Saul Williams Quotes

I still very much appreciate the storytelling of the best rappers.

I think that rap is narrative, when it's done right.

I came up in hip-hop, where people value the ability to tell it straight.

Big Rube was on my first album and some of my mixtapes. His words are so powerful. I want to speak every word he says into existence. I wanna be a part of that! I wanna be a part of greatness. His wordplay is great to me.

Drake, I'd like to collaborate with. He's a phenomenal lyricist. Probably the best rapper in the world at the moment. I love Kanye but there's something about Drake; he's more straight up, really clever and really poetic and metaphorical - I love that. He's just clever.

When I'm not in the booth, I'm one of the most laid-back guys. But growing up, I liked DMX, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and T.I. - dudes that went all out on the track. My first songs were energetic because I liked their energy.

Hip-hop is not all '2 Chainz' - although '2 Chainz' is awesome. How he does that with metaphors, I don't know.

I feel like with a lot of Madlib's beats, they are made for storytelling. I feel like when I'm working on stuff with him, I can really get into the storytelling aspect mode of my flow.

When you're looking for good lyrics, you turn to Kendrick Lamar, you turn to J Cole, you turn to Wale, you turn to Chance the Rapper, you turn to Rapsody. You don't turn to Post Malone.

Nas' storytelling was just fire.

Lil Wayne, that was one of my main influences, music-wise, because of his wordplay and metaphors.

Biggie was to me the guy who was the best at painting the picture and making you visualize something, Pac was the best poet, and I feel like Jay Z is all of the above. Then Rick Ross is just, every line he spits is just perfect, and he's one of my favorite MCs of all time.

I don't want people to confuse me as an MC that talk about nothing.

My favorite artist was probably Jay-Z. He's the one who inspired me to start writing music. He's a wordsmith. He's very clever. He uses a lot of similes and metaphors. He's a beast of a rapper.

I still to this day get the most inspiration from rap lyrics.

I love rap, and I try to write a bit like a rapper, to have a flow.

If you're really a rapper, you can't stop rapping.

Biggie and Big Pun were the best storytellers of the '90s. I would get wrapped up in the narrative of what they were talking about.

Not everybody is a great rapper; not everybody lives for the art of lyricism.

But I've been freestyling and messing around with rhyming since I was 13. That's when I really started listening to hip-hop music.

There's a guy on YouTube named Mac Lethal - he spits hot fire.

A lot of the hip hop artists don't write music. They write words.

Rapping for me is more about being entertaining and giving something back to the fans. I want people to say, 'There goes Pooch holding his own with Consequence, Rick Ross, and Drake.'

I'm pretty sure people thought I was like a dope rapper.

The first album was 99 percent hard core to show you I was the best rhymer in the world.