T.i.p Rapper Quotes & Sayings

I don't really have control over my direct impression on people anymore. I used to be the person putting my CD in people's hands. But I'm kind of a mainstream artist now. Not by choice. — Chance The Rapper

I'm on the front line and I am a rapper. — Ice-T

I mean everything's a lot more smoother. It's just calm. IN the beginning, I had the typical attitude of a young rapper makin money ... ya know I was the partyin guy ... I was the guy wit the girls ... all the extra that came wit the game ... it's up to the artist to know when to say when. You can't live that kind of lifestyle forever ... I learn from the other people's mistake. I know when to say no. You learn to make the right decisions and pick the right choices. That's all that's really changed. — The Notorious B.I.G.

Williamson Starr doesn't use slang - if a rapper would say it, she doesn't say it, even if her white friends do. Slang makes them cool. Slang makes her "hood". Williamson Starr holds her tongue when people piss her off so nobody will think she's the "angry black girl". Williamson Starr is approachable. No stank-eyes, none of that. Williamson Starr is no confrontational. Basically, Williamson Starr doesn't give anyone a reason to call her ghetto.
I can't stand myself for doing it, but I do it anyway. — Angie Thomas

I didn't get that power from gunz..coz there's no gunz in jail..I got that power from books and from thinking and strategizing ... That's what I want little niggaz to see. — Tupac Shakur

Dont blame me, I was given this world, I didn't make it. — Tupac Shakur

I don't really like to write anywhere but my own apartment. I send a lot of text messages to myself as email when I'm not at home. My texts are usually like, "If I ever break up with my boyfriend I want to date a very angry rapper." — Chelsea Martin

Black Mafia. If they don't understand that, they ain't gangsta. I just watched TV and Bill Parcells kissed two or three of them boys ... it's a Mafia thing. — Lil' Wayne

I usually travel with a posse. I roll deep. I travel like a rapper, but without the artillery. We don't carry guns, we carry cookies. — Gabriel Iglesias

One day I'm gonna bust, blow up on this society, why did you lie to me, I couldn't find a trace of humanity. — Tupac Shakur

I didn't introduce thug life to America. Thug life is America. I don't get why the whole world is fearing me. I am scared, but so are they. It's like I am having a panic attack cause I have 15,000 people wanting to do what I want, listing to everything I say. — Tupac Shakur

When it came to hip-hop ... I don't know. Maybe I was insecure. You know, this is the early '90s. If you were a white guy, and you were rapping, that wasn't as accepted yet. I was scared of the quiet Northeast suburbs, so I couldn't embrace my full rapper self. — Charlie Day

I am a gangsta, Ms. Katie. I don't take nothing from no one. I do what I wanna do. — Lil' Wayne

I like getting my own thoughts out right now, I have fans to solidify, so that's why I don't do tracks with too many younger rappers or newer artists. People may consider me to be a music snob or whatever, but I like to preserve what's mine and I also don't just do tracks to do tracks, I make every song with a purpose. — Drake

I don't know how to be a rapper. I just know how to be me. — Young Jeezy

As a rapper, I feel like image is always important but even more so than image, I really love clothes, that's why I don't use stylists. I want to do it myself because I really love it. — Kanye West

I'm a real gangster rapper and I'm a rapper. I just think my music takes different directions. I don't think you can pigeon hole me in one genre. I'm probably the most versatile in the game, period. — Freddie Gibbs

The bottom line is, if every single platinum song right now wasn't auto-tuned, then I would be like, "I can't be a rapper." — Spencer Pratt

I'm not an aspiring rapper, I'm not a gang member, I'm not a dope dealer, I don't have multiple babies momma's. I am an American by choice, I am a son, I am a brother, I am a military service member, I am a man who has lost complete faith in the system, when the system betrayed, slandered, and libeled me. I lived a good life and though not a religious man I always stuck to my own personal code of ethics, ethos and always stuck to my shoreline and true North. I didn't need the US Navy to instill Honor, Courage, and Commitment in me but I thank them for re-enforcing it. It's in my DNA. — Christopher Dorner

