Agitate Quote by Ice Cube

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

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

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

When you're trying to bring the streets into rap to prove a point, then you already lost. You separate the two, and that ain't…

— Young Jeezy

Rap started as this very black, socio-political type of thing. And now it's turned into pop music - we laugh about how everybody is…

— Stephen Glover

Rap has so many possibilities that need to be explored. There are different factions of rap, but some are in a rut. Rap doesn't…

— Michael Franti

Gangsta rap often reaches higher than its ugliest, lowest common denominator, misogyny, violence, materialism and sexual transgression are not its exclusive domain. At its…

— Michael Eric Dyson

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

I originally wanted to embrace the imagery and forthrightness of rap music. There are some interesting, dynamic voices in rap. But I find most…

— Yusef Komunyakaa

Rap is supposed to be about keeping it real and not relinquishing your roots in the community. Without that, it's just posturing. Somebody who…

— Chuck D

I can't expect rappers to be politicized when Americans are not socially motivated enough to care about their own lives and public policy as…

— Killer Mike

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