Nas

“I don't go out unless I'm working. My quality time is when I'm doing nothing.”

“Hip-hop is bigger than the South; hip-hop is bigger than New York.”

“I think if I heard someone else talking about their life, describing all the problems I've had, they'd look like they were through. Done. But there's something about me - I'm smiling. Those things are really not bad enough to put me in a slump. I'm smiling with the opportunity to wake up every morning.”

“I love PBS! I grew up on it. If I had to say which channels were good, I'd say, you got your PBS, your History Channel, your Discovery.”

“I think the fact that I made enough noise in the world that I might be remembered is an amazing achievement. You can't ask for more than that.”

“When you're a teenager, you want to meet a lot of girls - you want to get the most girls. You don't know anything about respect; you don't know anything about being faithful and loyal to your girlfriend.”

“I had a pretty public divorce. They're not easy - divorces - and it took me a long time to really get through.”

“I don't want any title. I just say what I say, and hopefully somebody gets it, man. I'm not perfect, and I'm just here and trying to make a dollar, and being real at the same time, you know?”

“Your look reflects what's happening in your mind. You gotta have some swag to you.”

“Unfortunately, man, a lot of places in America have to deal with unnecessary violence. Somebody like me who knows it firsthand and could relate... I had a best friend killed, plenty other friends killed. I been through it. I seen it.”

“Hip-hop is the streets. Hip-hop is a couple of elements that it comes from back in the days... that feel of music with urgency that speaks to you. It speaks to your livelihood and it's not compromised. It's blunt. It's raw, straight off the street - from the beat to the voice to the words.”

“Africa has been going through so much for so many years; it's time that it stands up the way other nations are standing up.”

“I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still blessed with the opportunity to make music and pass out a message like, 'Life is good,' to the world.”