Mos Def Quotes & Sayings

I've always loved rhyming. I love language. — Mos Def

I give a damn if any fan recalls my legacy, I'm trying to live life in the sight of GOD's memory. — Mos Def

My presence speaks volumes before I say a word. — Mos Def

We blasted holes in the night until she bled sunshine — Mos Def

I just don't think it's very dignified to ask people to like you. You can just wind up being somebody's ottoman. — Mos Def

If you're going to do Chuck Berry, you got to, you know, go all out, and the duck walk is just kind of you know, cursory. That's like standing. — Mos Def

To me, playing an instrument and singing, all of these different things are just as natural to me as rhyming. — Mos Def

Twitter freaks me out. You have followers? It feels so obsessive and proprietary. — Mos Def

That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn't be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind. — Mos Def

So rather than really have, like a close relationship to anything that's coming out today, people are just, they've got it on as background music. It's kind of the same way the cabdrivers use music; it's very disposable. But, that doesn't mean there aren't a great number of artists who are doing things to change that. — Mos Def

Crack mothers, crack babies and AIDS patients
Youngbloods can't spell, but they could rock you in PlayStation. — Mos Def

My Umi said shine your light on the world, shine your light for the world to see — Mos Def

But even creeps deserve to live someplace halfway decent. — Mos Def

I've always loved music and I love the language, which is a huge reason why I'm part of theater. — Mos Def

And remember don't high post when you're far from home, and high posting when you're all alone. — Mos Def

Focused. I'm a hustler. And my hustle is trying to figure out the best ways to do what I like without having to do much else. — Mos Def

Mos Def is a name that I built and cultivated over the years it's a name that the streets taught me a figure of speech that was given to me by the culture and by my environment and I feel I've done quite a bit with that name and it's time to expand and move on. — Mos Def

Speech is my hammer bang the world into shape now let it fall - HUNGH — Mos Def

The ability to have somebody read something and see it, or for somebody to paint an entire landscape of visual imagery with just sheets of words - that's magical. That's what I've been trying to strive for - to draw a clear picture, to open up a new dimension. — Mos Def

I don't mind being black. I'm black out loud. It's more than the people that they are, it's the condition that they represent. — Mos Def

All the things that are worth doing, take time. — Mos Def

Bob Marley performed the 'One Love Peace' concert in Jamaica with the two different warring political sides. There's always been that in black music and culture in general. It's no surprise because black music is such a reflection of what's going on in black life. It's not unusual for hip-hop. — Mos Def

I tell people all the time, I've always loved music and I love the language, which is a huge reason why I'm part of theater. But, I didn't wanna do all of this. I would've been satisfied to do it, like, on the weekends among friends, and to have a regular job. — Mos Def

I ain't no perfect man I'm tryna do the best that I can with what it is I have. — Mos Def

Fame is like getting across the street. It's like, if there's nothing to be across the street for, it's a pointless destination. — Mos Def

It wouldn't be fair to cast aspersions on an entire cultural movement based on the actions of a few. To quote my grandfather, 'One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch.' — Mos Def

You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions. — Mos Def

Hip-Hop went from selling crack to smoking it — Mos Def

Good art provides people with a vocabulary about things they can't articulate. — Mos Def

Beef is not what Jay said to Nas;
Beef is when the working folks can't find jobs. — Mos Def

If 'Life in Marvelous Times' can't get on the radio, then I don't need to be on the radio. — Mos Def

I never had any ambitions of being a movie star or anything like that, but you know, this is nice. — Mos Def

Peace before everything, God before anything,
Love before anything, real before everything,
Home before any place, shoot before anything,
Style and state radiate, Love Power slay the hate. — Mos Def

I don't want to waste anyone's time or money. I want to give people some truth and positive heart lift. — Mos Def

It's one thing to be the greatest; it's another thing to be necessary. The best are the most necessary: those who take less than they give and love more than they hate. — Mos Def

I feel like being into the beat of your own drum has become too prominent in the culture. — Mos Def

I began to fear that Mos Def was being treated as a product, not a person, so I've been going by Yasiin since '99. At first it was just for friends and family, but now I'm declaring it openly. — Mos Def