Well, for the transition from rapper to actor, I was fortunate that director John Singleton pursued me for about two years to be in Boyz 'N the Hood. I really wasn't even thinking about acting at the time, since I was singularly focused on being the best rapper in the world. So, that was really a blessing, because I wasn't really taking him seriously. — Ice Cube

There was a time in the '90s where, as an African-American man, you had to be a misogynistic R&B star or a rapper, and I didn't fit into either one of those. I was advised by my label to remain closeted at that time. — Billy Porter

It's different, it's weird to say, 'She's a white rapper or she can't do this because she's this color - this color does this thing. These are the boxes we have, this is what it is, don't try to change it.' And it's crazy to me because I'm just not from that world, so I can't really rock with it all the way. — Iggy Azalea

If I don't win, the award show loses credibility. — Kanye West

I just kinda do what I feel. I never knew what lane I would fill, [or that] I would fill a lane at all. I didn't even really contemplate that far down the road. I just started having fun, and a lot of that came from me seeing Wayne dare to be different, and I started feeling like I can be a multifaceted rapper. I don't have to be a one-dimensional female rapper. Once I put that in perspective, it was like everything just got easier for me, because I no longer wanted to fit in anybody's box ... I just wanted to be Nicki. — Nicki Minaj

I change my direction, I can't even help it. It's sort of like the fortune and misfortune of being a rapper. — Doseone

Can't nobody touch me right now. Maybe next month all of this will be over. But this month I'm takin' every movin' target out. — Tupac Shakur

I was only 11 when we filmed the pilot. The idea of a rapper being a star on a sitcom just wasn't heard of. — Tatyana Ali

Gucci is a rapper that doesn't try and be anything he's not - he's straight up. Yeah, maybe it's ironic and all, but I'm just a fan and have been one since day one. Gucci Mane is the cool uncle I never had, even though I'm sure I'm probably older than him. — Diplo

I got to meet a lot of cool people [on the Voice], and my favorite part about the experience was getting to sit around and do little jam sessions in the hotel. We were pretty much in lockdown at the hotel in downtown Los Angeles, and there wasn't much to do. It was interesting to be in a room with someone that was a rapper next to me, a country artist, then you have someone playing a song on the keyboard, and it was just really cool as just a random ensemble. — Curtis Grimes

I've never met Eminem; you don't meet Eminem. He has his own secret service. — Chance The Rapper

I smoke blunt to take the pain out and if I wasn't high I'd probably blow my brains out. — Tupac Shakur

I'm just disillusioned with the hip-hop sound right now. It's too materialistic. You know, I'm the kind of guy ... I can't do that. If you track my movement, you'll never see a picture of me with any girl that wasn't mine, or my own car. My jewelry, my clothes. What kind of gangsta rapper has a stylist? A stylist?! — Ice-T

I'm a rapper ... Gaga's a fantastic artist, you know, she paved her way. She's opened her own lane. But I think that I have my own lane. And we never cross. Ever. So, you know, I really don't get the comparison anymore. Our music doesn't sound the same. Our stage presence is not the same. I just can't see the similarities. — Nicki Minaj

You can't run game on a rapper. I'm always 10 steps ahead of you. — Nicki Minaj

I don't know where people think I'm from, but I'm from Chicago. It's really just that. People wanna romanticize it and say, 'There's two sides to it, and it's a beautiful love/hate story of violence and music.' But it's really just a very scummy place where people don't have respect for other people's lives. — Chance The Rapper

I heard a rumor I died, Murdered in cold blood dramatized, Pictures of me in my final state, You know mama cried, But that was fiction, Some coward got the story twisted, Like I no longer existed, Mysteriously missin', I'm known worldwide baby, I ain't hard to find. — Tupac Shakur

