Quotes By Mos Def

I didn't want to have to deal with having any moniker or separation between the self that I see and know myself as.

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.

I have mad brims.

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.

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.

I don't want to waste anyone's time or money. I want to give people some truth and positive heart lift.

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?

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

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

All the things that are worth doing, take time.

I'm just an artist and I'm doin' what I like to do.

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.

That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn't be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind.

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.

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

You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions.

Hip-hop is the last true folk art.

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

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.

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

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

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.

You want to know how to rhyme, then learn how to add. It's mathematics.

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.

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

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

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.

Twitter freaks me out. You have followers? It feels so obsessive and proprietary.

There are a lot of people who call themselves teachers or leaders, but they're really just propagandists.