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 closing the shop. — Phife Dawg
The thing about hip-hop is they always want to classify you as one particular artist, but hip-hop is about going outside the box and expressing yourself however you want to. — Kendrick Lamar
Hip-hop is supposed to uplift and create, to educate people on a larger level and to make a change. — Doug E. Fresh
Nowadays rap artists coming half-hearted,
Commercial like pop, or underground like black markets.
Where were you the day hip-hop died?
Is it too early to mourn? Is it too late to ride? — Talib Kweli
Rap is something you do Hip Hop is something you live — KRS-One
Well, hip-hop is what makes the world go around. — Snoop Dogg
Hip-hop is universal now, it's all commercial now.
It's like a circle full of circus clowns up in the circuit now. — Eminem
How you act, walk, look and talk is all part of Hip Hop culture. And the music is colorless. Hip Hop music is made from Black, brown, yellow, red and white. — Afrika Bambaataa
Rap is a gimmick, but I'm for the hip-hop, the culture. — Method Man
I'm mostly concentrating now on continuing to make history in Hip-Hop, making everybody proud of me, I'm not just a rapper now, I'm in history now. — Big Pun
Hip-hop don't have no fresh energy, none at all. It's money driven, everybody tryin' to make that cheque, nobody putting art in their albums any more. — Andre Benjamin
Hip-hop is definitely not what it used to be, which was creative, original music. — Missy Elliot
I have considered rap music stars, and there is one in my new book, Lovers and Players, and there is also a hip-hop music mogul who I think you will like a lot. — Jackie Collins
Hip-hop culture is deeply rooted in the wrong things. Hip-hop is about drugs right now. It's more so about drugs - about selling drugs, about using drugs - it's bad for kids. — Vince Staples
Hip-hop has done more damage to black and brown people than racism in the last 10 years. — Geraldo Rivera
Short Hip Hop Artist Quotes
Hip-hop educated me about other forms of music, because it sampled from all different styles. — Aloe Blacc
If Hip Hop has the ability to corrupt young minds, it also has the ability to Uplift them. — KRS-One
Rap is rhythm and poetry. Hip-hop is storytelling and poetry as well. — Ajay Naidu
I be more hipper than a hippopotamus
Get off in your head like a neurologist — E-40
The principles of true hip-hop have been forsaken,
It's all contractual and about money makin'. — Black Thought
I wanna be selective... very selective. Right now, hip-hop's very boring to me. It's no excitement. — Timbaland
I'm a big fan of all styles, even Biggie and Wu-Tang, but I gotta do my thing. — Ice T
I like them brown, yellow, Puerto Rican, or Haitian
Name is Phife Dawg from the Zulu nation. — Phife Dawg
Chance the Rapper' is many things. I'm constantly evolving. — Chance the Rapper
No artist tolerates reality.
Hip Hop Music Quotes
Hip is to know, it's a form of intelligence. To be hip is to be update and relevant. Hop is a form of movement, you can't just observe a hop, you gotta hop up and do it. Hip and hop is more than music
Hip is the Knowledge, hop is the Movement. Hip and Hop is Intelligent movement — KRS-One
I'm just an addict, addicted to music
Maybe it's a habit...I gotta use it. — Rakim
There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.
Hip hop music is important precisely because it sheds light on contemporary politics, history, and race. At its best, hip hop gives voice to marginal black youth we are not used to hearing from on such topics. — Michael Eric Dyson
I got the best of Jesus. He got the worst of me. — LeCrae
I was the only punk rocker at my high school. And there were at least a handful of black kids who liked hip-hop. Both were kind of the new music of the day, and it was lonely being the only punk. — Rick Rubin
A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who ispires others.
My opinion is that music is music. As long as you approach doing a remix with truth, I don't see the dance remixes being any different than an hip-hop remix- it's really a different version of the song. — Deborah Cox
The beautiful thing about hip-hop is it's like an audio collage. You can take any form of music and do it in a hip-hop way and it'll be a hip-hop song. That's the only music you can do that with. — Talib Kweli
I heard Q-Tip on the Jungle Brothers' song 'The Promo.' It was very exciting. It was very new. The music and the culture around hip-hop was evolving. I think there's an emotional quality to their music and there's a vulnerability to the music. For me, A Tribe Called Quest was my Beatles. — Michael Rapaport
A wolf is no less a wolf because he's dressed in sheepskin and the devil is no less the devil because he's dressed as an angel. — LeCrae
Rap Artist Quotes
It seems other rap artists are trying to follow a "tradition", or something... I don't consider us [Migos] as weirdos, we just went the other way and didn't follow the rap tradition. We just killed it and made it our tradition. — Quavo
On 139 and Lenox Ave there's a big park, and if you're soft don't go through it when it gets dark — Big L
I get physical, mystical, very artistical...
