Real Rap Quotes & Sayings

Time is real, we can't rewind it ...
Out of everybody I met, who told the truth?
Time did. — Common

Real, rough and rugged, shine like a gold nugget,
Every time I pick up the microphone, I drug it. — Jeru The Damaja

I'm the bathroom master
I'm a real bowl blaster
Don't mess with me
'Cause I can mess it up faster
With just one flush
I can make a toilet gush
When my sister cleans it up
I just turn her to mush! — R.U. Slime

The roots of rap are originally ghetto-ised or extremely working class. So when you're an artist who's making something which isn't how its mainstream appearance should be, there's always these strange questions of authenticity and what you have to do to be 'real' as a rapper. — Zadie Smith

In my mind, not in real life. My rap name will be Optimus Rhymes. Or the Notorious B.o.B. — Bobby Moynihan

It's for real though, let's connect, politic ... ditto!
We could trade places, get lifted in the staircases,
Word up, peace, incarcerated scarfaces. — Raekwon

I got a funny feeling like something was real wrong ...
Looked at her shoes and her feets was real long!
Then it hit me, Oh please God no,
Don't let this ho turn out to be a John Doe ...
He pulled a fast one on me, yo! — Fatlip

The art of rap is deceptive. It seems so straightforward and personal and real that people read it completely literally, as raw testimony or autobiography. And sometimes the words we use, nigga, bitch, motherfucker, and the violence of the images overwhelms some listeners. It's all white noise to them till they hear a bitch or a nigga and then they run off yelling "See!" and feel vindicated in their narrow conception of what the music is about. — Jay-Z

Boosie is like the Lebron James when it comes to rapping, so you know if he feels it he's going in, and he gives 100 percent. — B-Real

Rap is the new rock 'n' roll. We the real rock stars, and I'm the biggest of all of them. I'm the No. 1 rock star on the planet. — Kanye West

Real slow hits from the bong ...
Make me feel like Cheech,
And I'm kickin' it with Chong. — B-Real

The literacy level at Mississippi prisons? Fifth grade. Can't read, what are you going to do? If you've got a conviction rap, what are you going to do? It's a real crisis. — Marian Wright Edelman

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

These niggaz ain't thugs, the real thugs is the government.
Don't matter if you Independent, Democrat or Republican,
Niggaz politickin' the street, get into beef,
Start blastin' ... now a new cat is executive chief. — Talib Kweli

The crowd response has always been great, we always have fun at the shows and we will definitely be back representing our album to give people entertainment with a stage show, most rap shows are boring. — B-Real

So many programs you watch on the sofa,
But the real program sit on top of your shoulders. — One Be Lo

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

I'm only 19 but my mind is older ...
When things get for real, my warm heart turns cold. — Prodigy

Rap is something you can just throw on the skillet and fry up real quick. That's how it comes to me, my train of thought. It's like getting dressed - I don't have to sit down and stare at clothes, I just pick what I like and put it on. But rock, you gotta put it in the oven and let it bake. — B.o.B

Real gs move in silence like lasagna. — Lil' Wayne

Every little boy wanna pick up the mic,
And try to run with the big boys and live up to the real hype.
But that's like pickin up a ball, playin with Mike,
Swingin at Ken Griffey or challengin' Roy to a fight. — LL Cool J

When you've been raised in care, rap music isn't just about guns and sexism. They're talking about real things you can hang on to, problems of identity that you have sympathy with. It's not just about the music, with rap: when I was in care, it meant a whole lot more than that. — Samantha Morton

Hip-hop is getting to the point now where they are going to start sounding like Al Jarreau or Bobby McFerrin or some of the other poets. Some of the better rappers can rap real fast without even melodies. It'll get to that same point. — George Clinton

That became the signature Ice-T style - rhymes that were "topical" and "vividly optical." To me it was street-level journalism, real-life observations told in poetry. That's the vision I tried to bring to all my recordings. — Ice-T

It's the principle of it, I get a rush when I bust
Some dope lines oral, that maybe somebody'll quote.
That's what I consider real in this field of music,
Instead of puttin' brain cells to work, they abuse it.
Non-conceptual, non-exceptional,
Everybody's either crime-related or sexual.
For those who pose lyrical, but really ain't true, I feel:
Their time's limited, hard rocks too. — O.C.

