Black Rap Quotes & Sayings

Too hard for MTV, not black enough for BET, just let me be ... — Jadakiss

If you really think back to the culture or just black America before rap music took off, New York could have been Paris. — Ice Cube

I'm like an eclipse on a Friday the 13th,
With black cats and Haley's Comet,
Blazin' blunts in my driveway ... — Redman

Leave it up to me while I be livin' proof,
To kick the truth to the young black youth. — Inspectah Deck

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 bring terror like Stephen King,
A black Casanova, runnin niggaz over like Christine — Dr. Dre

I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan, and I shouldn't have to run from a black man. — Kool Moe Dee

Infrareds on little people standing with some big heads,
I was Captain Kirk, walkin' with a black t-shirt.
LAPD, the nurse asked did my knee hurt?
I was in pain, little Martians tryin' ta take my brain,
Hospitals came, detectives wrote down my name.
I was to blame, my life never been the same.
A true story; I tell ya, it'll never bore me.
My classmate died, my other friend named Cory
Drinkin' 40s, he jumped out the project window,
Stabbed himself with a yellow number 2 pencil. — Kool Keith

Love and hate, black and white,
Right or wrong, who is right?
Some smoke joints to anoint their brain
To the vanishing point ... so they won't go insane. — Pharoahe Monch

They claim we're products from the bottom of Hell,
But the black is back, and it's bound to sell.
Picture us coolin' out on the Fourth of July ...
And if you heard we were celebratin', that's a worldwide lie. — Flavor Flav

I hate to get on the racial thing because that's something I've always been totally against. But the problem with the media is that they think that the word rock means white and the word rap means black. — Ice-T

I learned more from Black Star and Black Thought
Than I ever did from any class of any sort. — Toine Manders

We should remember what a rapper like Tupac Shakur was doing, to a certain degree, who came from an experience of politicization very close to being a "Panther Baby". He knew, he came from that experience of the Black Panthers, and accounting for all his contradictions and process of growth, he achieved politically through gangsta rap things that no conscious rapper has achieved, such as establishing political, ethical, and moral codes between Crips and Bloods in the United States. — Bocafloja

I got to keep it tight like seams,
Cause ain't no fiends
Comin' in between me and my dreams,
See what I mean, black? — Donnie Lewis

I bet you never heard of a playa with no game,
Told the truth to get what I want, but shot it with no shame.
Take this music dead serious while others entertain.
I see they makin' they paper so I guess I can't complain ... or can I?
I feel they disrespectin' the whole thang.
Them hooks like sellin' dope to black folks,
And I choke when the food they serve ain't tastin' right,
My stomach can't digest it even when I bless it ... — Andre Benjamin

A lot of people heard about gin and juice for the first time from Snoop Dogg, but it was nothing new in rap music, and it was nothing new in the black community. — Boots Riley

Now I'm not the type that gets upset,
Try to disrespect folks just to earn respect.
But learn this fact: whether white or black,
I can't be conquered in my style of rap.
For jealousy and envy are dumb ones' tools,
So Ricky says nothing, he keeps his cool.
Revenge is not a mission that the Ruler's on,
Just forgiveness required for the wrong that's done. — Slick Rick

I think rap music is the sole reason for a lot of black acceptance in pop culture; because the music is very popular, it gets our image out in other ways than in movies. — Ice Cube

As I do not live in an age when rustling black skirts billow about me, and I do not carry an ebony stick to strike the floor in sharp rebuke, as this is denied me, I rap out a sentence in my note book and feel better. If a grandmother wants to put her foot down, the only safe place to do it these days is in a note book. — Florida Scott-Maxwell

Nowadays rap artists coming half-hearted,
Commercial like pop, or underground like black markets.
Where were you the day hip-hop died?
Is it too early to mourn? Is it too late to ride? — Talib Kweli

Rap's conscious response to the poverty and oppression of U.S. blacks is like some hideous parody of sixties black pride. — David Foster Wallace

Eminem found a legendary voucher in the form of Dr. Dre. He also perfected a unique performance style: as Sasha Frere-Jones wrote in "Haiku for Eminem" after the release of The Marshall Mathers LP, "The way you sound black/when you are conversating/but white when you rap. — Matthew Gasteier