Giving party people something funky to listen to. — Big Daddy Kane
Every artist was first an amateur.
He was not hip-hop's most gifted emcee. Still, Shakur may be the most influential and compelling rapper of them all, he was more than the sum of his artistic parts. — Michael Eric Dyson
I think I'm pretty regular. I try to keep it pretty regular; I go to sleep early. I don't know what distances me from other rap artists - I haven't met a lot of 'em. — Vince Staples
Be doin artists in like Cain did Abel,
Now they money's gettin stuck to the gum under the table. — GZA
I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.
I'm caught up in the system where the blind lead the blind
And this artist only speaks on the Signs of the Time.
And I pop pills in Purple Rain to state my pain,
They say I'm just like my father, bold and too cold. — Beanie Sigel
I would challenge more hip hop artists that are rapping about what it`s like to be real and the social ills that we face, if you aren`t backing Bernie Sanders, I have to question your credibility in terms of do you mean the songs you`re writing. — Killer Mike
You could be Top 5 on iTunes, but for people to buy an album, they've got to have a connection with an artist. Every time I bought someone's album, it was about the connection. I was loving everything, from their raps to their style. I wanted to meet them. — Meek Mill
Even though Prince wasn't rapping and it was a whole different era, it shows how artists expressed themselves without saying too much, and that was the real beauty of the art. — Tyga
Hip-hop Quotes
Everything will eventually come to an end,
So try to savor the moment, cause time flies, don't it?
The beauty of life, you gotta make it last for the better,
Cause nothin' lasts forever. — Nas
What you base your happiness around?
Material, women, and large paper?
That means you inferior, not major. — Nas
If the truth is told, the youth can grow
Then learn to survive until they gain control
Nobody says you have to be gangstas, hoes
Read more learn more, change the globe — Nas
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist
Look inside my soul and you can find gold and maybe get rich. Look inside of your soul and you can find out it never exists. — Kendrick Lamar
And I'm not sure why I'm infatuated with death,
My imagination is surely an aggravation of threats...
Maybe cause I'm a dreamer, and sleep is the cousin of death,
Really stuck in the scheme of wondering when I'mma rest. — Kendrick Lamar
I gotta make a move, I gotta do this now,
If they don't know your dreams, they can't shoot 'em down. — J. Cole
Forget yesterday, live for today. Tomorrow will take care of itself. — Rick Ross
Your whole appearance is a lie and it could never be true.
And if you really loved yourself, then you would try and be you. — Phife Dawg
So when the devil wants to dance with you, you better say never,
Because the dance with the devil might last you forever. — Immortal Technique
Regardless of how it goes down, life goes on. — Rick Ross
Hip Hop Quotes
Bikinis, zucchinis, martinis
No weenies. — Snoop Dogg
You lose money chasing women, never lose women chasing money... — Nas
Now here's a funky introduction of how nice I am
Tell your mother, tell your father, send a telegram. — Phife Dawg
Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist.
Beauty isn't about having a pretty face it's about having a pretty mind, a pretty heart, and a pretty soul. — Unknown Author
We could fight the fuss till we get like friends,
Or somebody bite the dust and we split like ends.
Even in our wildest moments, girl, I'm on it cause you're worth it.
Practice makes perfect, so we fightin' for a purpose. — ASAP Rocky
I am a hard person to love but when I love, I love really hard. — Tupac Shakur
No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did he would cease to be an artist.
Some seek fame cause they need validation,
Some say hating is confused admiration. — Nas
If you scared to take chances, you'll never have the answers... — Nas
Everybody looking at you crazy,
What you gon' do?
Lift up your head and keep moving,
Or let the paranoia haunt you? — Kendrick Lamar
Rappers spit rhymes that are mostly illegal,
MC's spit rhymes to uplift their people. — KRS-One
Never mind what haters say, ignore them 'til they fade away. — T.I.
Am I the only one who measures time using songs? “Oh it only took me 4 songs to get here! that’s not to long! — Kendrick Lamar
Good artists borrow, great artists steal.
You can take back all the things you give,
But you can't take back the days you live.
Life is to some people who've been on earth
Livin' every single day for what it's worth.
