Rakim Quotes

For a long time I heard rap without paying attention, but it is still a way of life, even when you're a kid.

I thank God for Hip Hop because Marvin Gaye didn't have that and he was able to be that dope. For us to have that and more, I feel like it is up to us to be as dope as we can possibly be.

Gangsta Rap is dead. I've moved on. And the raps that I'm rappin to my community shouldn't be filled with rage? They shouldn't be filled with same attrocities that they gave me? The media they don't talk about it, so in my raps I have to talk about it, and it seems foreign because there's no one else talking about it.

Rap is stress, but it pays great.

I think the rap community always tells the truth. And I think that it's important that we listen to their voices so we can have a roadmap, because artists - almost every single artist in hip-hop, they paint a picture of society that's overlooked. The misogyny, the racism, the violence, the homophobia, these are things that we try to avoid instead of dealing with. All of that I see it so often.

When I was a kid, I never felt that what I was drawing really represented me; it was just something I enjoyed.

I'm very comfortable as a singer. In fact, I think it's more - I identified my self-esteem, my self more in those ways when I was growing up. I really - it was kind of my calling card as a kid.

I'm very at ease, and I like it. I never thought I would be such a family-oriented guy; I didn't think that was part of my makeup. But somebody said that as you get older you become the person you always should have been, and I feel that's happening to me. I'm rather surprised at who I am, because I'm actually like my dad!

Music has always been profoundly important to me.

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.

It's very important to me to understand myself and my place in the world. My films help me with that, and the more people see them, the more I am making a statement.

My mother's sobriety - that's when I found the theater, that's when I moved from being a basketball player to being a musician, to being an actor, to then being a writer.

Rap has always been about using your talents for doing more.

Without Slipknot, I would not necessarily be where I am today.

Music changed my life in so many ways.

I still hope that more people can create art, even though artistic genres may never be the most popular or money-making genres. But the thing is, I think art is more long-lasting. It stays in people, and it changes them.

I think a lot of people can learn from listening to hip hop. It ain't always about beats and rhymes.

I think acting is an important profession, because acting can give you pleasure and can teach you at the same time, and that is a good thing.

I think that hip-hop should be spelled with a capital "H," and as one word. It's the name of the culture, and it's the name of the identity and consciousness. I think hip-hop is not a product, but a culture. I think rap is a product, but when hip-hop becomes a product, that's slavery, because you're talking about people's souls.

I was very introverted growing up and I had small circle of friends. Any opportunity I got to rap or articulate things through rhyme or hip hop was great for me.

Listen to some good poetry. You see? It keeps us from thinking we are only what our blatant appetites describe us as.

One of the great things about rap music... it leaves a lot to be desired, as far as I'm concerned, musically, but I do recognize the very important place that it has in music and in creating role models for younger kids to emulate, giving them the dream that they can make it out of whatever situation they're in.

The U.S government hates rap music