I'm not in that state of mind that I was back in '86 - hip-hop is not in that state of mind that it was back in '86. Times change. I change.
— Rakim
My aunt Ruth Brown was a jazz musician. I got hooked on it at a young age, understanding what John Coltrane was doing playing two notes on the saxophone at the same time, which is impossible.
It's hard to have fun and make a fun album when you know that it's something that you need to say.
We gotta let hip-hop grow. We gotta let it go through its different phases throughout the different places that's accepting it.
As a young artist, especially in rap and at that time that I came out, originality was big.
My kids listen to rap, so I try to keep up with as much as I can.
I try to make my flow sound like a John Coltrane solo.
One of the main reasons why it didn't work out for me and Aftermath is because I felt my music should sound one way, and they felt it should sound another. But, I learned a lot from watching Dre, and when I left California, I knew it was time for me to get my own label.
I'm very smart with my paper! I stopped buying things for myself a long time ago - now I just buy things for my kids or my wife.
I'm not a mainstream artist. But I've seen my kids being born; I've seen them take their first steps, I've seen them grow up and start school. That's worth more to me than any umpteen million dollars.
I don't believe in writer's block. I'll get stuck, but being stuck, I'll still write a verse. If you know where you're going, you can always start from there and work your way back.
In New York, they kind of rode with me from day one: they understand who I am.
The truth never wears out.
We need the media to know that some of us are really passionate about music.
I'm a fan of hip-hop as well. I like everybody who keeps the game on their toes and keep it pushing.
When you're dealing with a bunch of different producers, you gotta make sure the chemistry fits.
You know, I got kids. I got sons, and I try to tell them, 'Look, man, when you in the car and you get pulled over, hands on the steering wheel. 'Yes, sir. No sir.' Your job is to either wind up in jail, so I can come get you, or be able to pull off. That's your job.'
When I started rhyming, my favorite rhythms were from John Coltrane and some of the things he did on sax. And certain rhythms that I hear on drums, I try to emulate with my words, dropping on the same patterns that them beats or them notes would hit.
People always tell me that they grew up with me - like I'm their brother or uncle or some other family member. That keeps me going.
I'm more of a wordsmith, so I like taking different words and trying to see what I can do with them - as many things as possible.
My thing was, I loved music. I played music: I played the saxophone. So the little bit of music knowhow I had, I tried to implement that in every thing I did, from my style, my cadence, the way I tried to pause and stagnate it; that all came from John Coltrane and listening to jazz albums. Trying to rhyme like a jazz player.
Music, life, a lot of the things that we go through in the world, a lot of questions that we have about the world inspires me.
I was an underground artist, but the underground status was successful. Coming from where I came from to see where rap is now, now artists are selling from a million to eight million copies.
You've really got to appreciate an artist that's really outspoken and feels like his music can change the world.
Lil Wayne is doing his thing, and so is Drake.
I stick to my guns - that's what keeps me going as an artist. Stevie Wonder never changed from what he wanted to do, and each new album that came along was dope.
You grow, you mature, you live, and you learn. You get a little wiser, and you learn better ways to handle things.
I try to stay true to my style, and I understand the foundation of my style and where it came from. But at the same time, you take that experience and learn different ways to write, different ways to turn on that creative energy.
You know, 'Paid in Full' is a classic album, man. It kind of got me to where I am now, so I can never get tired of 'Paid in Full.'
We need a few more Kanyes, people that's really passionate about hip-hop and who keep it alive.
I love Kanye for that. Being a producer, making beats, and being a rapper. He does it all.
I always went left to what everybody else was doing. I'm used to going against the grain.
When I broke up with Eric B., I went on a little hiatus. Then all I was trying do is find producers. It's real hard, man.
Social media gives a lot of people a platform where they can express their feelings. I like to do mine through songs. I let info build up. In some way, it translates into paper whenever I sit down.
I know how to read music, watching my mom and listening to Mom play music.
New York is responsible for bringing that raw, that real gritty hip-hop, because we... originated it.
I'm definitely one of them artists that loves putting the track on and having fun with it, but in my own way.
I was heavily influenced by Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Caz, but I kind of wanted to take it somewhere else.
To me, sometimes things outside of rap inspire me to rap.
I had nothing but respect for Pac.
There are certain things that I wish people knew - certain things that I feel I started and certain things that I'm responsible for. Sometimes you wish people knew where a certain style of rapping came from or who was the first one to say whatever.
Maino is an artist that I feel walks what he talks - you can tell what he raps about and what he's been through is very similar. You've got a lot of rappers that rap about what they've heard or seen, but I think Maino is one of the rappers that has actually lived it.
I was an athlete in college - a quarterback, a leader - so people telling me what to do doesn't work.
Sometimes I write from the end of the verse to the beginning of the verse.
To know that I was being heard on the radio, it made me feel as if I was, I guess, spread across New York. It was incredible.
I got a lot of vinyl, a lot of music in general in the house.
Don't even go to the studio if you don't think that your music's going to do something. You're wasting your time and my time.
Jada, Styles P, the LOX, period. You throw on one of their joints... I'm in the whip; I try to keep my cool in the whip. I don't like bouncing around, getting my crazy on, but it's certain joints you gotta wild out. Roll the window down, blast the joints, let it be heard. That's one of them groups that bang it out.
You can't have 12 records on your album and none of them sound alike. You gotta kind of have something to make them say, 'That sounds like Rakim.'
The laws are gonna have to change. And it's 2016. We can't keep using all the laws that was made back in the 1700s. We're gonna have to understand that times have changed.
