Chuck D Quotes & Sayings

Minds are the real estate of the millenium — Chuck D

We didn't invent music, so it's been here for a reason, and it has powers for a reason. So we should pay attention to it, because we might not know the clear answers but we should at least acknowledge that it is something there. To not be playin around with it. — Chuck D

The truth has no form, you know. It's not like walking around trying to actually ask for favors and to be acknowledged, it is what it is. — Chuck D

I let go usually by talking to many people in different areas, in different realms of life that make me look at what I'm dealing with as being small fries stuff, you know? — Chuck D

I'm not a U.S. citizen. I mean, I'm an earth-izen. Borderline policies are crap to me. — Chuck D

My daughter's 19. I'm not asking her to develop as an artist. I'm just asking her to develop as a full person, human being. — Chuck D

You're always going to sound like yourself, but you can make really strong attempts to keep some similarities, but move away from what you did before for popularity's sake. — Chuck D

Young people are having a hard time with what's reality and what's fantasy these days ... We created discussion. It wasn't to create controversy for sale's sake, but rather it was my obligation to use the medium for discussion. Nobody's discussing the grown-up topics; they are faking and fronting. — Chuck D

Alternative spaces, independent media, satellite, these all provide some tools by which we can work more independently and deal more directly with communities we hope to reach. Distribution is key, and finding alternative ways to do that with new media is critical. — Chuck D

It ain't this big I, little You. Music is to be shared. Music is not a hustle. [Hip hop's become] cultural stripmining [by the major labels]. Some people get into this music to make a killing but music is a way to make a living. — Chuck D

Excuse us for the news,
You might not be amused;
But did you know White comes from Black?
No need to be confused. — Chuck D

I'd rather have a hundred thousand or a million people saying I'm nuts and I'm crazy for my musical choices and what I've said lyrically, than a million people all raising their hand on the first day. — Chuck D

Americans are not sharp. You can be sharp in your own area, I guess, but in this world you gotta be conscious of everybody else in the world too. You just can't be drunken with constitution and hear, okay we're gonna do this and then you hear well, we're gonna go kill this guy 'cause he's a terrorist and you keep gettin' it. — Chuck D

I adhere to the philosophy, "I don't care who writes the laws, let me write the songs." — Chuck D

If you have no soul you can gut it out. You know, like a marionette, you'll just follow what seems to actually give you whatever you ain't got. — Chuck D

The United States is like one big jail for Black people, because we're locked into a mentality and a mindset that limits our potential. It has us against us. — Chuck D

Share and enjoy the fruits of this planet. — Chuck D

Rap comes from the humble beginnings of rebelling against the status quo. Now, rappers have become the status quo themselves. You can't rebel against the Queen and then become the Queen yourself. I attribute much of the blame to testosterone-male dominance and patriarchy. — Chuck D

I always remain optimistic. There are three levels of music production: the majors, indies, and what I call "inties," music distributed via the Internet. The Internet is one area that I have used pretty effectively to break free of corporate control. — Chuck D

Comin' from the school of hard knocks,
Some perpetrate ... they drink Clorox.
Attack the black, cause I know they lack exact
The cold facts, and still they try to Xerox. — Chuck D

A visit to the hood through a record, or through a video, or through a film, is a lot safer than actually visiting the people in real life. It became a business model. It became a revenue engine that, you know, you can get to the hood without ever going there. — Chuck D

My advice to young people is ask older people questions and don't be afraid. — Chuck D

I think traveling the world has helped to keep Public Enemy alive. We've never solely depended on the United States. — Chuck D

The minute I get swelled up about something, something has always brought me back down to earth ... — Chuck D

Black folks are judged by quantity, not quality. It's a decimal point or figure. How different is that from slavery? There's no moral code, it's just about successful business for America. — Chuck D

I think that revolution means change. And if somebody feels like there's nothing wrong, everything's great even when it ain't, why would they ask for a revolution? Just stick the tubes into me and just pump away. — Chuck D

Bass! How low can you go?
Death row ... what a brother know.
Once again, back is the incredible,
The rhyme animal, the uncannable "D!"
Public Enemy Number One.
Five-O said, "Freeze!" and I got numb.
Can I tell 'em that I really never had a gun?
But it's the wax that the Terminator X spun. — Chuck D

And when I say it, they get alarmed ...
'Cause I'm louder than a bomb. — Chuck D

People aren't going to support an artist just because they have an audio file. They have to feel a real connection. — Chuck D

You should be a person inside the world with knowledge of your terrain. And if you lock yourself into the 2,000-by-3,000-square-mile, lower-48 box of the United States, you're going to be frustrated by its limitations. You gotta think outside the box. — Chuck D

I totally hate when somebody takes a classic and desecrates it. I like Jimmy Page and P. Diddy, but what they did to 'Kashmir' was a debacle. — Chuck D

