Forsaken Quote by Black Thought

We used to talk about wanting to get some money, but that's when hip-hop was based on your dreams and your fantasy. The whole…

— Anonymous

To me, hip-hop's been dead for years. We all should know that. With that being said, then, the object of the game now is…

— Nas

Critics are always complaining about the materialism of hip-hop and accusing the artists of living way above their means. But this ostentatious sort of…

— Simon de Pury

Hip Hop has become real constrained. The creative juices and creative flows have been diminished.

— Grandmaster Flash

What's wrong with hip-hop [is that] it became so one-dimensional; it became like a businessman thing. It's run out of creativity. It went so…

— M.I.A

Hip-hop from the beginning has always been aspirational. It always broke that notion that an artist can't think about money as well. Just so…

— Jay-Z

Hip-hop is rich in musical allusion. It takes something that already existed, respects it, and reuses it.

— K. Flay

“There is genuine Hip Hop; a message that connects, rocks a crowd, and motivates a people and then there is what is left... instead…

— Johnnie Dent Jr

Hip-hop is about tearing down the system to better it, tearing down the system to better themselves. No matter how flimsy it might seem,…

— Russell Simmons

As hip-hop artists, you have to take the music seriously, not just as a way to get rich.

— Xzibit

You had Cash Money: that was just the flashy dudes. Like I said, you had different genres of rap, and we were just one…

— Mannie Fresh

The biggest thing that has happened to hip-hop is the clinging on to the corporation as the all-mighty hub of the music.

— Chuck D