Great Hip Hop Quotes

I don't know enough about hip-hop, though I've heard some great hip-hop. I just did a thing with Qwest Love - we did a performance together in Memphis at the Folk Alliance Festival, and we had a great jam and a conversation. ~ Bela Fleck

Rappers use words that rhymes, But When Lil Wayne Used Rhymes They don't really mean nothing. ~ Kadda Sheekoff

Better believe that, whenever I see y'all I'ma test ya
Only cause I know that faggots respect pressure ~ Jadakiss

Times were changing in the world of id. They had finally fired Jason, narrowing the group to Carmack, Romero, Adrian, and Tom. But something else was in the air. The Reagan-Bush era was finally coming to a close and a new spirit rising. It began in Seattle, where a sloppily dressed grunge rock trio called Nirvana ousted Michael Jackson from the top of the pop charts with their album Nevermind. Soon grunge and hip-hop were dominating the world with more brutal and honest views. Id was braced to do for games what those artists had done for music: overthrow the status quo. Games until this point had been ruled by their own equivalent of pop, in the form of Mario and Pac-Man. Unlike music, the software industry had never experienced anything as rebellious as Wolfenstein 3-D. The ~ David Kushner

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 wanna make my imprint in the game as far as music - hip-hop, and just music, period. 'Cause I come from hip-hop, that's my background, but I'm not gonna let that limit me from where I can go. ~ Nayvadius Cash

It taught me that it is easier to be an insider as an outsider than to be an outsider as an insider. If a white guy chooses to immerse himself in hip-hop culture and only hang out with black people, black people will say, "Cool, white guy. Do what you need to do." If a black guy chooses to button up his blackness to live among white people and play lots of golf, white people will say, "Fine. I like Brian. He's safe." But try being a black person who immerses himself in white culture while still living in the black community. Try being a white person who adopts the trappings of black culture while still living in the white community. ~ Trevor Noah

Just like that. Gone forever. They will not grow old together. They will never live on a beach by the sea, their hair turned white, dancing in a living room to Billie Holiday or Nat Cole. They will not enter a New York club at midnight and show the poor hip-hop fools how to dance. They will not chuckle together over the endless folly of the world, its vanities and stupid ambitions. They will not hug each other in any chilly New York dawn.
Oh, Mary Lou.
My baby.
My love. ~ Pete Hamill

I realized how far-reaching the effect of hip hop was when I walked by a jewelry store named Bling in a small, rural town in France. Hip hop has made a huge impact on urban culture. Yet many brands still don't speak to young people in a tone and manner that's representative of them. ~ Steve Stoute

I like them brown, yellow, Puerto Rican, or Haitian
Name is Phife Dawg from the Zulu nation ~ Phife Dawg

Hip Hop can be a very effective way to reach young people and teach them about current political and social issues. ~ Assata Shakur

I think the rap community always tells the truth. And I think that it's important that we listen to their voices so we can have a roadmap, because artists - almost every single artist in hip-hop, they paint a picture of society that's overlooked. The misogyny, the racism, the violence, the homophobia, these are things that we try to avoid instead of dealing with. All of that I see it so often. ~ Russell Simmons

There's always going to be space for battle in hip hop. For competition. It's just an inseparable part of the game. ~ Nas

Hip hop's got 30 years of history and we wanted to show that. A lot of us grew up with it. ~ Axel Alonso

The Devil crept into Heaven, God overslept on the 7th,
The New World Order was born on September 11. ~ Immortal Technique

When we moved to England in 1986, I was ten years old and I didn't know anything about punk or hip hop. The only words I knew in English were 'dance' and 'Michael Jackson.' We got put in a flat in Mitchum, and the council gave us second hand furniture, second hand clothes and a second hand radio that I took to bed with me every night. ~ M.I.A.

Been there, done that
Sold crack, got jacked
Got shot, came back
Jumped on Dre's back! ~ Jayceon Terrell Taylor

I grew up listening to Tupac, Biggie and other hip hop artists in the 90s. To this day, their music is still some of my favorite. ~ Michael Isabella

I grew up in Chicago, so hip-hop has always been a part of my life. ~ Gina Rodriguez

I have a very family-like connection to hip-hop, which is why it frustrates me so much. ~ Saul Williams

I think hip-hop can be prophetic and progressive, and at the same time, the dominant forms tend to be homophobic, misogynistic and something that we need to critically call into question. ~ Cornel West

So lovers of life, don't keep your hopes up high.
Why? Cause it's just a matter of time before it's your turn to die.
But until then, when you stop breathin',
It's time to stand up and fight for what you believe in! ~ Kirk Jones

I never boned a honey that I didn't like,
I never saw a mile that I couldn't hike.
I never had a spliff to make me choke,
I never had a pocket that was broke. ~ Dres

That's what my music ... I'm working on a solo record right now, it's gonna be more hip-hop than anything, like electronic hip-hop, futuristic hip-hop. I'm probably gonna be rapping on it. ~ Alan Vega

I'd rather make one righteous dollar on my level
Than make a million dollars spittin' rhymes for the devil. ~ KRS-One

I loved hip-hop. The first stuff I heard was Public Enemy, and I couldn't believe it. It was amazing, and I've always loved hip-hop. ~ Joaquin Phoenix

Back in the days when I was young I'm not a kid anymore
But some days I sit and wish I was a kid again ~ Ahmad

Hip-hop music was something I grew up with, it was something that I loved since I was a little kid, and it's something that I chose to partake in an early age. ~ Ryan Lewis

They tell me 'find God' like I don't know where He at.
And if He lost, then why we followin' Him?
Just acknowledge the fact that a Father exists,
And a Devil's alive ... I'm just caught in the mix. ~ Fashawn

My graffiti really comes more from a May '68, sort of Situationist vibe than the hip-hop world. I think a real graffiti artist would find me a poser. ~ Mike Mills

I think there's too much of the wrong type of influences that stem from hip-hop. ~ Vince Staples

Wrestling has grown so big ... it's almost a culture. And it's a culture of all types of vibes, just like hip-hop has all kinds of vibes and rap has all kinds of vibes. ~ Jam Master Jay

Hip-hop ain't died because of the South, that's retarded. ~ Nas

I'm at the round table, where your seat at?
Where your plate, where your lobster, where your sea bass? ~ Gunplay

Nowadays, you gots ta walk the street and watch your back,
Cause brothers with the gats don't be knowin' how to act. ~ Shyheim

I'm so sick of hearing that U.K. hip hop doesn't get credit and success when I'm working to get it - for me and for others, too. ~ Estelle

Hip-hop, this thing we love that loves us back, is our lingua franca. ~ Raquel Cepeda

To be hip-hop is much more than just rapping in the production. It is more in the attitude. ~ Questlove

Hip-hop is bigger than the South; hip-hop is bigger than New York. ~ Nas

Hip hop is still strong. As an art form, music helps people express themselves, find meaning in their own lives and connect with their tribes. ~ Erik Parker

I thank God for Hip Hop because Marvin Gaye didn't have that and he was able to be that dope. For us to have that and more, I feel like it is up to us to be as dope as we can possibly be. ~ B.J. The Chicago Kid

Hip-hop is about the brilliance of pavement poetry. ~ Michael Eric Dyson

Rap is not pop. If you call it that, then stop. ~ Q-Tip