A biography for Mos Defhasn’t been written yet.
“I was taught when there's somethin' you can change around keep quiet, you got nothin' to complain about.”
“I don't hate nobody. I hate certain conditions that are inflicted upon the people - and they're helpless with it.”
“You're not gonna get through life without being worshipful or devoted to something. You're either devoted to your job, or to your desires. So the best way to spend your life is to try to be devoted to prayer, to Allah.”
“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.”
“You have to be an extremist to believe that you're gonna be the president of the United States and your name is Barack Hussein Obama! And he's using extreme methods, but his application is very smooth. Michelle Obama is extreme, her presence is extreme. And it's an extreme good. Extreme is not negative.”
“The ability to have somebody read something and see it, or for somebody to paint an entire landscape of visual imagery with just sheets of words - that's magical. That's what I've been trying to strive for - to draw a clear picture, to open up a new dimension.”
“Hip-hop is the last true folk art.”
“I'm not shy about heated debate or passionate discourse, but when people get crazy or rude, that's a buzz kill. There's got to be a better code of conduct, some basic etiquette.”
“I have mad brims.”
“With guys I revere, like Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X, their look is less about style than purpose and the expression of beauty. It wasn't just about being noticed, you know?”
“If 'Life in Marvelous Times' can't get on the radio, then I don't need to be on the radio.”
“Good art provides people with a vocabulary about things they can't articulate.”
“All the things that are worth doing, take time.”
“I feel like being into the beat of your own drum has become too prominent in the culture.”
“What I take from writers I like is their economy - the ability to use language to very effective ends. The ability to have somebody read something and see it, or for somebody to paint an entire landscape of visual imagery with just sheets of words - that's magical.”
“I come from a family of very devout, praying people. That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn't be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind.”
“And remember don't high post when you're far from home, and high posting when you're all alone.”
“If you're going to do Chuck Berry, you got to, you know, go all out, and the duck walk is just kind of you know, cursory. That's like standing.”
“I'm retiring the Mos Def name after 2011. I'm actually doing it.”
“In the early '90s, when I really started to find my voice, I was reading a lot of books, and I was moved by the writers, like Chinua Achebe, and I wanted to be able to write rhymes that were as potent as what I was reading.”