I thought everybody got into rock 'n' roll because they didn't want to follow instructions. — Mos Def

Make today's solid ground out of yesterday's quicksand. — Mos Def

I don't hate nobody. I hate certain conditions that are inflicted upon the people - and they're helpless with it. — Mos Def

I'm inspired by playwrights, novelists, poets: The value of language has been a lifelong passion of mine. I enjoy it. I'm good at it. — Mos Def

You're not gonna get through life without being worshipful or devoted to something. You're either devoted to your job, or to your desires. So the best way to spend your life is to try to be devoted to prayer, to Allah. — Mos Def

Hip-hop is a beautiful culture. It's inspirational, because it's a culture of survivors. You can create beauty out of nothingness. — Mos Def

I guess something that you love to do, you gotta ease up off it and give it a little space, come back and be fresh to it. — Mos Def

I believe the projects were a social experiment; we were laboratory rats stacked on top of each other, and people just knew, inherently, that there was something wrong. There's not a lot of regard for the property by the residents. — Mos Def

Hip-hop is rock & roll. What the hell is Wu-Tang but Motorhead? — Mos Def

We can be beautiful and feel beautiful about who we are everyday. — Mos Def

There was a time when hip-hop was its own musical principle, aside from sampling. Like the entire Wild Style break is instrumental. Kurtis Blow's earliest stuff was studio musicians playing. Whodini had a real clear sound, things like "five minutes of funk," stuff that you could write really beautiful, lush string and horn arrangements around, stuff that was just music. — Mos Def

Fear not of men because men must die. Mind over matter and soul before flesh. — Mos Def

If it's just fame for the sake of being famous, no one even cares about you - and you don't even care about yourself because you're like, "This is so ridiculous." — Mos Def

With guys I revere, like Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X, their look is less about style than purpose and the expression of beauty. It wasn't just about being noticed, you know? — Mos Def

I don't wanna get into that space where a lot of guys now, their solo album is like eight or 10 songs with other people, you don't get an idea of who this guy is. I just wasn't interested in that. — Mos Def

I'm retiring the Mos Def name after 2011. I'm actually doing it. — Mos Def

I seen her on the ave, spotted her more than once.
Ass so fat that you could see it from the front ... — Mos Def

I'm an independent thinker. And I'm not the poster child for any movement. I'm trying to support whatever's right no matter where it is. — Mos Def

I have no confidence issues with the impact or the quality of the music. No one in hip-hop, before this point and to this point, with all due respect, has done this. — Mos Def

Michael Jordan on the court is a completely different guy. If the play requires him to leap out all the way and grab the ball, that's what he'll do. He may be a completely shy, withdrawn sort of person [off the court]. — Mos Def

Hip-hop is the last true folk art. — Mos Def

In the early '90s, when I really started to find my voice, I was reading a lot of books, and I was moved by the writers, like Chinua Achebe, and I wanted to be able to write rhymes that were as potent as what I was reading. — Mos Def

And from the moment that I saw you, I knew you was trouble,
But I disregarded detour signs,
And did not stop til you was mine.
I guess God was like, 'Aight, fine.'
Careful what you wish for, cause you just might get it in heaps.
Try to give it back, He be like, 'Nah, that's yours to keep.' — Mos Def

You want to know how to rhyme, then learn how to add. It's mathematics. — Mos Def

I have mad brims. — Mos Def

History has proven that it's impossible to crush the artist. There's always gonna be a need for somebody to write a poem or sing a song about something, about life - that makes it real. There's the word that goes beyond the word. — Mos Def

I'm blacked than midnight on Broadway and Myrtle — Mos Def

They say that when a man faces his destiny, the destiny ends and he becomes the man that he really is. — Mos Def

I've been fortunate with my acting career. A lot of scripts come to me. I don't mind auditioning if something that requires that, but I haven't had to in awhile, which is a nice place to be 'cause I've been on quite a lot of auditions in my life. — Mos Def

You can positively affect and change a social circumstance with art, and it's vital that a change happens now. — Mos Def

Everything's got space between it, the planets, trees, your eyes. Your eyes get too close together, it's a whole different world. You can lose perspective. — Mos Def