I live life just how I please,
Satisfy one person I know: that's me. — Too $hort
Everybody talks and everybody listens, and somehow the truth just always comes up missin. — Drake
But I never get attracted to fans cause the eager beaver could be the collapse of a dam — Drake
She live in a mindset that I could never move to — Drake
I appreciate this moment in time...ball players and actors be knowing my rhymes — Common
Your new CD is a weed plate, nothin' but love songs,
100% pure garbage, just something to break up buds on. — Jadakiss
I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan, and I shouldn't have to run from a black man. — Kool Moe Dee
Hiphop Quotes
I think that Hiphop should be a pulpit for the people. — Slick Rick
My life's goal is to find a happy medium for sampling to be not only legal but for the right parties to benefit from it. There have to be sampling laws. The survival of hiphop is based on that. — Questlove
I kicked down doors to show that Hiphop has matured. And it may be a little controversial. — Slick Rick
Every child is an artist. The challenge is to remain an artist after you grow up.
Hiphop has remained in an infantile stage and has not been allowed to grow. — Slick Rick
Reagan's neglect of the inner city is responsible for hiphop. Hiphop is created thanks to the conditions that crack set: easy money but a lot of work, the violence involved, the stories it produced. Crack helped birth hiphop. — Questlove
Hiphop hasn't had stages of growth through its 30 years of existence. — Slick Rick
Be your own artist, and always be confident in what you're doing. If you're not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.
There is not enough high intellect to be catered to and when most people think of Hiphop they think of low intellect. — Slick Rick
Look at music: I've always loved hiphop and rap, and now there's this whole progressive movement, with De La Soul and Mos Def, Common. It's some of the best stuff around. — Ryan Phillippe
I not only wanted to showcase lyrical skills but also continue to drop knowledge on the hiphop community. I'm looking to elevate through my music, and through my music I educate. — Talib Kweli
What I did was go into the studio and make music that I love. Make music that when you hear it, it feels good. Whether it was urban inspired, dance inspired, HipHop inspired or it just feels good period. — Kelly Rowland
Hip Hop Love Quotes
Surround yourself with love, not friends. — Lil Wayne
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
They love the fact you made it, but hate the fact you got it.
The stairway to heaven is packed...I'm in the lobby.
Too scared to go to sleep, cause most times I often doubt my dreams. — Big K.R.I.T.
Anything worth having is hard to keep,
I love you like my coffee, so hot and so sweet.
So, let's stick it out so we never regret it,
I could forgive the past-but I never forget it. — Ghostface Killah
A day to God is a thousand years,
Men walk around with a thousand fears.
The true joy of love brings a thousand tears,
In the world of desire, there's a thousand snares. — RZA
I met this girl when I was ten years old,
And what I loved most she had so much soul.
She was old school, when I was just a shorty
Never knew throughout my life she would be there for me. — Common
Niggas' rap albums sound like love letters,
Pen in my hand, like: damn, fam, I could do much better. — Sean Price
I love listening to old records to keep nostalgic feeling; it allows me to not lose the love for hip-hop. — Rakim
Let's test the waters...
Love makes a splash, and you too thick to skinny-dip. — Pusha T
Rapper Quotes
I know it seems hard sometimes but remember one thing. Through every dark night, there's a bright day after that. So no matter how hard it get, stick your chest out, keep ya head up.... and handle it. — Tupac Shakur
We hurt people that love us, love people that hurt us — Kendrick Lamar
If you let a person talk long enough you'll hear their true intentions. Listen twice, speak once. — Tupac Shakur
Crazy how you gotta wait until it's dark out to see who really with you. — Drake
People will hurt you. But don't use that as an excuse for your poor choices, use it as motivation to make the right ones. — LeCrae
The way I think I should stay out of trouble is by stayin' busy. With idle time comes a lot of biz, so the more my work load is heavy, I'll have no time to get into any trouble or makin' dis tracks or get into conversation about any other rappers. — Gucci Mane
The less time you spend with Truth, the easier it is to believe lies. — LeCrae
Never break or fold, that's what it takes to be major. — Kevin Gates
Better to have a small role in God's story than to cast yourself as the lead in your own fiction. — LeCrae
I was born to make mistakes, not to fake perfection — Drake
Female Rapper Quotes
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
It’s not even the female rappers that are catty – it’s the fans. They just want that beef. — Cardi B
People didn't really take white rappers seriously until Eminem, because he was better than everybody. Like female emcees, you need to be like Lauryn Hill or Nicki Minaj or killing everything before somebody takes you seriously. — Talib Kweli
Guys pit female rappers against each other because female rappers - if you haven't noticed of late - are a lot more interesting than guys. — Angel Haze
In the history of the hip hop world...there has been one, single, solitary human being in the history of the world. One female rapper to sell more albums than me in the first week. — Nicki Minaj
