Good Hip Hop Quotes & Sayings

House music is about love, and lots of hip hop is about hate and intolerance, so in that respect, it's not good at all. — Chris Lowe

I said it's all good and it's all in fun
Now get in the pit and try to love someone — Kid Rock

Hip-hop music has done a very good job of maintaining the political context, where they stand and not giving a sh-t what people think. — Conor Oberst

The materialism, the brashness, the misogyny - everything in hip-hop is amplified. Misogyny is a good example of something that is completely amplified in hip-hop. I do think there is more than enough of a balance, though, for fans who are willing to search it out. — Talib Kweli

It's not just hip-hop that's dead. Mostly every form of American music is dead. It's been dead. R&B isn't really good. — Nas

I am proud of the hip hop generation. They are good business people and, actually, good people. — Nikki Giovanni

What good is a beautiful dame with a Rolls-Royce frame, and a Volkswagen brain? — J-Ro

I want to make music as good as Radiohead, as good as Coldplay. I can make hip-hop as good as anybody. — Lupe Fiasco

Throughout the whole Stroll album, I'm breaking barriers. Whether I'm doing acoustic hip-hop, singing my own hooks or singing my own verses ... There's always going to be people who don't like it, cause they're stuck in their ways, or they just don't like you in general ... but it's been good. — SonReal

If you are handed something, it's a blessing and a curse. Look at hip hop artists, they produced everything themselves. Even people like Robert De Niro are getting into production. Again, it's art vs. marketing. Not everyone can take the risk. You have to break a few eggs to make a good omelet. — Michael Winslow

Hip-hop is a complex music and culture that has been reduced to a one-dimensional critique. Hip-hop's messages aren't all bad. Neither are they all good. — Bakari Kitwana

The only good thing about the 1980s was that they invented rap, but rap didn't get good until 1992, so what does that say about the 1980s. — Drew

I think I can see people wanting to hear more music-music now as opposed to all hip-hop. You know, which I have nothing against hip-hop. I think some of it is really good. But on the other hand, some of the real great artists are just being lost because they're not getting the airplay or anything to make them inspired to record again. — Nickolas Ashford

Michael Jackson carried urban America and eventually American society on his vocal cords for a good 25 to 30 years before even hip-hop became the vox populi of America, and then as an adult he shattered racial barriers. — Michael Eric Dyson

I explained Crime 101 to the kid. "Guns escalate things. They're only good for crowd control. We're going in after closing hours, so we don't need crowd control." "Yeah," Augie said, "but what about security? What if they start bustin' caps?" Bustin' caps. I wondered how many hip-hop posters he had on his bedroom wall. "Site's handled by Gold Star Security Northwest," I explained. "They don't carry guns, just Tasers and pepper spray. They also make thirteen bucks an hour, and heroics are highly discouraged in their training manual. Their standing orders in case of a burglary are to retreat to safe ground and call the real cops. That gives us plenty of time to bug out if we get spotted and blow it." "Cool," Augie said. — Craig Schaefer

I respect everything H3 has already accomplished and respect everything he's trying to get done. We're building a real HOME for the Hip Hop generation complete with all the things we love to do. But it's really about creating educational opportunity and good jobs and that's where Team H3 will prove to be unbeatable. — Juelz Santana

I used to breakdance, be a b-boy. I love hip-hop from back in the graffiti days, growing up listening to Michael Jackson. Loved it from birth. I know it all, from Afrika Bambaataa, the roots and the beginning. I came up in a good era. — DJ Khaled

What's bad for the culture is wack rappers that get held in high regard like they're some great thing because it's the flavor of the month, but everybody knows they can't rap. I don't think it's hard, even for somebody who's not hip-hop, to know that that's not good. When you put them up against somebody that can really rhyme, you go, "Okay, I get it. This is what it should sound like." — Ice-T

I'll be in 'The Get Down' from the creator Baz Luhrmann, and it takes place in the '70s with South Bronx kids growing up at the rise of hip-hop and really when the city was at its financial worst. It's about teens struggling with violence, drugs and gangs and trying to find solace in music and all that good stuff. — Justice Smith

Straight from the heart, I represent hip hop,
I be three albums deep, but I don't wanna go pop,
Too many candy rappers seem to be at the top,
Too much candy is no good, so now I'm closin the shop — Phife Dawg

Therefore, we read the Bible selectively. We pick a text here and there to fit our felt needs. This is like a doctor who forgets how to write prescriptions for the best antibiotics because every- body seems healthy, and he has spent the last decades tweaking good health with hip-hop exercise videos, unaware that pestilence is at the door. It's like the soldier who forgets how to use his weapons because the times seem peaceful, and he has spent the last decades doing relief work and teaching the children how to play games. — John Piper

The poor get worked, the rich get richer,
The world gets worse, do you get the picture?
The poor gets dead, the rich get depressed,
The ugly get mad, the pretty get stressed.
The ugly get violent, the pretty get gone,
The old get stiff, the young get stepped on.

