Quote

There's just some dysfunctionalism with artists.

Mos Def

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Artists
Artist

More quotes by Mos Def

Image
Crack mothers, crack babies and AIDS patients Youngbloods can't spell, but they could rock you in PlayStation.
Mos Def
Image
You want to know how to rhyme, then learn how to add. It's mathematics.
Mos Def
Image
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
Image
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
Image
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
Image
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.
Mos Def
Image
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
Image
Mos Def is a name that I built and cultivated over the years, it's a name that the streets taught me, a figure of speech that was given to me by the culture and by my environment, and I feel I've done quite a bit with that name. [But] it's time to expand and move on.
Mos Def
Image
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
Image
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.
Mos Def
Image
I'd bet a million dollars on DOOM against Lil' Wayne
Mos Def
Image
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
Image
Restlessness is my nemesis. It's hard to just chill and sit still.
Mos Def
Image
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
Image
My presence speaks volumes before I say a word.
Mos Def
Image
The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis. Shinin', like Who on top of this?
Mos Def
Image
Beef is not what Jay said to Nas Beef is when the working folks can't find jobs.
Mos Def
Image
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
Image
They say that when a man faces his destiny, the destiny ends and he becomes the man that he really is.
Mos Def
Image
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