I think hip hop should be a living word. And what I mean by the living word is like yo, you gotta have the words that provide life.
It ain't this big I, little You. Music is to be shared. Music is not a hustle. [Hip hop's become] cultural stripmining [by the major labels]. Some people get into this music to make a killing but music is a way to make a living.
I believe hip hop is being used in some mass way to influence underachievement.
You don't wanna hear the truth, so I'ma lie to you...make it sound fly to you.
I wanna lie to you sometimes...but I can't. I wanna tell you that it's all good...but it ain't.
You've got to realize that the world's a test, You can only do your best and let Him do the rest. You've got your life, and got your health, So quit procrastinating and push it yourself.
From folk to tribal to Cab Calloway, Cole Porter, Gershwin to the Rolling Stones, whose first record was all covers, to country-western, bebop, blues, and even the referencing in classic hip hop to cliched love ballads of the '80s or whatever - that is kinda gone, and that's just terrifying to me.
Hip-hop and R&B is mostly what I listen to. I don't have a connection with punk rock - I just never had that experience.
Hip-hop is interesting, but American pop music doesn't have the kind of diversity that the UK does.
What I value most in new music today is strangeness, oddity. Passion. And humor. I listen to a lot of hip-hop because it combines so many things like that.
It's a lot different being a hip-hop artist. You just show up with a piece of paper with your words on it, say it in the mic, then you leave and some other guy does all the music.
At the end of the day, you want to be always the one that's one step ahead of everybody, and when it comes to hip-hop, culture and art, you want to be that signature guy.
If we actually supported these gay artists and pumped money behind them the same way they pump money behind these divas, a conversation of homophobia in hip hop wouldn't be. Because I would have the money and the revenue coming in. It's not about homophobia or who's going to push back. It's all about who's supporting you and where there's money from.
I love hip-hop, because you can do this like that and still be super successful! You ain't gotta hold your tongue.
Tell ya mama to stop flirtin' boy, I'm not a good step-pop. I interrupt your little session...and wreck shop.
I call wild niggas together like Cyrus, And knock off more birds than the West Nile Virus.
I'm actually a huge fan of hip-hop. I like hip-hop music. I love rap. I like cabaret music, as well. I just love live music and bands.
I listen to all kinds of songs. There's something to be learned from every type of music and from the one making it, whether it's pop or jazz or hip-hop.
The fabulous side of Taboo was dressing up and dancing like no one was watching you. There were no rules. You had Jeffrey Hinton playing every kind of music. It was like going back to when I used to deejay at Planet in '79, where you'd mix in nutty things like hip-hop or reggae or The Sound of Music [1965] or other film soundtracks - whatever.
All of a sudden it became that hip hop didn't used to be about partying; hip hop used to be about putting out a message.
I've been involved in a lot of different kinds of projects. I've been on straight hip hop tours. I've been on underground rock tours. I've been on multimillion selling rock shows. I've been in the jam band thing, and both commercial and underground hip hop. Very few people listen to one kind of music.
Million dollar deals in my email, you mad as hell you ain't CC'ed
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.
There's a lot of hip-hop that would be great with a banjo in it. It would just groove like crazy, and I hope I get to be one of the guys who does that, because it's coming. It's coming.
As far as hip-hop is concerned, I'm no expert and rarely think consciously about how I "represent" hip-hop.