All I really want is a beat from Kanye West. I've met him, and I think he's real cool with us. If I get that beat, I'm going to rap the best verse I ever dropped - even if it's his worst beat. — Domo Genesis

I met some brothers out from Canada recently who are real cool people. They make Spanish-language music called Cold Blue and I met then at a Lat-Rap conference and they seem like real good peoples from Central America ... and that's what it is. It's just based on mutual respect. So when I meet people like that I'm like, "if y'all going to be real with me, I'm going to be real with y'all" and that's all it takes. — Immortal Technique

Life is real, reality is not a dream.
Those who chose to sleep ... I wake em up,
Cause you're sleepin with your mouth open hummin deez nuts. — King Sun

But this is one of the things that makes rap at its best so human. It doesn't force you to pretend to be only one thing or another, to be a saint or a sinner. It recognizes that you can be true to yourself and still have unexpected dimensions and opposing ideas. Having a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other is the most common thing in the world. The real bullshit is when you act like you don't have contradictions inside you, that you're so dull and unimaginative that your mind never changes or wanders into strange, unexpected places. — Jay-Z

When you're trying to bring the streets into rap to prove a point, then you already lost. You separate the two, and that ain't to be played with. You've got people that lost their lives and people that are doing real time. If we gon' make music, let's just make music. — Young Jeezy

We're still going to Loggerhead this afternoon, right?" Hi glanced around, then dropped his voice. "For that ... home movie thing?"
I nodded. "We might as well deal with what we can. Let's take the afternoon shuttle. I'll think of an excuse for Kit, thought I'm open to suggestions."
"Ben?" Shelton asked.
"Not today. I think the two of us need a little distance."
The bell rang. We gathered our things and headed for the door.
"Tell Kit we're cutting a music video," Hi suggested as we walked. "Something real gangster, so we need to smash-cut our dance routines. Lay down some visuals. We could offer to let him rap over the second verse."
I gave him a thumbs-up. "Foolproof. Anyone need a locker stop? — Kathy Reichs

We're feminists. We're doing something that only guys are expected to do and doin' it right! At our concerts we'll do one hard-core rap song and then do one where we'll be real sexy. — Cheryl James

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

Sawed off shotgun, hand on the pump
Left hand on a forty, puffin' on a blunt
Pumped my shotgun, niggas didn't jump ...
Lala la la lala la laaaa — B-Real

The much-maligned idle rich have received a bad rap: They have maintained their wealth while many There is scarcely an instance of a man who has made a fortune by speculation and kept it. Andrew Carnegie of the energetic rich, aggressive real estate operators, corporate acquirers, oil drillers, etc. have their fortunes disappear. — Warren Buffett

No one raps about food like I do. I rap about fine dishes - like, all kinds of things that only real chefs and real foodies are going to know about. — Action Bronson

How you know where I'm at when you haven't been where I've been?
Understand where I'm coming from? — B-Real

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

This guy! I plead the fifth. This guy is nuts."
- Eminem
"Dope questions, man. Very insightful, very thoughtful."
- Guru (Gang Starr)
"You like a Psychiatrist or some shit? This shit is just coming out but go ahead."
- Mary J. Blige
"Definitely a real interview! Digging deep up in there, man. Not afraid to ask questions!"
- K-Ci Hailey (Jodeci)
"The Wizard asked me for a copy of your magazine."
- Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (Daft Punk)
"You didn't wear your glasses and you haven't carried your hearing aid. What else is wrong with you?"
- Bushwick Bill
"Peace and blessing, Brother Harris. Thank you for inspiring my words. Keep 'yo balance."
- Erykah Badu
"Can I see that pen?"
- Bobby Brown
"What else do you want to know? Talk to me."
- Aaliyah — Harris Rosen

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

We used to have MTV and all these ways we can show our videos, and it was these rap shows, and it was everything. And then it became not cool to be conscious; it became cool to just hang out. Escapism rap became the norm. And, when I say "escapism rap", I mean getting high, get your cars, get your money, get your jewelry, go to the club, have your women, and it just became all about escaping your reality and not making your reality better on a real tip; not just on the have fun tip. — Ice Cube

I follow politics in a big way, and always have since I was a kid. I've got opinions, but they're opinions on both sides - not just anti-Republican, which is a real popular thing for a rap artist to do. If you dis Republicans, nobody will get mad. I think the two-party system sucks. It's absolutely ignorant. — Sir Mix-a-Lot

My name came from me wanting a 'double-letter' artist name. In search of the ultimate L-word to put in front of my real name Luke, I heard Snoop Dogg rapping in Gin and Juice 'Laaaaiiidbackk ... ' and I was sold! — Laidback Luke

Yeah, I was a brother on the streets of Compton doing a lot of things most people look down on but it did pay off. Then we started rapping about real stuff that shook up the LAPD and the FBI. But we got our message across big time, and everyone in America started paying attention to the boys in the hood. — Eazy-E

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