Guess quote

Mos Def [1973-0] American

Rank: 101
Musician, Hip-hop artist

Yasiin Bey; born Dante Terrell Smith; December 11, 1973, best known by his stage name Mos Def, is an American hip hop recording artist, actor and activist from Brooklyn, New York City, New York.

Peace, Positive, Alone, Art, Best, Experience, Good, Money, Music, Truth

Quote	Tags	Rank
Good art provides people with a vocabulary about things they can't articulate.	Art, Good	101
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.	Best	102
All the things that are worth doing, take time.		103
I don't want to waste anyone's time or money. I want to give people some truth and positive heart lift.	Money, Positive, Truth	104
I'm not shy about heated debate or passionate discourse, but when people get crazy or rude, that's a buzz kill. There's got to be a better code of conduct, some basic etiquette.		105
My presence speaks volumes before I say a word.		106
I believe the projects were a social experiment; we were laboratory rats stacked on top of each other, and people just knew, inherently, that there was something wrong. There's not a lot of regard for the property by the residents.		107
That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn't be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind.	Peace	108
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.		109
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.	Positive	110
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.	Music, Peace	111
You're not gonna get through life without being worshipful or devoted to something. You're either devoted to your job, or to your desires. So the best way to spend your life is to try to be devoted to prayer, to Allah.		112
If Islam's sole interest is the welfare of mankind, then Islam is the strongest advocate of human rights anywhere on Earth.		113
I've always loved rhyming. I love language.		114
I was taught when there's somethin' you can change around keep quiet, you got nothin' to complain about.		115
I get reminded a lot of the time that my life is a little bit different, but I'm just trying to keep it as regular as possible because I like it that way.		116
I didn't want to have to deal with having any moniker or separation between the self that I see and know myself as.		117
It's possible and available to any artist to be himself or herself on their own terms, to be accepted and embraced by black people. You don't have to be a thug to get love from black people.		118
You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions.	Experience	119
There are a lot of people who call themselves teachers or leaders, but they're really just propagandists.		120
I don't have advice for people on how to dress. People should dress based on what they find beautiful. My best advice: Keep your clothes clean.		121
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.		122
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.		123
And remember don't high post when you're far from home, and high posting when you're all alone.	Alone	124
You want to know how to rhyme, then learn how to add. It's mathematics.		125
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.	Peace	126
Hip-hop is the last true folk art.		201
Record companies are not necessarily interested in you realizing your artistic dream. The bottom line is that they got to sell records.		202
I just don't think it's very dignified to ask people to like you. You can just wind up being somebody's ottoman.		203
I'm trying to get low. People's personalities can get in the way of their own work.		204
Twitter freaks me out. You have followers? It feels so obsessive and proprietary.		205
I don't hate nobody. I hate certain conditions that are inflicted upon the people - and they're helpless with it.		206
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.		207
I feel like being into the beat of your own drum has become too prominent in the culture.		208
I guess something that you love to do, you gotta ease up off it and give it a little space, come back and be fresh to it.		209
I'm just an artist and I'm doin' what I like to do.		210
I never had any ambitions of being a movie star or anything like that, but you know, this is nice.		211
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.		212
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.		213
I'm growing as an individual, but your always growing. All of my albums are snapshots of where I am artistically.		214
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.		215
I have mad brims.		216
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.'		217
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.		218
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.		219
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.		220
But even creeps deserve to live someplace halfway decent.		221
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?		222
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. That's what I've been trying to strive for - to draw a clear picture, to open up a new dimension.		223
In the early '90s, when I really started to find my voice, I was reading a lot of books, and I was moved by the writers, like Chinua Achebe, and I wanted to be able to write rhymes that were as potent as what I was reading.		224
You have to be an extremist to believe that you're gonna be the president of the United States and your name is Barack Hussein Obama! And he's using extreme methods, but his application is very smooth. Michelle Obama is extreme, her presence is extreme. And it's an extreme good. Extreme is not negative.		225
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.		226
I've been fortunate with my acting career. A lot of scripts come to me. I don't mind auditioning if something that requires that, but I haven't had to in awhile, which is a nice place to be 'cause I've been on quite a lot of auditions in my life.		301
I like to read the 'Financial Times' when I'm traveling. 'Economist.' 'Ad Busters.'		302
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.		303
I'm retiring the Mos Def name after 2011. I'm actually doing it.		304
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 and it's time to expand and move on.		305
That's what I've been trying to strive for - to draw a clear picture, to open up a new dimension.		306
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.		307
Reckless capitalism kills black people.		308
I know what it feels like to have the door slammed firmly in my face, so I'm cool with that.		309
I don't rap like nobody, I don't try to sound like nobody.		310
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.		311
To me, playing an instrument and singing, all of these different things are just as natural to me as rhyming.		312
What I take from writers I like is their economy - the ability to use language to very effective ends.		313
I got my first exposure to Islam when I was 13.		314
If 'Life in Marvelous Times' can't get on the radio, then I don't need to be on the radio.		315
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.		316

The script ran 0.004 seconds.