When I was young what made me really want to be a rapper was when I saw MC Lyte.

Don't be flirting with your gift, you better marry it

It's hard as a person to just put your life out there for the world to judge. That's what music is and what you're supposed to do with the art, live and release it to the world.

I love myself, I no longer need Cupid...

Never blame a man for misfortune, do it yourself.

I was the darkest skinned person in my family. I remember how I used to feel - like I wasn't pretty enough, or I wasn't good enough.

Some days you're depressed, some days you're happy, some days you're broken hearted. People need music for therapy, to heal them or speak for them when they can't describe how they're feeling.

Being simple and complicated at the same is what makes Jay-Z so great.

I want to be great at what I do. I don't want to be just an average rapper.

When you tell a story and connect with somebody through an emotion that's why they like songs.

As learnèd commentators viewIn Homer more than Homer knew.

Rainbows make great pets, because they're already house trained.

You are soft person you said. But you're soft as shit: it is very soft but stinking!

Wikileaks didn't help confidence with American administrations because of conversations made public so easily.

Survival is not about being fearless. It's about making a decision, getting on and doing it, because I want to see my kids again, or whatever the reason might be.

Works? Works? A man get to heaven by works? I would as soon think of climbing to the moon on a rope of sand!

A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation.

When you make yourself into zero, your power becomes invincible.

The concept of God is generated by a brain designed by evolution to find design in nature (a very recursive idea).

Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.

When you sing, you put on a persona. I hide behind that person on stage. You can feel like death, but you have to put it on. The audience wants to see someone smiley.