I am a poet, and I speak poetically.
— KRS-One
For KRS-One, I have a specific sound - sparse drums and bass. I try to steer away from elaborate productions.
In one sense, I wanted to study philosophy and theology, getting into the history of the Bible. I went through that for, like, two years while I took a desk job at Warners. It was very depressing but exhilarating at the same time.
My theory is that hip-hop is the most advanced version of civilisation on earth, and we are here to usher the rest of humanity into the Age of Aquarius.
I flew everywhere for the first 10 years of my career, and I started to not like commercial transport. I just don't feel safe.
Original hip hop manipulated technologies of all sorts; it was not manipulated by the technology itself.
You must have an opinion about yourself, some kind of meaning to yourself, a purpose, if you are really going to learn anything or develop into that which you desire to be.
Every ten years, we get a new old school. In 1987, we thought 1977 was the best era in hip-hop. Here we are in 2007, and we're discussing '97/'98, when 50 Cent just started.
The Temple of Hip-Hop makes sure that we don't just approach hip-hop just through music or through rap. We approach the totality of hip-hop.
Illiteracy causes violence. If you don't have enough words in your vocabulary, you can't even seek your way out of a situation.
I'm the most humble rapper in the industry.
When you know the law, you're above the law. When you break the law, you're under the law.
High respect goes out to our mothers, our single mothers. This is why today the real community uplifts femininity and holds womanhood above, not equal to, masculinity.
When you know your self-worth, and you read and you ask questions and you study and you travel, you become free.
No child is racist. A child is born, and then they go through the educational system.
The only solution to the education system is to find yourself.
Why isn't there any 50-year-old MCs killing it? I'm 46. Am I the only one? I can't wait to get to 50. I'm going to let everybody know it! I'm going to wear a shirt that says 'I'm 50.'
You can never be too old for hip-hop.
I don't sell millions of records. As a matter of fact, I'm not even interested in selling millions of records. I enjoy MCing. I make a decent amount of money. I can feed my kids. I keep a roof over my head. I don't have to sell a million records to maintain my lifestyle.
I would say my flow is Aboriginal. Look at my face, nose, lips, and eyes.
Hip-hop is a worldwide culture. We have permeated every urban environment.
Jermaine Dupri is a b-boy, and he's dope.
Hip hop is a human skill, and the practice of real hip hop should remind us of our humanity.
Hip Hop is an extension of our very being, and so the study of Hip Hop is the study of self-expression leading to the study of one's true self.
Every generation brings its own presentation of what hip-hop is to them.
If you vote for evil, you are evil yourself.
I came from the heart of the ghetto - there ain't no suburbia in me.
Where I go, rap goes. Rap is like my dog; it's like my little pet. And where I go, I lead my little pet with me.
Educate yourself, because this society is geared to have us hate each other. The longer we hate each other, the more we can't come together as humanity and look at the knuckleheads screwing it up for everybody.
The idea of New Zealanders sounding like Americans is not it. You got to rhyme in your language, your accent.
The only time you had blacks, whites, and Latinos jamming together was in hip-hop. It's an unsung history.
Everything God wants you to know is already written in your heart.
I mistakably paid respect and condolences to the wrong Beastie Boy member King Ad-Rock when it should have been MCA. In light of this, I am redoing the song 'Hip Hop Speaks From Heaven' and I am pulling the original version off of my digital release. Historical accuracy is extremely important to me, so I accept all responsibility for this error.
I look at it like this: you may only sell 20,000 to 100,000 albums. But those albums are going to be heard by future doctors, lawyers, judges, firemen, etc. Those albums are being sold to the right people that move society. They're interested in what you have to say.
DMX - everything this brother spits is hot. Everything. This is the heat right here. When I stand next to MCs, this is who I wanna stand next to.
I kind of backed into rap music. I thought I was going to do comic books or graphic art.
Graffiti art brings you back to your human skills - your spirit and what your being is really about.
How can you call yourself a cosmopolitan modern person if you don't know what hip-hop is?
Young people may be stupid at times, but they respond to the truth when it is present, and for them, KRS-One is the truth!
Self-management and self-control are the keys to advanced knowledge, and both are difficult to learn without a sense of your own cultural identity.
Hip Hop is an idea. It is the pursuit of one's authentic being through the arts. It is not a physical thing; it is an attitude - even an aptitude.
Record companies feel they are the culture. Hip-hop has to begin to define, protect, and promote itself, and that's why we founded the Temple.
Violence on the community stops when the soul matures.
People say I contradict myself because I come gangsta and teach at the same time. I don't want to be too much on either side, but I do want to speak to all audiences.
Hip-hop is not about crime. Hip-hop is not about being a gangster.
I don't need my fans to buy my music. My music is free, basically.
Rap is no longer a pastime; this is a worldwide profession.
No one ever really talks about the punk-rock involvement in hip-hop, which influenced Afrika Bambaata.
Religion and God are totally separate. Religion is created by government. God is God.
I'm here to inspire young people to be part of the most magnificent culture on earth: hip-hop.