I'm in my dressing room about to play to a sold-out crowd at the O2 arena in Ireland. Name a female rapper who's ever done that and I will give you $100,000. — Nicki Minaj
Everyone always says I'm a rapper, and that I'm exactly like Peaches and M.I.A. People just take any female artist and compare me to them. — Uffie
There's not too many artist that can handle what we would call an Christian R&B sound. It's kind of a limited field as far as singers go. Just hoping that more artist like that can resonate and grow.In terms of female rappers, man hey come on! We're here...come talk to us! — LeCrae
I'm gonna be real - there's no female rappers in the game. — SpaceGhostPurrp
I put everyone in my school on to Nicki Minaj before she blew up. I was obsessed with her and I was like, 'If she's the best female rapper then I've got to be better than her. — Angel Haze
Music Artist Quotes
Any artist that's as serious about making music as I am, I'm cool with that. But if you tellin' me, "Man, send me a verse and I'ma send you a verse." No. That's not collaborating. We don't know each other and I'm serous about this music. — Kevin Gates
My favorite artist in the world is Michael Jackson, and he revolutionized the music video aspect of music. — Chance the Rapper
We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams. — Albert Einstein
I think all those artists are artists who are appreciated because you believe their words and you appreciate their honesty in their music. If you don't appreciate the honesty in the music, the beat can be fly as hell but you'll never give an emcee props. — Talib Kweli
I want to run for the Senate from Tennessee. Not now, but when I'm 50, when music dies down a little bit. I know lots of artists and actors have those delusions of grandeur, but ever since I was a kid, it's been of interest to me. — Tim McGraw
I get inspired by a lot, not jut one type of music or so. I listen to a lot of different music, and love a lot of artists. So, I can get inspired by anything. — Martin Garrix
One of the problems that we face through the media attention that these artists receive is that there has been an awful lot of talk about opera and classical music being elite and being for an elitist group. — Lesley Garrett
One has a nose. The nose scents and it chooses. An artist is simply a kind of pig snouting truffles. — Igor Stravinsky
Atlantis was a highly evolved civilization where the sciences and arts were far more advanced than one might guess. Atlantis was technologically advanced in genetic engineering, computer science, inter-dimensional physics, and artistically developed with electronic music and crystal art forms. — Frederick Lenz
If you see something is going wrong within politics and the world today, then some Hip Hop artist is gonna come along and get straight with it. If they think that there's a lot of racism going on then there's another Hip Hop artist who's gonna come out and speak their mind. — Afrika Bambaataa
Well, a lot of people within government and big business are nervous of Hip Hop and Hip Hop artists, because they speak their minds. They talk about what they see and what they feel and what they know. They reflect what's around them. — Afrika Bambaataa
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
I see myself as a hip-hop artist, but I never wanted to make music for a specifically white audience. Thats not what I grew up around. — G-Eazy
It's just that when you heard hip-hop, no matter where you were, it was a culture that kind of made you want to try to be part of it. Whether you thought you were an artist, whether you thought you could be a DJ, whether you thought you could breakdance, or whether you thought you could rap. It was the kind of culture that had a lot of open doors. — Ice T
A true artist does not depend on radio for success. A true fan does not let radio determine what they support — Talib Kweli
Hip-hop artist, especially the older ones, are the ones who new hip-hop was a worldwide phenomenon before the mainstream caught on, so hip-hop artists are forward thinkers. We want to stay with the new. — Nas
I would just like to see hip-hop journalism in general take a step up and match the artistry. There have been great writers in music who are the caliber of artist as a writer as the people that they're covering. — Brother Ali
A lot of the hip hop artists don't write music. They write words. — Roy Ayers
What I want to do right now is give hip hop back to the hood. Before it was a neighborhood thing where it belonged to the hood and the rappers were reporting and there were rules and parameters. Now it seems like the artist's game. — Rakim
McDonald's offers a king's ransom to any hip-hop artist who is able to put Big Mac into a song. MTV - and more to the point, Viacom - is succeeding in extending a teenage life to twenty-nine or even thirty-one years old. It is about extending this market and removing any intelligent substance in the music. — Chuck D
The only people playing the roles of classic rock stars are hip-hop artists, now. Kanye's stage persona, and the way he approaches making albums, and the way he wants to be better than everyone else? That's reminiscent of Freddie Mercury. That's reminiscent of the Beatles. — Jack Antonoff
You aspire to be as great as Michael Jackson is as an artist. I don't think any artist in pop, rock or hip-hop has ever done it any bigger than him. You know what I mean? He's the man. — Bruno Mars