Though are hands are chained like they are, they haven't taken music from us yet. So that's how I'll fight. People tell me don't quit like everyone else. I wont have no fear. — Tupac Shakur

I don't consider myself a gangsta rapper. But I'm probably more qualified to be a gangsta rapper than people who call themselves that. I've been through that life. — Coolio

I don't recall being excited about a new rapper, ever. — DMX

Because I first made my name as a rapper claiming South Central L.A., people often assume I'm strictly a West Coast cat. But my family was actually from back East. I was born in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in Summit, an upscale town in north Jersey. — Ice-T

KRS-One is one of my favorite rappers ever. I actually don't even know why I have this on my computer, but I do. I really like this album, Criminal Minded. — Girl Talk

I ain't racist but lets trade places. — Tupac Shakur

I don't think I'm good, I don't think I'm a good rapper. I think a lot of people always want me to battle somebody and stuff like that which is cool, but I don't see myself as a rapper. — Donald Glover

I ain't a rapper; I'm a motivational speaker. I don't do shows; I do seminars. I really talk to people. — Young Jeezy

I want to be great at what I do. I don't want to be just an average rapper. — Rapsody

Rap is my most used medium but I don't think I approach music like a rapper would. — Hoodie Allen

Common is one of the nicest people I've ever met, and to describe him as a vile rapper because he has an opinion ... just says a lot about the state of America. You are allowed to have an opinion in the United States - he's never harmed anybody, he just has an opinion about a president that wasn't good for our country. — Jill Scott

My freestyling ability is nonexistent. I can't even write a verse if I tried to sit anywhere and write one. Being a good rapper is hard to do. I'm a good Rapaport, but that's about it. — Michael Rapaport

I feel bad [about Lil Wayne going to jail], because I don't think anything like this has happened in music since Elvis got drafted into the Army. Let's just keep it real - Lil Wayne is not just the biggest rapper, Lil Wayne is the biggest pop star right now. Maybe Susan Boyle is on his level. But when you talk about music, nice times out of ten, Lil Wayne's name is gonna come into the conversation. — Bun B.

I would not consider myself to be a quote unquote real New York rapper. I don't even like New York rappers. — ASAP Rocky

There has been an effect of business rap on the output of today's rap music. But I don't think that's the modern day rapper's fault. — M.I.A.

I feel like a lot of people in the hip hop world don't take me seriously as a rapper, and I feel that first-and-foremost I came up as a rapper before I started singing. All a lot of people know from me is 'Cupid's Chokehold,' and they don't scratch the surface and see beyond that dude who sings the song about his girlfriend. — Travie McCoy

Just because a rapper is white, I don't feel the need to attack them. — Yelawolf

Why can't rappers just say nice things? Like I wanna take your clothes off and hang them up in the closet real nice. — Ellen DeGeneres

When I wanted to be professionally known as a rapper I said I wanna take the moniker Gucci Mane. But all the people in my hood, not even my closest friends but everybody in Atlanta, calls me Guwop. I didn't start it. I can't put my finger on how it spread. I know it started from my boys but then everybody who I collaborate picked up on it and they'd say it to me. — Gucci Mane

I've got a million people telling me why I can't do it. You know, that I'm not a real designer, that I'm not this. I'm not a real rapper, either! — Kanye West

I mean people are sexist and racist and homophobic and violent. But I don't think of the rappers as being any more sexist or racist or homophobic than their parents. Certainly less, in all those cases, less homophobic or racist or sexist, and then less gangster than our government. It's stuff that people normally don't speak on, subjects they don't speak on, and ideas they kind of keep to themselves. — Russell Simmons

I'm a prince for real, I don't look at myself as a rapper, as a gangster, none of that. — Cyhi The Prynce

In kindergarten I had to draw a picture of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I drew a rapper. I didn't really know what a rapper was or what they did - I just wanted to do it. — B.o.B

I think it would be different to work with a guy like Kanye West or Jay-Z, those guys are so phenomenal, but just to work with a rapper, I don't think is really my thing. I really like songs, like true songs. Like indie songs. — Tiesto

