122 Quotes by Chuck D

I adhere to the philosophy, “I don’t care who writes the laws, let me write the songs.”

I think right about now we have to beware of marketed Malcolms and Martins. Real people do real things.

Where else can you go with respect to the work, lyrics, and message of the music? If you are past high school age, you can get by with saying very little the first or second time around. However, after a while you know you are going to have to say something beyond high school stuff.

You have to wait for people to program you. The only difference is the amount of people that you’re going to reach but that’s going to even out in the next two or three years anyway. Computers are being bought faster than televisions right now.

People are so confused about race and hip-hop that people didn’t even consider the Beastie Boys one of the greatest rap groups of all time because they were white.

The best American is one who considers themselves as a citizen of the world.

I’ve signed with major labels, and I haven’t had any control over the money.

You should be a person inside the world with knowledge of your terrain. And if you lock yourself into the 2,000-by-3,000-square-mile, lower-48 box of the United States, you’re going to be frustrated by its limitations. You gotta think outside the box.

So, rather than trying to humbly mix with the rest of the world, we are forcing ourselves upon it. We seem to create conflicts with everyone.