Whoever told you that "it was all good" lied,
So throw your fists up if you not satisfied. — J-Live

It was very important, and I felt like music ran through my blood lines, with my father being a deejay and teaching me about records. I always thought vinyl was just intriguing. A black piece of wax that spins on a turntable and nothing but good sound comes from it. So that inspiration just keeps me going in hip-hop. — Pete Rock

Sunny days wouldn't be special, if it wasn't for rain. Joy wouldn't feel so good, if it wasn't for pain. Death gotta be easy, 'cause life is hard; It'll leave you physically, mentally, and emotionally scarred. — Curtis Jackson

If I focus on being an activist and my job is to be a rapper, I'm not going to be as good of a rapper. I need to focus on hip-hop and focus on making the music, so that when the activists come to me and they need my voice to create a platform, then I've got enough people listening to me. Not because I'm conscious, but because I'm dope. — Talib Kweli

In this lifetime, you got two things:
Bad and good, and ain't nothin' in between. — Cold 187um

Look you dead in the face
Now tell me how good does it taste — Rick Ross

I didn't really get that good at cutting because I didn't have those three years of gestating and nurturing my skills in the bedroom. I was kind of, like, out and playing in clubs after three of four months, because I was pushy with promoters. But I would just listen to the radio - Stretch Armstrong and Red Alert - and then I would go hang out with Mayhem, who did the WNYU hip-hop show. — Mark Ronson

If you wanna look good and not be bummy, girl you better give me that money
Aooow ... — Ol' Dirty Bastard

We have this really retro vibe and style of songwriting and, personally, I wasn't embracing the current state of music until I fell in love with hip-hop. It felt good to suddenly embrace where music was headed, and I think hip-hop is the best at that, because it feels so progressive and everybody wants to be the best. — Nate Ruess

Tell ya mama to stop flirtin' boy, I'm not a good step-pop.
I interrupt your little session ... and wreck shop. — Bumpy Knuckles

What worries me are these so-called radio stations with program directors who don't play all the different flavors of hip-hop. They should play the old with the new, 24/7, 365 days a year. A lot of these program directors are just jiving around and not playing all the good music for the people. — Afrika Bambaataa

I really like John Legend as an artist and as a person. As well as Lyfe Jennings. Jeezy is good people as well. I like to interview Nick Cannon. He always has something interesting to say. I still enjoy talking to Jay-Z or Nas which was weird since we had so much history. I also enjoyed talking to the Mayor of Detroit as politicians because they need to hear the hip hop side of the community that they don't hear from on a regular basis. — MC Serch

I think hip-hop does a very good job of infusing comedy and humor and wit into music, a lot more than other genres. — Carrie Brownstein

Comedy is the one absolutely self-aware art form. Actually, hip-hop's another one, I suppose. Because in your songs you're talking about how good a hip-hop artist you are. It's like a painter painting a panting of himself painting a painting. — Bo Burnham

Linkin Park has been a band for such a long time, for me, in my eyes. I was 16 years old when I first heard them. I heard 'Hybrid Theory,' and I was floored at what I was listening to. It was angry yet melodic, it had hip-hop and it had - it was just different, good. Good songwriting. — Austin Carlile

I think the greatest hip-hop artist of all time is Jay-Z, without a doubt. He just keeps amazing me with his performance, and since '96, that guy has been producing at least one hit every summer and every winter. That's a pretty good resume. — John Cena

The jazz I love is sweet and pure with raw elements, which is exactly what the good hip-hop is doing now. — Amy Winehouse

I feel like everything I do in the hip-hop world has an influence. People don't really notice what I did until somebody else does it. As far as hip-hop goes, I want to continue to make good music, and good art. I don't really follow the state of hip-hop. — ASAP Rocky

I am a big fan of music in general. I listen to all genres: hip-hop, R&B, whatever sounds good to me; it doesn't matter to me where it comes from - there are no boundaries, no fences. If I like it, then it will inspire me to create. — Stephen Marley

I really love hip hop. My cousin Nas came out with an album 'Life Is Good,' and I love that album, but I also love Maroon 5. — Yara Shahidi

