Macklemore Quotes

Pop culture mirrors culture, and, I think, as a rapper, hip-hop in a lot of ways mirrors the things that are happening in urban neighborhoods.

I think hip-hop does a very good job of infusing comedy and humor and wit into music, a lot more than other genres.

When I first heard rap, I wasn't quick to be critical. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but I had a feeling it was a reflection of what's been happening in the ghetto.

I was born into hip hop and reggae, and then I started listening to more hardcore and punk bands like Bad Brains and the Suicidal Tendencies; they opened up a whole new world for me. They had something to say, and I could relate to them.

I think, in a lot of ways, hip-hop is interesting to me because it's like the modern-day folk music.

Personally more so than shock, I think, rap music has to be born of rebellion.

I'm fascinated by rap and by hip-hop. I think there's a lot of poetry in it. There's a lot of anger, a lot of social energy in it. And I think you'd better listen to it pretty carefully, 'cause it's important.

Hip-hop is the last true folk art.

I like the way hip-hop is now. It's grown up enough so that it can get involved with politics if it feels like it.

When you look at a guy like a Jay-Z or look at a guy like a Nas, you don't necessarily qualify them as conscious rap purely, although they are extremely conscious of the social inequities that prevail.

Who gave it that title, gangsta rap? It's reality rap. It's about what's really going on.

I look at WorldstarHipHop in the morning, Bossip, Global Grind, and everything in between, but it's all so quick, I don't even think about it. And I've never been a fan of lyrical or socially conscious rap music.

I think hip-hop is no more misogynistic than America is as a society. I just think hip-hop is a lot more brash, a lot more bold, a lot more loquacious. There are a lot more words that go into a hip-hop song than go into a regular song.

Speaking out against rap music is useless, and it's futile. The reality is there's criticism for everything, but Jay-Z is one of the most remarkable artists of our time of any genre, and as a hip-hop artist he carries the weight of that art form with such splendor and grace and genius.

I'm not more or less conscious than any other rapper out there.

Hip Hop has become real constrained. The creative juices and creative flows have been diminished.

The thing about hip-hop today is it's smart, it's insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable.

Hip Hop emerged fearlessly and unappoligeticly reflecting our society.

I think Tupac was more someone who was trying to inform us about what was going on, and he did it through entertainment.

Ninety percent of the general public aren't gangstas, so all of the rappers aren't going to be gangstas.

Hip-hop is as much an attitude and perspective as it is a music form.

In 7th grade, I believe, I wrote my first rap song. It was about everything I was seeing, everything that was going on around me.

Hip Hop is an extension of our very being, and so the study of Hip Hop is the study of self-expression leading to the study of one's true self.

Earl Sweatshirt is very wise.

By no means am I excusing homophobic rap lyrics, but as a product of the same environments that birthed hip-hop, I fully understand why those lyrics existed.