, real before everything, Home before any place, shoot before anything, Style and state radiate, Love Power slay the hate.
Mos Def
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It wouldn't be fair to cast aspersions on an entire cultural movement based on the actions of a few. To quote my grandfather, 'One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch.'
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I seen her on the ave, spotted her more than once. Ass so fat that you could see it from the front.
Mos Def