49 Notable Quotes By Chuck D
Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps
I think governments are the cancer of civilization.
Being positive is like going up a mountain. Being negative is like sliding down a hill. A lot of times, people want to take the easy way out, because it's basically what they've understood throughout their lives.
Minds are the real estate of the 21st century.
I'd rather be hated for what I am than to be loved for what I'm not.
We don't see the people who are doing real things getting enough props. We often see politicians who are everywhere but nowhere at the same goddamn time. You know the kind of person: You see them everywhere on television but nowhere in front of your face.
You can't master time, but you have to work your hardest to manage it.
A lot of times black folks look for love in all the wrong places. You're always looking for somebody to love you, be accepted, and there's the insecurities that are even transmitted through rap. Everyone is trying to aim to please too much.
I spread the message of hope and of unity. That's what gets me up in the morning. I can tell you what is wrong, but I can't tell you how to fix it. I'm a raptivist, not a politician. I deal in hope.
I think right about now we have to beware of marketed Malcolms and Martins. Real people do real things.
The Internet was a saving grace for promoting and exposing, and even creating. It's a parallel world to the music industry that already exists, and I'm glad to be a part of it.
Minds are the real estate of the millenium
Rap is supposed to be about keeping it real and not relinquishing your roots in the community. Without that, it's just posturing. Somebody who claims to speak for the 'hood don't need no private jet.
Crucifixon ain't no fiction
My mother went to university, my father didn't. But they are very educated, very wise people. My father went to the military, so he's worldly.
My daughter's 19. I'm not asking her to develop as an artist. I'm just asking her to develop as a full person, human being.
One of the problems with hip hop is lack of infrastructure and not being able to control its own course. I don't like that hip hop is full of infantile 35-year-olds. Hip hop cannot afford to be lazy.
I've signed with major labels, and I haven't had any control over the money.
I totally hate when somebody takes a classic and desecrates it. I like Jimmy Page and P. Diddy, but what they did to 'Kashmir' was a debacle.
I'm recording freely, and if I make a song, I release it immediately, so I'm more likely to believe in one song at a time as opposed to albums.
Public Enemy is the security of the hip-hop party.
I like Rick Ross as a person. I like Jay-Z and Kanye West as people. But I hate the companies that they record for.
I came from a mother and father who always made me secure in my beliefs, and that's where the love came from.
You're always going to sound like yourself, but you can make really strong attempts to keep some similarities, but move away from what you did before for popularity's sake.
Never try to make the same record twice, even when people are screaming for the same sound.
I think traveling the world has helped to keep Public Enemy alive. We've never solely depended on the United States.
What made me want to become a recording artist; I was the first artist that was repeatedly asked by a label to record with them. That label was Def Jam Records.
I think too much of the music industry is for the lawyer and accountant mentality.
People aren't going to support an artist just because they have an audio file. They have to feel a real connection.
When you travel the world, you have to watch and you have to listen. We're not going to come in to Ireland without an understanding that there's a history that's very sensitive.