Do I have to give you hair torture to get it out of you?"
What is that? From the light in her eyes and the jaunty uptick of her mouth, I had a sense it would be pleasurable. "Do what you must."
In a dash, she pinned my wrists above my head. Her head dipped and her thick hair engulfed me, sweeping across my face and filling my mouth. "Nooo!" I half-heartedly pressed against her hold.
"Give it up, Dane." I could hear the laughter in her voice.
"Never!" I thrashed my head from side to side, trying to breathe through the black curtain blinding and drowning me. "You're killing me!"
"Jeez, you take this even worse than Matty."
I groaned. "With a sister like you, I feel sorry for him."
There was a sharp rap on the door. "Are you okay in there?" China asked.
Lucia glanced at me, and we both cracked up. — Jennifer Lane

My limo driver's white, my attorney black ...
'Show me some love' like I'm Bernie Mac. — Masta Ace

I was about one drink away from my limit,
In came a black dress with a black body in it,
She looked so timid, it took me a minute
To get her in focus — Aceyalone

I wear black while suckers wear pink. — Kool Keith

The poverty rate among black married couples has been in single digits ever since 1994. You would never learn that from most of the media. Similarly you look at those blacks that have gone on to college or finished college, the incarceration rate is some tiny fraction of what it is among those blacks who have dropped out of high school. So it's not being black; it's a way of life. Unfortunately, the way of life is being celebrated not only in rap music, but among the intelligentsia, is a way of life that leads to a lot of very big problems for most people. — Thomas Sowell

A lot of times black folks look for love in all the wrong places. You're always looking for somebody to love you, be accepted, and there's the insecurities that are even transmitted through rap. Everyone is trying to aim to please too much. — 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

So, rap has that quality, for youth anyway; it's a kind of blues element. It's physical, almost gymnastic. It speaks to you organically. Rap grows out of what young people really are today, not only black youth, but white - everybody. — Archie Shepp

Me being biracial, me being from Canada but having success in the States, I have all these moments in my life where I'm jumping roof to roof. Black to white. Singing and rapping. — Drake

I'm to trying to say I'm something I'm not. Black people understand that. I'm just doing my raps, my way. Rap is black. I recognize that and respect that. I'm just a white guy trying to rap, and I got lucky. — Vanilla Ice

Black culture has contributed hugely to American society: The civil rights movement brought meaning to American notions of equality and freedom; black contributions to politics, science, music, and art have helped enrich all of us. To demean these accomplishments and contributions by listing rap among them is to demean black culture as a whole. — Ben Shapiro

Roll big blunts, a whole ounce of reefer
Rocked that 'Black and Yellow' before Wiz Khalifa
It's a killer bee color scheme — Ghostface Killah

In the case of a man and a woman [accused of commiting a crime together], both will often agree to the man taking the rap despite the man being more likely to receive a longer sentence and more likely to be raped in prison. If blacks were agreeing to do that for whites, the black community would be smart enough to call that 'learned subservience. — Warren Farrell

I think that hip-hop should be spelled with a capital "H," and as one word. It's the name of our [black people] culture, and it's the name of our 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. To me, that's the biggest problem. — KRS-One

De La Soul, from the soul, black medallions, no gold. — Afrika Baby Bam

Teach the student what needs to be taught.
'Cause black and white kids both take shorts
When one doesn't know about the other one's culture,
Ignorance swoops down like a vulture. — KRS-One

The God's tropical ... ladies call me 'Black Fruit Punch.' — Ghostface Killah

Rappers, as a class, are not engaged in anything criminal. They're musicians. Some rappers and friends of rappers commit crimes. Some bus drivers commit crimes. Some accountants commit crimes. But there aren't task forces devoted to bus drivers or accountants. Bus drivers don't have to work under the preemptive suspicion of law enforcement. The difference is obvious, of course: Rappers are young black men telling stories that the police, among others, don't want to hear. Rappers tend to come from places where police are accustomed to treating everybody like a suspect. The general style of rappers is offensive to a lot of people. But being offensive is not acrime, at least not one that's on the books. The fact that law enforcement treats rap like organized crime tells you a lot about just how deeply rap offends some people
they'd love for rap itself to be a crime, but until they get that law passed, they come after us however they can. — Jay-Z

According to a study conducted by the Oxford African American Studies Center, hip hop is part of and speaks to a long line of black American and African traditions. Many observers also make a connection between rap and West African griot tradition, the art of wandering storytellers known for their knowledge of local settings and their superior vocal skills. — Carlos Wallace

The myth of black women profiting at the expense of black men is the oldest rap around. — Johnnetta B. Cole

I can rap in a London accent, make weird faces, wear spandex, wigs, and black lipstick. I can be more creative than the average male rapper. — Nicki Minaj

