“When you've been raised in care, rap music isn't just about guns and sexism. They're talking about real things you can hang on to, problems of identity that you have sympathy with. It's not just about the music, with rap: when I was in care, it meant a whole lot more than that.” RealWholeProblemCareTalkingIdentityMusic IsGunRaisedRapSexismSympathyReal ThingsRap Music Author:Samantha Morton
“Everything that’s out now…rap wise and music wise in general [is whack]. I mean, you know whack when you see it. So I’m on a crusade against whackness, and I hope no whackness comes my way. That’s my move, my mission for this record: to combat whackness on all fronts – to make sure that people know what quality music is. It’s not so much about message, but have something to say.” PeopleKnowsWayMeanMovingQualityRecordsWiseFrontsMessagesMusic IsRapMissionsMy WayCombatCrusadesQuality Music Author:Jeru the Damaja
“With rap music, because it's all so on the street, you get treated like a street cat: "All right, you've been eatin' enough, you're fat, get out of the way now and let somebody else come by."” WayEnoughStreetsMusic IsCatRapTreatedFatsRap Music Author:Nas
“I think rap music is the sole reason for a lot of black acceptance in pop culture; because the music is very popular, it gets our image out in other ways than in movies.” ThinkingWayReasonCultureBlackAcceptanceMusic IsPopsRapSolePop CultureRap MusicVery Popular Author:Ice Cube
“I think rap music is brought up, gangster rap in particular, as well as video games, every other thing they try to hang the ills of society on as a scapegoat.” ThinkingTryingWellsGamesParticularMusic IsRapVideoGangstersScapegoatRap MusicGangster Rap Author:Ice Cube
“I listen to a lot of crazy stuff like pop, techno, rock, hip-hop, rap, baladas, bachata...my iPod is crazy. I like listening to a lot of stuff in different languages, so my music is always out there for me.” DifferentLanguageStuffCrazyRocksListeningMusic IsHip HopPopsRapHipsHopsIpodsDifferent LanguagesTechnoBachata Author:Prince Royce
“I'm not the 'rappity-rapper' type dude. All my music is really true. I can't just rap about nothing, just metaphors and putting words together. I can't just smash out material like other guys. I just want my albums to be crazy every time I drop one.” WantI CanTogetherGuyCrazyMaterialsTypeMusic IsMetaphorAlbumsRapRapperOther GuysBeing CrazyReally True Author:Schoolboy Q
“The music becomes more pure and soulful when it's true, and it has to be true these days with the way the internet works, and the way the game works, everyone wants authentic raps.” WayWantGamesInternetPureMusic IsRapBeing TrueThese DaysSoulful Author:J. Cole
“I actually don't like hip hop much; the music is too clichéd, the subculture, especially the macho strutting of gangsta rappers, isn't my thing. But, at the same time, rap is a simple, direct and strong musical language.” LanguageStrongSimpleMusic IsDirectMusicalHip HopRapHipsHopsRapperMachoSubcultureGangstaStrutting Author:Shahin Najafi
“I grew up listening to all kinds of music, everything from country to rock, pop, R&B and even rap, so for me, music is music and a great song is a great song.” KindCountrySongRocksListeningGrewGrew UpMusic IsPopsRapAll Kinds Author:Jason Aldean
“My mom, she got taken away from me when I was 14 years old. She is incarcerated. My sister was incarcerated. I was homeless. When my mom went away when I was 14... I was forced to live with my aunt. My aunt, she doesn't like rap music. She thinks rap music is the devil's music. Basically she said, "Yo, if you are going to do music you can't do it in my house."” IfsThinkingYearsSaidHouseTakenMomMusic IsDevilMy MomRapMy SisterHomelessAuntRap Music Author:Sean Kingston
“In a way, all recorded music is reduced to the same level, no matter what it is. You find it in the store, you put it on and, "Oh, that's not cool. That's gangsta rap. That's white supremacist punk." But in a way, the content is removed from the intention of the people that made it. That's the commercial level of music.” PeopleWayMadeMatterWhiteLevelsMusic IsNo Matter WhatIntentionRapStoresMade ItPunkGangstaGangsta RapRecorded Music Author:Eyvind Kang
“Rap music is a combination of many different arts to make something new. There's always been a stigma that its existence would be short and only appeal to a certain group - but it's the biggest music in the world.” WorldArtDifferentWould BeCertainExistenceGroupsMusic IsRapAppealsCombinationSomething NewStigmaRap Music Author:Chance the Rapper
“I always did poetry, and [rap music is] pretty much hip-hop melody with poems.” Music IsHip HopRapHipsHopsMelodyRap Music Author:Tiffany Foxx
“Money is important in the rap industry because you're always rapping to be bigger than the other person - bigger than who you're rapping to. A lot of my music is really, really, really humbled down. I don't have as much money as the average rapper, but I'm still good.” ImportantMusic IsRapRapper Author:D-Pryde
“The power of the voice in rap is about the expression of truth, rather than the expression of some kind of artifice. Landays, they're about love and pleasure and oppression and levels of oppression within a family. And because of that, I think rap music is probably closely related.” ThinkingKindPleasureMusic IsRapOppressionRap Music Author:Eliza Griswold