Mos Def Quotes

Why do I need I.D. to get I.D.? If I had I.D. I wouldn't need I.D.

I just don't think it's very dignified to ask people to like you. You can just wind up being somebody's ottoman.

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."

I have no confidence issues with the impact or the quality of the music. No one in hip-hop, before this point and to this point, with all due respect, has done this.

I don't mind being black. I'm black out loud. It's more than the people that they are, it's the condition that they represent.

Live now for the promise of the Infinite

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.

That's what I've been trying to strive for - to draw a clear picture, to open up a new dimension.

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.

I was taught when there's somethin' you can change around keep quiet, you got nothin' to complain about.

We blasted holes in the night until she bled sunshine

I'm growing as an individual, but your always growing. All of my albums are snapshots of where I am artistically.

If Islam's sole interest is the welfare of mankind, then Islam is the strongest advocate of human rights anywhere on Earth.

I'm trying to get low. People's personalities can get in the way of their own work.

I give a damn if any fan recalls my legacy, I'm trying to live life in the sight of GOD's memory.

What I take from writers I like is their economy - the ability to use language to very effective ends.

Hip-Hop went from selling crack to smoking it

I got my first exposure to Islam when I was 13.

To me, playing an instrument and singing, all of these different things are just as natural to me as rhyming.

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

But even creeps deserve to live someplace halfway decent.

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

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.

And remember don't high post when you're far from home, and high posting when you're all alone.

I thought everybody got into rock 'n' roll because they didn't want to follow instructions.

I've always loved music and I love the language, which is a huge reason why I'm part of theater.

There's just some dysfunctionalism with artists.

I don't wanna get into that space where a lot of guys now, their solo album is like eight or 10 songs with other people, you don't get an idea of who this guy is. I just wasn't interested in that.

Record companies are not necessarily interested in you realizing your artistic dream. The bottom line is that they got to sell records.

If 'Life in Marvelous Times' can't get on the radio, then I don't need to be on the radio.

Speech is my hammer bang the world into shape now let it fall - HUNGH

I feel like being into the beat of your own drum has become too prominent in the culture.

I never had any ambitions of being a movie star or anything like that, but you know, this is nice.

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."

Hip-hop is rock & roll. What the hell is Wu-Tang but Motorhead?

I don't rap like nobody, I don't try to sound like nobody.

I've always loved rhyming. I love language.

I'm retiring the Mos Def name after 2011. I'm actually doing it.

At its heart, music is all higher mathematics.

If you're going to do Chuck Berry, you got to, you know, go all out, and the duck walk is just kind of you know, cursory. That's like standing.

I began to fear that Mos Def was being treated as a product, not a person, so I've been going by Yasiin since '99. At first it was just for friends and family, but now I'm declaring it openly.

Why did one straw break the camel's back? Here's the secret: The million other straws underneath it.

I'm inspired by playwrights, novelists, poets: The value of language has been a lifelong passion of mine. I enjoy it. I'm good at it.

I feel like I was the only person who was capable of making this type of music in this type of way. I don't rap like nobody, I don't try to sound like nobody.

I come from a family of very devout, praying people. That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn't be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind.