Rakim Quotes

This is sort of not expected, but I would love to produce a record for Missy Elliott. It would be totally different, but she makes party music. 'Lose Control' was my favorite song when I was in 5th or 6th grade.

Every leading lady I work with, I'll see if I can get a song out of them and put it on an album.

I signed to Def Jam and within two months, I heard that Ja Rule was looking for someone to do a song with.

When I first met Big, we were both at a 'Bad Boy' family photo shoot. I was kind of familiar with the name Biggie Smalls, but I really wasn't that much into hip-hop at the time, so I really didn't know that was him. He said he didn't even know I was an artist on 'Bad Boy.'

I've been heavily, heavily tuned into the DJ Khaled album, 'Major Key,' which has some major, major plays on it, up and down the line.

I was really inspired, working with Odd Future.

Nas, Big L, Rakim, Jay-Z, Eminem, those was all my influences, but I didn't start recording until I was 16.

To be able to work with Bun B and be able to have a conversation, and the insights the OG has, and really be able to get just advice from him, is amazing.

I actually got to work with TM88. He was one of my big influences as far as producing. It was pretty cool. I had met him in California at the crib and it was one of those random meet-ups and we got to working from that point on.

All I can say is that I've had too many people in the hip-hop industry really like what I'm doing. I know where I'm coming from, and the album speaks for itself.

Yeah, the next Wu album should be out by late '95.

Working with 50 Cent was great, you know what Im saying? It was just great to work with 50 Cent.

When I put out my first mixtape, '50 Cent is the Future,' it was the first tape where an artist did the entire tape in song format.

As long as I'm around the cats in the hip hop scene, they'll throw me a track and I'll write a rap over it.

I'd want to collaborate with Eminem, of all people. Maybe even Lauryn Hill.

I'd love to collaborate with Drake. I think he's awesome.

My new music video, 'My Life' featuring Eminem and Adam Levine, the only person in the actual video who you can physically make out besides myself and Adam Levine is Andre Dirrell.

The rappers have gone in and created a lot of hit music based upon my influence. And they'll tell you if you ask.

I think that Eminem is very talented and remarkably bright, and I actually do like a lot of his music.

The first song I did was over a Chief Keef beat - 'Understand Me.' I did that in, like, 2011 or 2012, I think.

Quentin Tarantino is a hip-hop artist. I told him, 'You're hip-hop!' You keep seeing surprises, and a clip here and there, because Quentin is hip-hop. A hip-hop artist will drop a single, leak something over here, and drop something over there 'cause he knows it's hot. He's on the spot with the way he does things.

I would love to do a collaboration with Lil' Wayne. I would have loved to sing on his song, 'How To Love.' I wanted to do the remix to that song really bad.

50 Cent's a songwriter. He understood and liked my music, but he didn't understand me.

People like Busta Rhymes would say, 'Clinton Sparks doesn't do mix tapes; he does albums. He just throws albums out on the street.'

Hip-hop has survived as a sonic practice more than anything else. It's an approach to music-making based in sampling and rhyming over beats, that's proven far more versatile than its detractors thought it would.