Lupe Fiasco Quotes

I really like the whole urban, hip-hop kind of thing.

I rap about Memphis and what a dangerous spot that is.

I was, like, in a rap gang. I loved rap, and it was all around me.

Hip-hop was a big part of my life growing up, especially West Coast gangster rap.

As long as there's a demand for gangsta rap, it will be supplied.

A trap lord is basically the lord of the trap, and my trap is rap.

I listen to him [Chief Keef] the most. I like his older mixtapes a little better though, because old Chief Keef scared me - I thought he was about to pop up out of nowhere with a hoodie on and shoot me.

I'm listening to early Cash Money, I'm listening to Juvenile, I'm listening to Waka Flocka, I'm listening to Lil B, I'm listening to Brandy, Kanye - that's my home playlist.

Rap is definitely a youthful expression.

Part of my affinity with urban music comes from being on 'Kids Incorporated,' 'cos we used to sit around and listen to Chaka Khan and Prince, and I got influenced by all that. Then gangsta rap got started, and I was infatuated with that - maybe that's why I'm fascinated by guns.

They keep the song as street as it needs to be. It's got a good catchy hook where it can do what it needs to do on the radio, but they keep the song street where it will keep credibility in the hood.

Glizzy Gang is a real movement. They had movements back when I was younger, in the '90s, but you don't really have a major movement in the 2000s.

Mobb Deep is a street-rap group. We from off the streets.

Whether it is kids carrying knives because they are in gangs or kids carrying knives because they are afraid of gangs, it is the gang culture that underpins the problem.

I grew up a hip-hop kid doing mix-tapes.

I always loved hip-hop, being a black little kid. I always used to freestyle on the bus when I was young. It was always a part of my life.

Every generation brings its own presentation of what hip-hop is to them.

Well, I think that hip-hop is not just a music. It's really a culture and it's a way of life.

I grew up listening to a lot of Chief Keef, Lil B, all that.

I think every generation has that movement of hip-hop that you know you're playing it and you definitely have that moment of like, "Why am I saying this so enthusiastically? Why am I so stoked and psyched to say these lyrics?"

Hip-hop was the culture that I grew up with; I am part of this culture.

Hip-hop culture is deeply rooted in the wrong things. Hip-hop is about drugs right now. It's more so about drugs - about selling drugs, about using drugs - it's bad for kids.

It's just these moments in hip-hop where you feel invincible. It felt good hearing the music on the radio and in cars, skating rinks, and clubs.

I'm a fan of hip-hop and I love it, I by no means am an expert on it.

Hip-Hop started out in the heart