Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
If there's a track that's rhyme friendly, the verse will basically write itself. If the track is less rhyme friendly, you have to put forth a little more effort to get the song out.
Well if you from New Jersey, you always knew that going to Jersey Shore was way different from where you lived at. I live in Newark, and that is 150 percent opposite of Jersey Shore.
For some music, lyrically, the best move is to keep it simple in what it is that you are saying, and just kind of come across in your rhythm and the way that you lock in on the music.
I don't sit down and write a song, and then slam down the phone like, 'We got another one!' and pop some champagne. It's like if someone's writing a novel: You write a series of drafts.
What we do every day onstage, there's lights, there's lots of other musicians, there's an audience, there's a microphone and mic stands - layers of the onion we have to kind of hide behind.
The difference between Reggie Noble and Redman is that this 'Reggie Noble' album is more conceptual. It got concepts on it, it got auto-tune on it, it got a pop record on it. I had fun on it.
My children have a world of opportunities that were not available to me. My kids have no idea about going without - there's no desire or need they have that hasn't been fulfilled, which is a blessing.
When you work for a company you always, well I know, I try to give advice to young kids and other peers that when you work for a company you just don't want to be an employee, you want to be an asset.
Maybe the level of people you attract is what you supposed to attract. Maybe the few people I attract are the ones who know what the real is... There's that connection. That's what I put into my music.
Our plan for Passyunk Productions is to make an impact in the film & tv world by leveraging our collective resources, telling great stories and creating smart programming told from a unique perspective.
There's a lot of terms we come up with for the music that we're making because we want something that's going to be definitive. Often there is no word to encapsulate the emotion that the music represents.
What happens when you put all your money into your home? Everybody's going to want to move in, whereas rich people set money off for their great-great grandkids. They got money that's circling for itself.
You are an instrument if you understand your voice and how to use it - this sound, that sound and certain ranges and different pitch. Within that I try to find a rhythm and play the voice as if it was a horn.
I don't know that Dilla was the father of neo-soul as much as he was highly influential in that time when he was doing what he was doing at his best… Dilla's influence transcended genre and it transcended region.
Life is a blast when you know what you're doin', Best to know what you're doin' 'fore your life get ruined. Life is a thrill when your skill is developed, If you ain't got a skill or trade, then shut the hell up.
When I was coming up, a freestyle wasn't a freestyle unless everything was completely improvised, in-the-moment and right there, and you had to incorporate various elements of what was going on in the room on the day.
Nah, I don't feel overlooked, underappreciated, or none of that because it's a short list of artists, past and present, that I kind of have respect for. And in all of those situations, the admiration and respect is mutual.
Phrenology is the study of the brain or how it operates, you know, the particular components that effect the nerves and the thought process, and the study of the size of the head. We just wanted to tie it into subject matters.
Being from the same umbrella as Jay-Z, I'm not political, but I'm sure whatever he's going to do with the NFL, he's going to branch out and open more doors for other players and for us to get a better understanding of the NFL.
I can see myself retiring from rapping, but I don't think from music. After that, I think I'd just go into some other kind of music, 'cuz I'm a worldwide fan of music, all types of music, all cultures, so I'll always be involved.
I love that hip-hop can still provide jobs for niggas to get money and to put their crew on. I would never say that hip-hop is going down. It's cool, but it needs an adjustment. I think that hip-hop just needs a little fine-tuning.
All my money comes from show money. You might get your deals, your advancements to do your album, but it wasn't in great abundance. Everybody's money in the '90s came from doing shows. That's a whole lot of show money, and that's it.
My main concern is that there is a balance in the system and that some art-based hip-hop can get out to the masses, 'cause right now people are not responding to what they don't know. Most people are just afraid to think on their own.
The Evolution of Greatness' was an amazing experience, and it's something that we hope to have been a steppingstone for us to come back and not only do more NBA All-Star performances, but do halftime performances at events like the Super Bowl.
I think the true artist - musician, dancer, writer, actor - a true artist is able to sort of articulate pain and tragedy, in a way that sort of expresses what the listener or the beholder may have been feeling but was less able to communicate.
The young generation just wanna move. And you know what? I love it. I love that hip-hop can still provide jobs for niggas to get money and to put their crew on. I would never say that hip-hop is going down. It's cool, but it needs an adjustment.
Passyunk Productions is our film & tv production company. The name comes from a street in Philly, Passyunk Avenue, where the concept of The Roots was born, as Ahmir and I started out busking on the corner of 5th & Passyunk back in the early '90s.
I think at the end of the day the diversity has served as a major… that's what has determined the difference between The Roots and some of the other artists from our graduating class. I feel we followed the De La Soul, the Native Tongue blueprint.
To be in a band with the other founding members that never sleep is inspiring. Questlove put out five books a year and deejays every night and still do the same day job that I do, only with more responsibility. It drives me to find a way to juggle it.
There are some millennial artists that I totally get and understand, and I know what they're talking about. People who I've worked with and who I'd like to work with. But there's a whole element of artists that I can't explain what they're talking about.
So in my personal opinion, I definitely feel like I'm a legendary emcee, and I also feel like we're a legendary brand, which is why I started rebranding ourselves years ago by saying 'The Legendary Roots Crew,' which is how we're introduced on 'The Tonight Show.'
When I appeared in EPMD's 'Hardcore' song and video that was just crazy. Def Jam had these little virals back then on VHS tape. Q-Tip was another very important person to my career. He had me in A Tribe Called Quest's 'Scenario' video when I was first coming out.
Something that is funny, that I use sometimes if I'm doing comedy, is the fact that I'm now often mistaken for the rapper Rick Ross. And I don't know that I've ever corrected anyone - like I've never said, 'No no, I'm not Rick Ross, I'm Black Thought from The Roots.'
Anyone that I've ever worked with, it's not like I just meet you or someone throws us together for the sole purpose of coming up with a song that's gonna be a hit. I have to have some sort of relationship, or we had to have interacted on some other sort of level and that's when it feels most natural.
Hip hop is just a reflection of what's going on, or where the art is....Technology definitely gives artists a new mind, new voice and creativity. Right now people need to be more places at once....so whatever can get people to the next level to be efficient is how technology is going to be used......The danger is if people are relying too much on the machines, that new mind and new voice always has to come from within.
I don't make music to make money. I make music because that's what I like to do. You would think, "Yeah, of course, that's what an artist does," but there ain't too many artists around anymore. I see a lot of people who, if they thought they wouldn't profit, would find an easier hustle. It's a racket now, like everything else, but we're in a capitalistic country - everything's a racket. Take what you can. I think the difference between that line of thinking and me is obvious.
You heard about, through word of mouth, Big Bird is out, he's in the house. He's turnin' up, with Snuffleup, They're really gettin' their hustle up. They stick together like Velcro, There Grover go, there's Elmo. And Cookie Monster there, look he likes To take selfies with his cell phone. They got a homegirl named Abby, Her last name is Cadabby, I showed her my report card, She said, 'Not too shabby!' They got all types of cool kids there, It's lots of fun if you live there, One thing I keep forgettin' about Sesame Street... How do you get there?