I Got My First Exposure

I Think Hip-hop Is Actually One Of The Most Challenging Things That's Happened In Music In A Long Time. The People Who Are In Charge Of What People See Or Hear Are Afraid. What You Hear On Top 40 Or What You See On Bet Or Mtv Is Not A Fair Representation Of What Is Really Going On...

And From The Moment That I Saw You, I Knew You Was Trouble, But I Disregarded Detour Signs, And Did Not Stop Til You Was Mine. I Guess God Was Like, 'aight, Fine.' Careful What You Wish For, Cause You Just Might Get It In Heaps. Try To Give It Back, He Be Like, 'nah, That's Yours To Keep.'

I Thought Everybody Got Into Rock 'n' Roll Because They Didn't Want To Follow Instructions.

It's Possible And Available To Any Artist To Be Himself Or Herself On Their Own Terms, To Be Accepted And Embraced By Black People. You Don't Have To Be A Thug To Get Love From Black People.

I Began To Fear That Mos Def Was Being Treated As A Product, Not A Person, So I've Been Going By Yasiin Since '99. At First It Was Just For Friends And Family, But Now I'm Declaring It Openly.