Black Thought Quotes

I'm not tryin' to come off as the best lyricist.

I've always been jealous of rappers, because they can fit so many words into a song and tell a story with lots of details. But when you're a songwriter, you have to fit the words to the melody and you can't fit as much in. I'm just a big fan of storytelling.

I write poetry, and I put it to a beat - I mean, that's what they call rap.

Rap is poetry set to music. But to me it's like a jackhammer.

Lyrics are kind of the whole thing; it's the message. Something might have a beautiful melody but if it's not the truth coming out of your mouth, it's not appealing.

I want to sound like an instrument. I want my voice and my words to marry the beat. I go with the rhythm of it and the words start to come to my mind and those words could be based on things that's been on my mind for the past year, the past month, the past week, whatever; I write it.

I rely heavily on rhythm when I write. You should tap your foot when you read it, all the way through.

Some songs I rap before the beat even play and I enjoy doing that. I like walking the beat down.

My best writing is not outside of the beat. I'm 99 percent influenced by the beat first, and then the words just flow.

It's bad poetry executed by people that can't sing. That's my definition of Rap.

Rap is rhythm and poetry. Hip-hop is storytelling and poetry as well.

I don't sing melodically. Rhyme pattern is how I sing. I also write like a lyricist or an MC because that's what I was before I was a singer. I just took those elements and put them into music.

I was never just a 'fill in 16 bars on a beat' rapper. I was making real songs from the jump.

When poetry separates from song, then the words have to carry all the rhythm themselves; they have to do all the work. They can't rely on the singing voice.

But otherwise, music is about a beat and a message.

You need a pulse in a film. If I see a film that doesn't have rhythm, it's like listening to music that doesn't have rhythm; it doesn't really work.

Rap lyrics are really the only thing I've ever written.

The fact that rap has a strict meter and stays to a click means that you have to make your thoughts concise.

There are thousands of Eminems. Just listen to a song. There are thousands of them. It's just that he had the talent. It's like someone with a talent to hit a baseball. He had the talent to write lyrics.

I think rap in general allows you to be more lyrically expressive. It's a lot easier to state your identity, as opposed to with a guitar making all these weird metaphors.

What inspires me about rap is that it's written in an almost poetic way. I just think it's so cool.

When I first started making music, I was all about wordplay and how fast I could rap, but over the years, I've really gained an appreciation for melody. What's cool is that when you're singing, you have to be concise, and when you're rapping, you have the opportunity to be really detailed with your lyrics.

Lyrically and melodically, Drake was definitely a big influence of mine.

I'm attached to the beat. The beat speaks words. I love music.

When I did rap and rhyme, it wasn't just a word that rhymed with another one.