Rick Rubin Quotes

I didn't grow up around all white people; I never wanted to gentrify hip-hop, I've never wanted to speak to an all-white audience.

People are so confused about race and hip-hop that people didn't even consider the Beastie Boys one of the greatest rap groups of all time because they were white.

The funny thing is I'm not even Latin. I was constantly getting Latin roles, and I was like, I even was nominated for an award, and I was like, 'Let them know at the NAACP, the first white woman. Let them know I'm totally grateful, but I'm not Latin. I can't do that. I play Latin.'

In every interview I've got to explain something about being white but still being into hip hop. It's gone way beyond the musical aspect of the business. And I'm as critical about music as everybody else is.

I know I'm a black actor, but really, I'm an actor who happens to be black.

The 'Perez' in me was the outsider, the Latino guy, the homosexual, the person who stuck out, and the 'Hilton' referred to Hollywood, the mainstream.

I am a woman, and I am Jewish; I'm a film-maker, and I'm a writer, so you cannot just put me in one box.

I got a liberal education. A white guy, rapping as Bugs Bunny, on a quintuple-platinum album.

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.

I loved films like 'When Harry Met Sally' and 'Annie Hall,' but these were very specific, white Manhattan experiences. You don't see a single person of color anywhere, but somehow these films are universal. As a filmmaker and creator, I was frustrated with that idea.

I don't think that 'Vida' is just for Latinos. I don't think 'One Day at a Time''s just for Latinos.

I would say 'The Big Narstie Show' is the United Colours of Benetton; it's for everyone. But I would definitely say that it has a black appeal, because that's what I am.

Yes, I'm a proud Latina woman, but before that - before the color of my skin, my accent, anything - I'm an actress, singer and dancer. I'm something bigger than just my background.

Well, I've always felt connected to the outsider.

I grew up in Welwyn Garden City, and when you're a woman of colour in a predominantly white area, you become aware of prejudice from a young age.

I'd be lying if I did not say that being a woman of colour is something I am always mindful or aware of.

Being faith-driven, being a hip-hop artist, being artistic in an urban context - all of those things make you unique, and you put yourself on the outside of what's considered the norm.

Not too many people draw black people as well as I do.

I always think about race as a part of one's identity, not the whole of one's identity. You don't want it to be the defining characteristic of a character. There has to be more.

I was always asked to play roles where I was the contrasting or multicultural character. Sometimes that worked for me - often it didn't.

I make pop music. I make music that is pretty commercial. But, at the same time, I'm a minority within a minority and it can be challenging. I feel validated about what I'm doing when I meet fellow black gay men or black gay women.

I never fit in with straight country. I never really fit in with rock n' roll. I've always been somewhere in between all this stuff.

There were very few British black women on TV or in music when I was a teenager; when you're growing up, you need someone you can identify with. I remember at Christmas being bought a doll that didn't look anything like me, so I threw it away.

I don't want to be a rap star. I want you to see me and just say, 'That's Mase,' not 'That's Puff Daddy and Mase,' you know.

I'm a woman of color, but I have so many different cultures inside of me.