There's not a hip-hop artist that didn't snatch of piece of Bob Marley. It's totally impossible. — Wyclef Jean
The beats change, I mean you got a lot of artists out there advancing new sound, new technology, new beats everything sounding very futuristic, so I feel it would have been boring for me to do another hip-hop record. — Kool Keith
When I started, I was 23 years old directing my own music videos; I'm co-producing on my album; I'm hands-on with everything. I'm more than just a pretty boy: I'm an artist. I'm not saying I'm a hip-hop music artist, I'm an artiste. — ASAP Rocky
There are situations where I'm uncomfortable saying, "I'm a hip-hop artist." In some circles, the response is like, "Oh, OK, so... you have whores and your ties are shiny?" — Pharoahe Monch
I love all types of music. Jazz, classical, blues, rock, hip-hop. I often write scripts to instrumentals like a hip-hop artist. Music inspires me to write. It's either music playing or completely silent. Sometimes distant sound fuels you. In New York there's always a buzzing beneath you. — Chadwick Boseman
There's a number of hip-hop artists who are highly talented but politically retrograde. — Cornel West
It's such a phenomenon for a hip-hop artist to fully embrace his Christian roots and his faith. And that becomes something that people almost need you to justify. — LeCrae
I just want to kind of tackle every kind of form that exists in the comedy world; whether it be stand-up or hidden camera or parody. Kind of slap it in a movie with hip-hop artists and actors, comedians and girls. I just want to do something fun. — Pauly Shore
I get freedom out of hip-hop. I get to be a true artist without any shackles or harnesses. — Ice Cube
There have been a lot of hip-hop artists who have made a difference to people's lives, spreading the message of the struggle and representing for those who have overcome adversity. — Ali Shaheed Muhammad
I love artists making cool music, regardless of the style.So, if a country artist making really cool music came along and asked me to work with them, I just might say yes, even though I'm not super-knowledgeable about country, like I am about hip-hop. I might do that because the idea is so interesting. — Joseph Trapanese
Critics are always complaining about the materialism of hip-hop and accusing the artists of living way above their means. But this ostentatious sort of spending isn't strictly the province of hip-hop. It's almost like a continuation of the American Dream. — Simon de Pury
A lot of hip-hop artists wear fur, and they think it's a status symbol. That doesn't register for me; I just see dead animals. — Tommy Lee
So few hip-hop artists have ever advanced. Their songs on their seventh, eighth albums sound exactly like the songs on their first album. More than an artist, I'm a real person-and real people grow. And I wanna just sing my growth. — Kanye West
When I first met Big, we were both at a 'Bad Boy' family photo shoot. I was kind of familiar with the name Biggie Smalls, but I really wasn't that much into hip-hop at the time, so I really didn't know that was him. He said he didn't even know I was an artist on 'Bad Boy.' — Faith Evans
One of my favorite hip-hop artists is Makonnen. One of my favorite bands is Fall Out Boy. You put those two together, and that's Lil Peep. — Lil Peep
When I fell in love with hip-hop, there was a terminology at the time called "battling." All that was just battling with other artists, but after Tupac and those incidents when it spilled into the street and turned into a negative situation, battling turned into a beef. A whole new dynamic. — 50 Cent
I love hip-hop and you can't tell me I'm not a hip-hop artist. — Derek Luke
I have inherited two of the most important brands in hip-hop, Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella. Reid and Universal Music Group have given me the opportunity to manage the companies I have contributed to my whole career. I feel this is a giant step for me and the entire artist community. — Jay-Z
I really like hip-hop and rap; that's my main influence. I really wanna be more of a hip-hop artist. — Billie Eilish
Apple has the radio stations, so I go R&B in the morning, and then I'll go with some hip-hop before the game. But after the game, it's more meditation music. It's not artists; it's more whatever is being played. — Jason Kidd
I see hip-hop as going in a self-managing place. It's very culturally controlled and artist-controlled. It's not really based on a label anymore. Everything is pretty much in the control of the artist. Which is amazing. — Travis Scott
I tour whether I have album out or not. I tour more than any other hip-hop artist. — Talib Kweli
There's just a lot of really, really great male artists right now, and it's good, too. And there's so many different influences in country right now, too, like hip-hop and rock 'n' roll and some blues. So I feel like if you turn on country radio, you will find something you'll love because it's so diverse right now. And that's a great thing. — Miranda Lambert
Hip-hop is the music of the youth. It sort of has the same purpose as what we do, at least lyrically, because we both are communicating a message, just in different ways. Hip-hop artists talk, we sing. They rap forcefully, we sing gracefully. — Amadou Bagayoko
A lot of times with my more up-tempo music, I try to take the approach of a hip-hop artist, but when it comes to imaging, I've been following the pattern of Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Madonna. — Sisqo
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