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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: 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
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Way
Wouldn
Vocabulary
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Meaningful
Artist
Express
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Otherwise
Able
Everyday

More quotes by Mos Def

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Crack mothers, crack babies and AIDS patients Youngbloods can't spell, but they could rock you in PlayStation.
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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.
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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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Record companies are not necessarily interested in you realizing your artistic dream. The bottom line is that they got to sell records.
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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'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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Fame is like getting across the street. It's like, if there's nothing to be across the street for, it's a pointless destination. It's like, I gotta get across the street, man! I gotta be there! I gotta be there! Then you get across the street and you're like, Yeah I'm here! And then, that's it. Fame doesn't make you particularly happy.
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We can be beautiful and feel beautiful about who we are everyday.
Mos Def
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Make today's solid ground out of yesterday's quicksand.
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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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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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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With guys I revere, like Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X, their look is less about style than purpose and the expression of beauty. It wasn't just about being noticed, you know?
Mos Def
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All the things that are worth doing, take time.
Mos Def
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I don't hate nobody. I hate certain conditions that are inflicted upon the people - and they're helpless with it.
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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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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Don't look down, it's an impossible view Fly like an eagle whatever you do.
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 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