Attitude Quote by Assata Shakur

“Rappers, as a class, are not engaged in anything criminal. They're musicians. Some rappers and friends of rappers commit crimes. Some bus drivers commit…

— Jay-Z

The government hates rap. That's why they don't arrest anybody that kills rappers! Only the good ones are dead, man! Only the good ones:…

— Chris Rock

Why shouldn't rap be esoteric, able to take in current events, history and criticism? I guess it's this old idea of containment - that…

— Saul Williams

I always felt that rap didn't cause crime; it just reflected it.

— John Legend

We have to remember that the experience of gangsta rap as such in its foundation is an anti-systemic experience primarily. And it is an…

— Bocafloja

For a while, the genre seemed to be just about sex and crime. Rappers are storytellers; the stories don't need to be true!

— Lauryn Hill

Rap comes from the humble beginnings of rebelling against the status quo. Now, rappers have become the status quo themselves. You can't rebel against…

— Chuck D

The problem is that rap is so often a caricature of its own image. Nobody comes to the table with the seriousness of the…

— K'naan

I believe a lot in gangsta rap, I see in it a lot of positive things as it is. I believe it is only…

— Bocafloja

Back in the early 1980s when rappers couldn't perform in the fancy venues because the police were too racist and scared, it was the…

— JPEGMAFIA

It's like a paradox. For one side, being popularized rap got better and the other side of it got worse. It's very pop and…

— Ice T

Before rap came along, I was, actually, actively in the streets; getting in trouble, doing the wrong thing.

— Ice T