Back when Quote by Will Ferrell

I just want everybody to have fun. When I came into rap, that was my whole inspiration. That's what rap used to be about.

— Mase

I always wanted to do something I knew I could love to wake up and do every day, and rap was just second nature…

— Dave East

Well, when we say image, we have to understand that clothing does not change a person's character, so i've never done what they call…

— MC Hammer

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

— Ice T

I'm not a gangsta rapper. I rap about things that happen to me. I got shot five times. People was trying to kill me.

— Tupac Shakur

I think that hip-hop is more of an individual effort. That means you're an artist from the streets, they expect you to rap about…

— Conor Oberst

With 'Hip-Hop Saved My Life,' I attempted to make 'Kick, Push,' but for rappers. To give a real basic play-by-play of the life of…

— Lupe Fiasco

Hip-hop was a big part of my life growing up, especially West Coast gangster rap.

— Moshe Kasher

I went in reverse with this whole thing. People I've toured with were kids who consumed as much hip-hop as they could. I didn't…

— K. Flay

In this time, we incorporate money and media, and it's split up like apartheid, where when you say "hip-hop," you think just rap records.…

— Afrika Bambaataa

Rap is a gimmick, but I'm for the hip-hop, the culture.

— Method Man

I started rapping before anybody had ever bought a car from it. It was truly about the art form and the culture, more so…

— Ice T