As a late teenager, the punk movement pushed me further. In particular, the Clash, which happened to leak through the time of disco, showed me that there was this cross-cultural sound that could cut across genres and audiences. Like punk was to disco, rap music was a rebellion against R&B, which had adopted disco and made it worse. — Chuck D

I think the Internet was the saving grace for Public Enemy. Before that, travelling the world saved Public Enemy. — Chuck D

Maybe we need to look upon technologies and social networks as things that come out of us, not things that lead us. We can be on top of these things instead of them bein' on top of us as human beings. — Chuck D

I was inspired by the classic rock radio of the Seventies. They separated Chuck Berry and the Beatles from the Led Zeppelins and Bostons and Peter Framptons of the time. In many ways, classic rock became bigger than mainstream rock. — Chuck D

I don't believe that everybody is out of some kind of cookie cutter, so the thing that protects me is always being level with myself, even to myself. — Chuck D

One side of the street is a Church; across the road is a liquor store. Both of 'em keepin us poor. — Chuck D

The best medicine for pain sometimes is some kind of logic and common sense from older folks. They tell you, "Okay, you're not the only one who actually went through this." — Chuck D

Find like-minded people and try not to be individualized to the point where you try to fight it all and think about it all on your own. — Chuck D

So, rather than trying to humbly mix with the rest of the world, we are forcing ourselves upon it. We seem to create conflicts with everyone. — Chuck D

I think hip hop should be a living word. And what I mean by the living word is like yo, you gotta have the words that provide life. — Chuck D

I became tired of submitting my art to a panel of corporate strategists who decide if it meets their standard of what gets into stores or not. It was quite simple for me: they act like judge and jury of my art, and that is unacceptable. I wanted to give it right to the public. — Chuck D

I'm recording freely, and if I make a song, I release it immediately, so I'm more likely to believe in one song at a time as opposed to albums. — Chuck D

Why would twenty-six-year-old "teenagers" care about political ramifications if their backs are not up against the wall? But if their backs are against the wall they may be plucked to fight in Iraq, and all of sudden they become politicized real quick. — Chuck D

Being positive is like going up a mountain. Being negative is like sliding down a hill. A lot of times, people want to take the easy way out, because it's basically what they've understood throughout their lives. — Chuck D

Never have so many men treated women like our foes. They call 'em hoes, but they might as well call them foes, 'cause you are totally against the existence of somebody who should live their life as an equal human being. If not, any man knows, it's like we're not equal. You know, women are usually a little better than us. — Chuck D

Someone like Jay-Z does have a timeless quality, but it's much different than ours. You can look back at something like "At the Hop" by Danny and the Juniors or the music that was on American Bandstand in the 1950s-'60s. — Chuck D

Ever since I was a teenager, I was always kind of, like, checking myself. You know, like, "Come on man, don't get your head all swollen. Life and time itself will give you perspective on what you're doing." So, that's actually what's always been a reminder in my own head. — Chuck D

Try to find like-minded people. Don't choose your friends based on the outside, choose your friends based on your similar views or something that you can learn from. — Chuck D

The powers that be are trying to meld, shape, and corral the culture of hip-hop into another speaking voice for the government. — Chuck D

Slavery was incredibly prosperous for some people, at that time. It was not a bad business plan, but it was terrible and inhumane. But as a business it worked. — Chuck D

Never try to make the same record twice, even when people are screaming for the same sound. — Chuck D

I think a good thing that needs to change is that people should be at least fearless about expressin' themselves. — Chuck D

I'd rather be hated for what I am than to be loved for what I'm not. — Chuck D

If you empty, you can be filled up with anything. It could be water or it could be gasoline. — Chuck D

In the past, people were going to record stores and buying albums or CDs. And the label was exposing their artist as much as possible and maybe getting them picked up by a major. Now I tell people to cut a good tune and have it up in the marketplace the next day. You better be prepared to give it away, and people will come pay to see you. — Chuck D

Rap is supposed to be about keeping it real and not relinquishing your roots in the community. Without that, it's just posturing. Somebody who claims to speak for the 'hood don't need no private jet. — Chuck D

I grew up as a sports fan, and I know that a hall of fame is very different than an award for being the best of the year. It's a nod to the longevity of our accomplishment. — Chuck D

Every time something tries to create respect with a machine it crumbles! — Chuck D

There's nothing worse than a good video and good song, and you see a band and hate them because they can't perform. That's wack. — Chuck D

I like Rick Ross as a person. I like Jay-Z and Kanye West as people. But I hate the companies that they record for. — Chuck D

I tell each artist they have to grow toward a revenue stream. — Chuck D

Truth is truth no matter what I think. — Chuck D

If you want to be an artist, truly try to write what you believe, and if you write when you don't believe then you should try to become an actor. — Chuck D

