#

I feel like I was the only person who was capable of making this type of music in this type of way. I don't rap like nobody, I don't try to sound like nobody. ↗

— Mos Def

#feel #i #i feel #i feel like #like

Bob Marley performed the 'One Love Peace' concert in Jamaica with the two different warring political sides. There's always been that in black music and culture in general. It's no surprise because black music is such a reflection of what's going on in black life. It's not unusual for hip-hop. ↗

— Mos Def

#because #been #black #black music #bob

I began to fear that Mos Def was being treated as a product, not a person, so I've been going by Yasiin since '99. At first it was just for friends and family, but now I'm declaring it openly. ↗

— Mos Def

#began #being #declaring #def #family

I believe the projects were a social experiment; we were laboratory rats stacked on top of each other, and people just knew, inherently, that there was something wrong. There's not a lot of regard for the property by the residents. ↗

— Mos Def

#each #experiment #i #i believe #i believe the

I can't control what people think. I'm not trying to manipulate people's thoughts or sentiments. I write all the time. You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions. It's machine-like how things are run now in hip-hop, and my ambitions are different. ↗

— Mos Def

#control #different #experience #hip-hop #how

I get reminded a lot of the time that my life is a little bit different, but I'm just trying to keep it as regular as possible because I like it that way. ↗

— Mos Def

#bit #different #get #i #just

Record companies are not necessarily interested in you realizing your artistic dream. The bottom line is that they got to sell records. ↗

— Mos Def

#bottom #bottom line #companies #dream #got

Necessity makes an honest man a knave. ↗

— Daniel Defoe

#honest man #knave #makes #man #necessity

That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn't be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind. ↗

— Mos Def

#chief concern #concern #denominational #humanity #idea

To me, playing an instrument and singing, all of these different things are just as natural to me as rhyming. ↗

— Mos Def

#different things #instrument #just #me #natural