They say the good die young, so the bad die old.
Guess we somewhere in the middle, so just pray for my soul. — Jon Connor

I know what I'm good at, and if I'm asked to do something I'm not - like hip-hop dancing - I get self-conscious. — Anton Du Beke

If we can sell out a venue that's just as big as this in Omaha, if we can sell out DePaul in Chicago tomorrow, which looks like it's going to happen for 1100 or 1200 people, then obviously everyone will know that we can affect between 700 to 1000 people at a time in damn near every city in America, then I think that's a good start. It also tells people, and gives them an example, how independent hip-hop is able to do this without gigantic corporate support. — Immortal Technique

Hip-hop and R&B are especially fertile bases of collaboration. It always makes good records and good music. — John Legend

I love hip-hop videos. It was not meant as disrespect. I used to watch those videos and think, "Are these guys kidding? They've got to be kidding!" But they're not and that in itself is what makes them good. — Chris Cunningham

Watch your attitude. I don't mean to sound like so much of an old head, but there is another generation behind me, out there, doing it now. I find that, with the whole hip-hop generation, there's a lot of attitude. Whether it's confidence or arrogance or whichever, I will always say to a young guy, "Nobody wants to work with an asshole." You know, you can still be a great player. You can still play all of the baddest licks in the world. But if you don't have a good attitude, nobody's going to work with you. — Christian McBride

A born terror, a rebel without a pause ...
Ain't never had a good Christmas, so who is Santa Claus? — Shyheim

Damn it feels good to see people up on it. — Biz Markie

Man, I feel like hip-hop is - first of all, not even only with just GOOD Music, I gotta say - I think hip-hop is still alive in a strong way, man. I feel really enthused about hip-hop. — Common

Hip-hop is when you have crowd participation; when you chant at the audience and they chant back at you; when you wave your hands in the air like you just don't care; or some breakdancing. Everything today is just low-beat, real bass-y, bass-y, good rap records. — Flavor Flav

The thing that's good about Hip Hop is that it has experimented with a lot of different sounds and music. — Afrika Bambaataa

I am learning how to dance hip-hop. I'm a good dancer when I dance salsa. — Stephanie Sigman

Homosexuality in hip-hop is an extension of homosexuality in the black community. The black community is very, very conservative when it comes to homosexuality, and I don't mean conservative in the good way, like we're saving money. I mean very intolerant. — Talib Kweli

All I see is sissies in magazines smiling ...
Whatever happened to wildin' out and being violent?
Whatever happened to catching a good, old-fashioned, passionate ass whoopin'?
And getting your shoes, coat and your hat tooken? — Eminem

I'm into hip-hop, rap, country, blues, gospel, old school, new school ... whatever ... pop. If it's really good, I like it. I don't have to be told what to listen to. If I like it and it's good, I'll listen to it. — Toby Keith

The objectification of females is not a good thing! Not every rapper does this, but when the lyrics focus solely on the strip club, 'poppin' bottles' and how many girls they can 'tap,' it distorts what kids are learning. I think if there was more of a female presence in hip hop we could break up the monotony. It's all about balance. — Queen Latifah

How good it made them feel, these well-meaning Upper West Side transplants, buying organic produce they didn't even have to wash from a handsome black man who would greet them with an exotic fist bump! An attractive, articulate chap, not unlike the young senator from Illinois they had just congratulated themselves for nominating, who would show the world that slavery was behind us and that we could appreciate Hip Hop. Yes! So many pretty boxes to check all at once! — Jade Chang

I wanna lie to you sometimes ... but I can't.
I wanna tell you that it's all good ... but it ain't. — Cee Lo Green

I don't understand why people make me want to make music that's a join-the-dots thing by numbers. I find it really difficult when people say, 'Aw, you should have made a really big hip hop record, that would have been really good for you' or, 'You should have made a song like Lily Allen, that would have been so great.' — M.I.A.

I'm real good at troubleshooting;
When there's trouble ... I start shooting. — Necro

Now success was like lust, she's good to the touch,
She's good for the moment, but she's never enough — Jay-Z

The cops drive by to do some more good deeds
A young black male spits a sunflower seed
in the air. — Dred Scott

Brain so good could've sworn you went to college — T.I.

A lot of MTV's programming is hip-hop based, and the messages are usually all about bling bling. A lot of hip-hop artists sing about stuff that's more important, but they seldom get heard. The ones who get heard are the ones saying, 'Think about yourself. Make your money. It's all you. Everybody have a good time and party.' — Daron Malakian