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I know what it feels like to have the door slammed firmly in my face, so I'm cool with that.

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
Like
Slammed
Firmly
Cool
Door
Doors
Face
Faces
Feels

More quotes by 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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I don't rap like nobody, I don't try to sound like nobody.
Mos Def
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To me, it's like happiness is about happiness, but happiness is a fight.
Mos Def
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You can positively affect and change a social circumstance with art, and it’s vital that a change happens now.
Mos Def
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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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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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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.
Mos Def
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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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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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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 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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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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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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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 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.
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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Good art provides people with a vocabulary about things they can't articulate.
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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Make today's solid ground out of yesterday's quicksand.
Mos Def
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I never had any ambitions of being a movie star or anything like that, but you know, this is nice.
Mos Def