Lets be clear, Dolly Parton is a rapper. Somewhere before all the country, I don't know what happens up there in the mountains when you're growing up, but she has been spitting rhymes for a very long time - 50 years I'd say. — Queen Latifah

I think artists should be able to do different things whenever they want and I like the way I am. I'm like - I ain't gonna say the only street rapper, but the only mainstream, new, young street rapper there is right now and I'm doing well with it. — Meek Mill

You can have a phenomenal booth artist and he can get in there and be a technician in the booth and it won't translate on the stage. I think that's what makes emcees emcees. Some rapper dudes are great rappers but it don't translate on stage. — Joell Ortiz

You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named "Bush", "Dick", and "Colin." Need I say more? — Chris Rock

It wasn't until I left that I realised it's not weird to grow up in certain cities and, by the age of 27 or 28, for all of your friends to still be alive. I can think of a lot of kids that I knew in Chicago who were supposed to grow up but didn't. — Chance The Rapper

Eminem was the biggest rapper in the world, but I didn't know Eminem and I didn't know anybody who knew Eminem. — Big Sean

I grew up in the '90s. My goal isn't to be a '90s rapper, but I have little hints of '90s influence in my music. It's a modern approach to classic rap. — Action Bronson

Nas always been my favorite rapper, but 50 Cent, he changed my way of thinking about music 'cause he was so detailed in his music, I knew that wasn't lying. I never felt Tupac that way; I never felt Biggie that way. I love Nas music, but I never felt and believed like, 'This is for real.' 'Cause I grew up that gangsta lifestyle. — Schoolboy Q

I think that's a weak excuse, to say because a rapper's getting older that he ain't got it no more. Nah. Don't go by that philosophy. Let's just recognize that talent is within. — Raekwon

As a kid, I liked to write, but I didn't think that was a viable career choice. My dream, actually, was to be a white girl rapper and join Salt-N-Pepa - which obviously was a much more viable career choice. — Karen Abbott

I've been around a lot longer than most rappers stay around. So I don't feel like, I haven't made too many career mistakes. — Ice Cube

Set foot in his classroom, and you'll see that he hasn't quite given up on these dreams. True to his compulsive nature and eclectic taste, he punctuates his courses with entertaining routines to keep his students engaged, playing four songs at the start of each class and tossing candy bars to the first students who shout out the correct answers to music trivia. This is how a poster of a rapper ended up on his wall. "If you want to engage your audience, if you really want to grab their attention, you have to know the world they live in, the music they listen to, the movies they watch," he explains. "To most of these kids, accounting is like a root canal. But when they hear me quote Usher or Cee Lo Green, they say to themselves, 'Whoa, did that fat old white-haired guy just say what I thought he said?' And then you've got 'em. — Adam M. Grant

I wouldn't even say that I'm a rapper. I'd say I'm more of a messenger. — Kanye West

I wouldn't call and tell anybody on him, but I'd probably move. But I'm not gonna call and be like, 'The serial killer's in 4E.' — Cam'ron

It's funny, I don't even consider myself a rapper, I don't consider myself a designer, or even an actor. I just like creating stuff and trying to make good work, whatever it is. I don't care if it's designing toothbrushes. It's just making cool stuff to leave behind, that's all it is, it's nothing more. — Andre Benjamin

Because hip-hop has no requirements, you deal with people that have the least intelligence on the planet. Some of the people that compare themselves to me, compare themselves to me because they rap and I rap. They can't even read the contracts that they sign to be a rapper, to do the deal. — Curtis Jackson

I feel like ... I don't have a wife, I don't have a kids, but ... I see rappers and I'm like, I know that's fake. I know how much you make, this is all bullshit. But people are buying into it, and you shouldn't have that power. I'm legit trying to make honest moves so that all of us can grow. I want to make a show where my sister can work on and become a producer because she can't get in, no one's leting her. I want to make things where people can actually grow. A place where people can actually be honest. — Donald Glover