Most rappers are black men. If you're a black man, you owe something to the community that you came from. If you're rapping about the community that you came from, and you're romanticizing parts of it for the entertainment of people who don't look like you, you certainly owe something to the community. — Killer Mike

My white girl Veronica, black girl Monica,
Got me celebrating Christma-Hanu-Kwanzaa-kah,
Rocking dashikis with a yarmulke. — Big Sean

I understand what rappers are talking about. I think rap is less about educating people about the black community and more about making money. — Dennis Rodman

Whether chocolate or vanilla, or you're somewhere in between,
A cappuccino mocha or a caramel queen,
Rejected by the black, not accepted by the white world,
And this is dedicated to them dark-skinned white girls. — MURS

I got a smile that'll make the mirror crack,
And I seem to stay under clouds that's pitch black.
So when it rains, it pours, and when it pours, I'm soaked.
I contracted lung cancer from third hand smoke,
And I'm like the frog that's dying to be a prince,
The boy who cried wolf and no one was convinced.
The man who hit lotto and lost his ticket,
In a rainstorm ... and struck by lightning trying to get it. — GZA

What if Eminem was black? would he have sold five mil.
Or would he be 1 out of 5 million rappers with no deal? — Fredro Starr

When you're a little kid, you don't see color, and the fact that my friends were black never crossed my mind. It never became an issue until I was a teenager and started trying to rap — Eminem

If the KKK was smart enough, they would've created gangsta rap because it's such a caricature of black culture and black masculinity. — Jackson Katz

We listen to rap lyrics, but few study the history. One of the most significant contributions of hip hop. It offers a profound social commentary on the black experience. This is an aspect of the music that is overlooked because most people choose to pay more attention to "the hook" (the catchy repetitive phrase) than the complete body of work. In doing so, the listener misses the message: the essence of the music, the breakdown of the bars. That's tantamount to someone who is able to quote scripture, but has never read the bible. — Carlos Wallace

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

What if history was changed? slavery reversed
Would black ladies see white boys and clinch they purse? — Fredro Starr

I love black thighs, you sisters better realize
That real hair and real eyes get real guys.
So before you makeup your face, you better make up your mind ... — Common

Everybody in the '80s, well, we hate rap. Now, the biggest rapper in the world ... Eminem. Rap's a black thing. — Chubby Checker

One out of three black men are in the criminal justice system in some form. Their despair is beginning to resonate through the entire culture; that is why suburban children want rap music. — Robert Bly

Rap actually comes out of punk rock, not black music. — Stanley Crouch

According to Life & Style Weekly, 50 Cent may be working on Lindsay Lohan's next album. Finally, a match made in rap heaven. He's a convicted drug dealer who's been shot nine times, and she spent 84 minutes in prison. This is a big step for Lindsay. The last time Lindsay got near a black guy she ran over his foot. — Chelsea Handler

Do some good to the ghetto, Mr. Kris Kringle.
Come and stay awhile, kick it with God's Angels.
Take and acknowledge my wisdom and understand
That Santa Claus is a black man. — Keith Murray

I got a ill gift, I'm real swift
They be like, 'Damn, he's still rich.'
When I send my Men in Black,
Listen, none of them niggas named Will Smith. — Cam'ron

He'd abandoned his usual outfit of black rap clothes or GI Joe cammies. He was wearing a brown leather jacket, a cream-colored Henley, faded jeans, and work boots. His hair, which had always been slicked back in a ponytail, was cut short. He had a two-day beard, making his teeth seem whiter and his Latino complexion seem darker. — Janet Evanovich

Why shouldn't rap be esoteric, able to take in current events, history and criticism? I guess it's this old idea of containment - that rappers, because they're black, can't and shouldn't aspire to look outside the ghetto for influence. — Saul Williams

For a long period of time, the media covered rap music and hip hop the same way they cover a lot of black people, people of color, you know, the bad news happens to be news. They used to have these little stupid colloquialisms that pop up like, "You know what? No news is bad news!" They trick the masses into thinking that any news is great for you. And I just think that's a piece of crap. — Chuck D

All I'm saying, as a fan, is I'm tired of the same song for 30 years. Can't we change the message a little? You've arrived. You have a black president. Every white guy in a commercial doesn't have to be the idiot and every black guy in a rap song doesn't have to be God's gift to the world. — Bill Maher

Gangsta rap was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. Gangsta rap didnt exist. — Alicia Keys

I got this black chick, she don't know how to act
Always talkin' out her neck, makin' her fingers snap
She like, Listen Jigga Man, I don't care if you rap
You better - R-E-S-P-E-C-T me — Jay-Z