We were coming out of the black community with this thing called rap music, which was basically black men yelling at the top of their lungs about what we liked and what we didn't like. It was disturbing to the status quo. It really shook things up. And those in power didn't know what to make of us, but they knew that we had to be silenced, stopped in any way from expressing our outrage. — Chuck D

I've signed with major labels, and I haven't had any control over the money. — Chuck D

Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and when people start getting it confused, that means they need to sit down with some real people. — Chuck D

My thing is, the older you get you gotta stand up for what you believe in, and keep bashin' away. — Chuck D

I like to drive and I like to travel. When I drive on the open road, it's like sometimes the car turns into a pen and the road is a piece of paper. — Chuck D

Once you think bigger than yourself then the cause becomes the issue if you think on a higher plain you can come together to work on our problems. — Chuck D

Burn, Hollywood, burn, I smell a riot goin' on,
First they're guilty, now they're gone! — Chuck D

Music and art and culture is escapism, and escapism sometimes is healthy for people to get away from reality. The problem is when they stay there. — Chuck D

Most artists are always fighting for their fame. They have that fear, like the saying goes, "out of sight, out of mind." They need to keep themselves out there. I have never had that fear. If I have any fear, it's not doing enough to reach people. — Chuck D

One of the problems with hip hop is lack of infrastructure and not being able to control its own course. I don't like that hip hop is full of infantile 35-year-olds. Hip hop cannot afford to be lazy. — Chuck D

Rappers should just be able to perform what they create and satisfy the people that like and love them. — Chuck D

A lot of the post-1977 dancefloor disco sounds had their place at one time, but you can't bring them back unless you bring back a floor. — Chuck D

My mother went to university, my father didn't. But they are very educated, very wise people. My father went to the military, so he's worldly. — Chuck D

All I want is peace and love on this planet.
Ain't that how God planned it? — Chuck D

I don't have any exteriors that would actually put me into some kind of different air that would actually intimidate somebody to stay away from me. — Chuck D

Getting on the road and driving along a road at night, or even in the daytime and seeing the oceans or whatever, is always liberating. — Chuck D

To live a life you love, you must Love the life you live. — Chuck D

Many have forgotten what we came here for,
Never knew or had a clue, so you're on the floor.
Just growin' not known' about your past ...
Now you're lookin' pretty stupid while you're shakin' your ass. — Chuck D

I'm a multi-tasker. I was down with that stuff before they invented the term. — Chuck D

You can't take anything with you. So I don't understand this whole psychotic area of greed, I don't get it ... — Chuck D

Knowledge, wisdom, and understanding don't come out of the microwave. You got to keep moving forward because the evil doesn't sleep. — Chuck D

Music should be some kind of nourishment. — Chuck D

I wanna go to the clubs and actually have a good time too, but at the same time, when the party's over, I have to go back to the real world and try to figure out who I am. — Chuck D

I think too much of the music industry is for the lawyer and accountant mentality. — Chuck D

Today, a young person that doesn't know themselves will totally be sold some other situation. Let's do your avatar. You know? And young people are going out, spending what little they have to try to buy themselves when they don't have themselves, or they feel like they don't have themselves. To me, that's like a damn pimp tragedy. — Chuck D

I encourage more blacks and people of color to get a passport. That's one way to help put people on an equal platform. — Chuck D

Of course voting is useful. But then again, I don't put a big glow to it. Voting is about as essential as washing yourself. It's something you're supposed to do. Now, you can't go around bragging, expecting to get props because you voted. That's stupid. — Chuck D

It's weak to speak and blame somebody else
... When you destroy yourself. — Chuck D

Being called Black in America is the struggle to keep us moving and breathing over bloody water. Being a Nig**r or [Ni**a] without the context of history is like drowning in bloody water, dragging down those yet knowing to swim. — Chuck D

There are too many leaders anointed because they have a public voice - television, radio, or record, or whatever. That even includes myself. In the past, I'd say, 'Don't anoint me when you can anoint yourself.' — Chuck D

You know, it's nothin' quick overnight. If anything happens to you quick, you need to start questioning that. You know, you hear young people go, aw, I'm gonna blow up. You gonna blow up but with a controlled explosion. Don't just blow up all over the place. — Chuck D

What made me want to become a recording artist; I was the first artist that was repeatedly asked by a label to record with them. That label was Def Jam Records. — Chuck D

It's not about what you get out but what you put into hip hop as a genre. — Chuck D

If you go get a passport, it might encourage you to at least consider the world around you. — Chuck D

I think governments are the cancer of civilization. — Chuck D

When you travel the world, you have to watch and you have to listen. We're not going to come in to Ireland without an understanding that there's a history that's very sensitive. — Chuck D