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To me, the job of the artist is to provide a useful and intelligent vocabulary for the world to be able to articulate feelings they experience everyday, and otherwise wouldn't have the means to express in a meaningful and useful way.

Mos Def

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Mos Def
Age: 50
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
Way
Wouldn
Vocabulary
World
Means
Useful
Jobs
Provide
Experience
Meaningful
Artist
Express
Feelings
Otherwise
Able
Everyday
Mean
Intelligent
Articulate

More quotes by Mos Def

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That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn't be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind.
Mos Def
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I just don't think it's very dignified to ask people to like you. You can just wind up being somebody's ottoman.
Mos Def
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I want to be necessary and do good works. I ain't here to waste nobody's time, because I don't want you to waste mine.
Mos Def
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But even creeps deserve to live someplace halfway decent.
Mos Def
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If 'Life in Marvelous Times' can't get on the radio, then I don't need to be on the radio.
Mos Def
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Crack mothers, crack babies and AIDS patients Youngbloods can't spell, but they could rock you in PlayStation.
Mos Def
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Hip-hop is rock & roll. What the hell is Wu-Tang but Motorhead?
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.'
Mos Def
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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.
Mos Def
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African art is functional, it serves a purpose. It's not a dormant. It's not a means to collect the largest cheering section. It should be healing, a source a joy. Spreading positive vibrations.
Mos Def
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When people say I don't see you enough, well just because you don't see me don't mean I don't exist or just 'cause you haven't heard me don't mean I haven't been making noise. But if I keep making noise, you'll pick up.
Mos Def
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I don't care about what brand you are, I'm concerned what type of man you are, what your principles and standards are.
Mos Def
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What I take from writers I like is their economy - the ability to use language to very effective ends. The ability to have somebody read something and see it, or for somebody to paint an entire landscape of visual imagery with just sheets of words - that's magical.
Mos Def
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I can't take it y'all I can feel the city breathin Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening Sigh before we die like the last train leaving
Mos Def
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My presence speaks volumes before I say a word.
Mos Def
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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...
Mos Def
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Hip-Hop went from selling crack to smoking it
Mos Def
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Good art provides people with a vocabulary about things they can't articulate.
Mos Def
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Breathe in...inhale vapors from bright stars that shine, Breathe out...weed smoke retrace the skyline.
Mos Def
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I've always loved music and I love the language, which is a huge reason why I'm part of theater.
Mos Def