I think it's so dope that I'm here in Chicago and contributing to the music scene that's thriving. People are so happy Chicago's shining that everyone is willing to say 'I represent Chicago.' That wasn't always the case. — Chance The Rapper

Work som', twerk som' basis. She just tryna make it so she's right here gettin naked. I don't judge her-I don't judge her. But I could never love her cause to her I'm just a rapper and soon she'll have met another. — Drake

Jay-Z's my favorite rapper, but why can't I aspire to be better than him? — Wale

I constantly think as an artist, as a rapper of what are the stories you want to tell? They can't all be, "I'm ill, I'm fresh, look at me, I have money." At some point, when you have an audience for it, there are stories that need to be told. — Himanshu Suri

Don't respect a lot of rappers, feel I had a harder life — Kevin Gates

I'm tired of being a nice guy, I've been poor all my life, but don't know quite why. — Tupac Shakur

If I was with some other rappers who aren't as polished, or I was the only rapper, I don't think I would be where I'm, nor would I be rapping. They pushed me, we pushed each other on every record. — Schoolboy Q

I consider myself to be an entertainer, given that I'm most known as MGK "the rapper" I don't have a problem with the label, I just want the people to know that I am much more than that. — Machine Gun Kelly

I don't want to do one of those records where it's like a compilation of a bunch of all sorts of rappers on my beats. I don't find those to be focused albums. I'd like to sit and work a whole record with a certain person, to come up with a concept and see it through that way. — Flying Lotus

I've never been the straight rapper that is going to stand in a cipher and battle all day. I started off battle rapping, but to me, making songs became more important than freestyles ... I've met many rappers who can freestyle but can't make a record. — Queen Latifah

I said it in the beginning. That I was gonna take them niggaz out the game and sure enough I will. Already people can't look at Biggie and not laugh. — Tupac Shakur

When I grew up I saw females doing certain things, and I thought I had to do that exactly. The female rappers of my day spoke about sex a lot ... and I thought that to have the success they got, I would have to represent the same thing. When in fact I didn't have to represent the same thing. — Nicki Minaj

I don't bang for the color or the land. I bang for the principles and for the honor. I'm bangin' for the Westside- this is in my heart, this is how I feel. — Tupac Shakur

I try to get the hip-hop aesthetic, most times without an MC. I don't use a rapper or a DJ to give it the hip-hop style; it's strictly the band that makes that music, which is a lot harder to do. — Robert Glasper

I don't mind being called a weirdo. There are a lot of people in hip-hop who are probably never going to get what I do. But, by just being myself, I end up touching a lot more people who might never have paid much attention to a female rapper. — Nicki Minaj

As a rapper, I don't freestyle. I used to freestyle when I used to get drunk, and it didn't matter. — Andre Benjamin

Yellow M&M's don't move with green M&M's. I mean, you don't put M&M's peanuts with M&M's plain. — Tupac Shakur

On 'Old School,' I was not an actor, I was Snoop Dogg, so I came to the set with a whole different vibe, and a different crew of people. And on 'Starsky and Hutch,' I was more of an actor. I wasn't Snoop Dogg, the rapper. — Snoop Dogg

Why isn't it hip-hop when I do it? Everybody else can have beef within the music, talk about differences and it's ok. It's music, it's hip-hop, it's ground breaking. When I do it, it's war. — Tupac Shakur

Everyone wants to label me, but I don't want to be labeled as a rapper or a movie actor. — Riff Raff

A good rapper is a good rapper, a good album is a good album. I don't think anyone is inherently good. — El-P

I don't even like New York rappers. — ASAP Rocky

Bury me smilin' with G's in my pocket, Have a party at my funeral let every rapper rock it Let the hoes that I used to know, from way before Kiss me from my head to my toe, Gimme a paper and pen so I can write about my life of sin, Couple bottles of gin, in case I don't get in ... — Tupac Shakur