“Hip-hop as a culture itself goes through stages. It grows - it's breathing, living. I've noticed that we usually start off conscious, then we wind up very highly sexual, and then we thug it out. Then things get a little funny again, with comedy and that kind of thing.” KindLittlesCultureGrowsComedyStageWindConsciousHip HopHipsBreathingHopsThug Author:KRS-One
“That's one of my struggles as a hip-hop artist. If I feel like doing a super conscious song where I don't even rap.” IfsFeelsArtistSongStruggleConsciousHip HopRapHipsHopsMy StruggleHip Hop Artist Author:SonReal
“The hip-hop that I really connected with was Public Enemy, KRS-One, Ice Cube, and N.W.A. That late '80s and early '90s era. The beginning of gangster rap and the beginning of politically conscious rap. I had a very immature, adolescent feeling of, "Wow, I can really connect with these people through the stories they're telling in this music."” PeopleI CanStoriesFeelingsEnemyLateConsciousHip HopConnectedRapIceHipsErasHopsWow80sGangstersImmatureCubesPublic EnemiesConscious RapGangster RapKrs One Author:Jess Row
“Like the song "Stereo", to me that's like, kind of hip-hop in that slacker way. There's some slackerisms mixed in with that stuff, but it wasn't really conscious, I guess. When things would get more typical rock'n'roll that was my fallback to go to those kind of lyrics instead of the alternatives.” WayKindSongStuffRocksConsciousHip HopHipsAlternativesHopsRock N RollTypicalSlacker Author:Stephen Malkmus
“There's no major label in the world that would have let me make video game music, then conscious hip hop. They want you to find your audience, your lane, and stay in it until it ends. I can't do that.” WorldWantI CanEndsGamesAudienceMajorsConsciousLet MeHip HopVideoHipsLabelsHopsLanes Author:Raheem Jarbo
“If I focus on being an activist and my job is to be a rapper, I'm not going to be as good of a rapper. I need to focus on hip-hop and focus on making the music, so that when the activists come to me and they need my voice to create a platform, then I've got enough people listening to me. Not because I'm conscious, but because I'm dope.” PeopleIfsNeedsEnoughJobsVoiceFocusListeningConsciousHip HopHipsHopsActivistRapperPlatformsDope Author:Talib Kweli
“It doesn't get any more underground, conscious or indie than Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, but because they got a couple of really big pop hits, actually some of the biggest pop hits that hip-hop has ever seen, people are missing that part of their story. People are not counting that blessing.” PeopleStoriesBigsMissingCoupleBlessingConsciousHip HopPopsHipsHopsCountingStory People Author:Talib Kweli
“Dancehall is just like hip-hop in that it doesn't always talk about bling; it talks about conscious issues.” IssuesConsciousHip HopHipsHopsBlingDancehall Author:Sean Paul
“Vishous screamed. The only thing that was louder was the pop as the hip was relocated, as it were. And the last thing he saw before he checked out of the Conscious Inn & Suites was Jane's head whipping around in a panic. In her eyes was stark terror, as if the single worst thing that she could imagine was him in agony... And that was when he knew that he still loved her.” IfsStillsEyeLastsSawsImagineWorstConsciousTerrorPopsHipsPanicAgonyHer EyesWorst ThingsJaneStarksInnsWhippingVishous Author:J.R. Ward