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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
Vocabulary
Way
Wouldn
Useful
World
Means
Provide
Jobs
Meaningful
Experience
Express
Artist
Feelings
Otherwise
Able
Everyday
Articulate
Mean
Intelligent

More quotes by 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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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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Everything's got space between it, the planets, trees, your eyes. Your eyes get too close together, it's a whole different world. You can lose perspective.
Mos Def
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If it's just fame for the sake of being famous, no one even cares about you - and you don't even care about yourself because you're like, This is so ridiculous.
Mos Def
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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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Focused. I'm a hustler. And my hustle is trying to figure out the best ways to do what I like without having to do much else.
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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Make today's solid ground out of yesterday's quicksand.
Mos Def
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My presence speaks volumes before I say a word.
Mos Def
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They say that when a man faces his destiny, the destiny ends and he becomes the man that he really is.
Mos Def
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Why did one straw break the camel's back? Here's the secret: The million other straws underneath it.
Mos Def
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I'm just an artist and I'm doin' what I like to do.
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
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Bob Marley performed the 'One Love Peace' concert in Jamaica with the two different warring political sides. There's always been that in black music and culture in general. It's no surprise because black music is such a reflection of what's going on in black life. It's not unusual for hip-hop.
Mos Def
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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.
Mos Def
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I'm an independent thinker. And I'm not the poster child for any movement. I'm trying to support whatever's right no matter where it is.
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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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.
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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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