I can't control what people think. I'm not trying to manipulate people's thoughts or sentiments. I write all the time. You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions. It's machine-like how things are run now in hip-hop, and my ambitions are different. — Mos Def

Breathe in ... inhale vapors from bright stars that shine,
Breathe out ... weed smoke retrace the skyline. — Mos Def

Why do I need ID to get ID?
If I had ID, I wouldn't need ID. — Mos Def

I learned [playing Chuck Berry] that there's something to be said for the courage of conviction, that sense of belief, being bold enough to believe in your vision. And there's a quote that really fits his particular energy. It says - they say don't go where the path may lead, but go where there's no path and leave a trail. I think that's exactly what Chuck did, you know. It's an inspiration to a lot of folks, not just musicians, but people everywhere. — Mos Def

I get reminded a lot of the time that my life is a little bit different, but I'm just trying to keep it as regular as possible because I like it that way. — Mos Def

I was taught when there's somethin' you can change around keep quiet, you got nothin' to complain about. — Mos Def

You've got to validate every day. There are those who just put a stamp on it and say, "This is gonna be a good day and I'm not gonna let anything else make it a bad day." — Mos Def

Man, I smashed her like an Idaho Potato — Mos Def

I'm just an artist and I'm doin' what I like to do. — Mos Def

You have to be an extremist to believe that you're gonna be the president of the United States and your name is Barack Hussein Obama! And he's using extreme methods, but his application is very smooth. Michelle Obama is extreme, her presence is extreme. And it's an extreme good. Extreme is not negative. — Mos Def

I can't take it y'all
I can feel the city breathin
Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening
Sigh before we die like the last train leaving — Mos Def

I don't care about what brand you are, I'm concerned what type of man you are, what your principles and standards are. — Mos Def

I want to be necessary and do good works. I ain't here to waste nobody's time, because I don't want you to waste mine. — Mos Def

If Islam's sole interest is the welfare of mankind, then Islam is the strongest advocate of human rights anywhere on Earth. — Mos Def

Don't look down, it's an impossible view; Fly like an eagle whatever you do — Mos Def

I'm doing exactly what I was supposed to do. Yeah. I didn't exactly choose this. My own life, if it were up to me, would be very, very quiet. I'd be like a shopkeeper, a book collector, or something like that. I'm not like this. Myself as a performer and an artist is totally different from who I am. — Mos Def

I feel like I was the only person who was capable of making this type of music in this type of way. I don't rap like nobody, I don't try to sound like nobody. — Mos Def

To me, the job of the artist is to provide a useful and intelligent vocabulary for the world to be able to articulate feelings they experience everyday, and otherwise wouldn't have the means to express in a meaningful and useful way. — Mos Def

Every time you ask yourself where hip-hop's going, ask yourself where you're going; how are you doing? — Mos Def

I'm not shy about heated debate or passionate discourse, but when people get crazy or rude, that's a buzz kill. There's got to be a better code of conduct, some basic etiquette. — Mos Def

The test in life nowadays is just trying to keep yourself charged up with enough good feeling. It's like, "OK what am I going to do to feel really good today?" Not like, some chick or a drink ... — Mos Def

I didn't want to have to deal with having any moniker or separation between the self that I see and know myself as. — Mos Def

Restlessness is my nemesis/ It's hard to just chill and sit still — Mos Def

I dreamt that I could paint you with words, but there were no colors bright enough, black or white enough, blue or green enough ... they didn't mean enough — Mos Def

Live now for the promise of the Infinite — Mos Def

It's possible and available to any artist to be himself or herself on their own terms, to be accepted and embraced by black people. You don't have to be a thug to get love from black people. — Mos Def

I know what it feels like to have the door slammed firmly in my face, so I'm cool with that. — Mos Def

The moment you start thinking it's hopeless, then it is. [But], if you think it's gonna get better, it really does. Life is a test. — Mos Def

I'm growing as an individual, but your always growing. All of my albums are snapshots of where I am artistically. — Mos Def

This thing called rhymin' is no different than coal minin';
We both on assignment to unearth the diamond. — Mos Def

I'm trying to get low. People's personalities can get in the way of their own work. — Mos Def

I like to read the 'Financial Times' when I'm traveling. 'Economist.' 'Ad Busters.' — Mos Def