Afeni Shakur Quotes

My thoughts on Eminem have always been that he is one of the greatest lyricists ever. I've never been a fan because I can't relate to a lot of his world views and experiences, but I acknowledge that he's one of the greatest MCs.

By denying its musical and artistic merit, hip hop's critics get to have it both ways: they can deny the legitimate artistic standing of rap while seizing on its pervasive influence as an art form to prove what a terrible effect it has on youth.

My whole thing is to inspire, to better people, to better myself forever in this thing that we call rap, this thing that we call hip hop.

Revolution is Tupac showing a young artist that he can scribble in a notebook and it's worth a lot.

I'm not the first guy to make a record or to make hip-hop, but I did it differently.

I always paid attention to Lil Wayne - close attention. He's my idol. He's still my idol.

Pac was real, and he put everything into that music with the passion, creativity, and the drive, and I feel like it's all one in the same with myself.

You know, I'm the 1st black solo MC from Detroit. I didn't do the 50 Cent sales but hey... I got a long career, I'm still young and I'm trying to bring really good music.

Dizzee's just my childhood hero. He's definitely the inspiration. He's got himself to a very good place. He's defied the expectations of what British black urban music was like. He was the first person who made the rest of Britain realise it wasn't just a one-album-type situation. You've got to take your hat off to somebody like that.

I think that hip-hop has done what it was supposed to have done, which is it defied all the laws of what is statistically a music genre and what statistically is not a music genre. Because it wasn't supposed to be here.

With rap, it's a funny thing. You can say things, and people can take 'em the way they wanna take 'em.

But then again in the East Coast, I think, Tupac, inspired everybody on the East Coast, everybody down south, everybody in the West Coast you know what sayin'.

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 think for writers who write that kind of stuff, they want to make changes. Look at Kris Kristofferson and Dylan. I mean, whole generations come along liking that stuff and that's great.

Art is competitive.

I'm mostly concentrating now on continuing to make history in Hip-Hop, making everybody proud of me, I'm not just a rapper now, I'm in history now.

I like hip-hop music, but some of the lyrics make me want to cry.

I sometimes make pictures which are not up to my standard, but then it can only be said of a mediocrity that all his work is up to his standard.

I felt I had an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of great soul musicians of the past, who made a lot of social and political commentary through their music.

I'm headed towards greatness. I think I'm making history in hip-hop.

You know, Tupac is very near and dear to my heart. He started my career as an actor.

I think Pac is one of those artists that generations on generations know who this guy is, as an artist, as an activist, as an actor - entertainer across the board. I think the new generations of entertainers and artists can be influenced by him just as much as people in the '90s.

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

Tupac is huge; he's an inspiration. Arguably, he's probably the biggest, most analyzed and loved artist of all time.

Tupac is my favorite artist, and he had mad style.