--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's a funny thing about rap, that when…" description: "\"It's a funny thing about rap, that when you say 'I' into the microphone, it's like a public confession. It's very strange.\" — Zadie Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d2/zadie-smith-584_confession_it-s-a-funny-thing-about-rap-that-when-y_2412006.png" --- # It's a funny thing about rap, that when you say 'I' into… ![“It's a funny thing about rap, that when you say 'I' into the microphone, it's like a public confession. It's very strange.” quote by Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d2/zadie-smith-584_confession_it-s-a-funny-thing-about-rap-that-when-y_2412006.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d2/zadie-smith-584_confession_it-s-a-funny-thing-about-rap-that-when-y_2412006.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d2/zadie-smith-584_confession_it-s-a-funny-thing-about-rap-that-when-y_2412006.png) > “It's a funny thing about rap, that when you say 'I' into the microphone, it's like a public confession. It's very strange.” [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Rapping is a personal confession, turning private thoughts into public performance, blurring private-public boundaries. **In simple terms:** Rapping shares personal truths publicly. Key Takeaway Use artistic platforms to voice personal experiences. Themes self‑expression artistic confession public performance Mood thoughtful insightful analytical Type reflective critical When to use this quote - songwriting workshops - therapy sessions - public speaking - media analysis Key Concepts Musicology cultural studies psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does confession affect audience connection? - When does performance become vulnerability? A Different Perspective Not all rap is confessional; some prioritize bravado. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confession/) [Confession Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confession-strange-6075914/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Funny things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny-things/) [Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like/) [Microphone Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/microphone-like-328098/) [Microphones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/microphones/) [Public Confession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-confession-394805/) [Rap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rap/) [Say Microphone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-microphone-6075915/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Thing Rap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-rap-1717567/) ## Related quotes > [A singer for me is more like someone who is standing alone with a microphone like Scott Walker, rather than someone who is bashing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-coxon/a-singer-for-me-is-more-like-someone-who-is-standing-alone-with-a/) [Graham Coxon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-coxon/) > [I would love to do much more singing; it's just one of those things where I can't quite describe what it feels like when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-spacey/i-would-love-to-do-much-more-singing-it-s-just-one-of-those-things/) [Kevin Spacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-spacey/) > [I didn't know what kind of sound I wanted to make. I didn't have no influences. I just heard my voice in the microphone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blueface/i-didn-t-know-what-kind-of-sound-i-wanted-to-make-i-didn-t-have-no/) [Blueface](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blueface/) > [The purifying influence of public confession springs from the fact, that by it the hope in lies is forever swept away, and the soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-purifying-influence-of-public-confession-springs-from-the-fact/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [I have this thing. I can rap really fast. I can rap really, really fast. It's a thing I'm good at and I've trained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daveed-diggs/i-have-this-thing-i-can-rap-really-fast-i-can-rap-really-really-fast/) [Daveed Diggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daveed-diggs/) > [Marriage is a ghastly public confession of a strictly private intention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/marriage-is-a-ghastly-public-confession-of-a-strictly-private/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“for Paul private belief and public confession of it - including baptism - go hand in hand.3 Both are needed for salvation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-j-gorman/for-paul-private-belief-and-public-confession-of-it-including-baptism/) [Michael J. Gorman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-j-gorman/) > [Ridicule is a public confession of fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanna-bonta/ridicule-is-a-public-confession-of-fear/) [Vanna Bonta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanna-bonta/) > [When people say to me, 'What do you think of rap music?', my answer is, 'There's no such thing. There's rap, and there's music.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-say-to-me-what-do-you-think-of-rap-music-my-answer-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My whole thing is to inspire, to better people, to better myself forever in this thing that we call rap, this thing that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendrick-lamar/my-whole-thing-is-to-inspire-to-better-people-to-better-myself/) [Kendrick Lamar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendrick-lamar/) > [The weird thing about rap is that you don't get compared in the same way that athletes do, even though it's probably the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chance-the-rapper/the-weird-thing-about-rap-is-that-you-don-t-get-compared-in-the-same/) [Chance the Rapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chance-the-rapper/) > [One thing rap and rock have in common, a lot of it is focused on negativity. I like dark stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-uzi-vert/one-thing-rap-and-rock-have-in-common-a-lot-of-it-is-focused-on/) [Lil Uzi Vert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-uzi-vert/) > [Notoriety and public confession in the literary form is a frazzler of the heart you were born with, believe me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/notoriety-and-public-confession-in-the-literary-form-is-a-frazzler-of/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [It takes a little more time to get into the role, but not very much more. In making a record you don't have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-callas/it-takes-a-little-more-time-to-get-into-the-role-but-not-very-much/) [Maria Callas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-callas/) > [Meanwhile someone is shining my head to get it dry to attach my top-hat to my head with toupee tape. I get into microphone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tituss-burgess/meanwhile-someone-is-shining-my-head-to-get-it-dry-to-attach-my-top/) [Tituss Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tituss-burgess/) ## More by Zadie Smith > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“Pretty girls lie at the centre of straight culture, dyke culture, fag culture. They sell everything, they buy everything, they ruin great men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/pretty-girls-lie-at-the-centre-of-straight-culture-dyke-culture-fag/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“I have known many true connoisseurs, with excellent tastes that range across the humanities and the culinary arts--and they never fail to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-have-known-many-true-connoisseurs-with-excellent-tastes-that-range/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I cannot believe homosexuality is that much fun. Heterosexuality certainly is not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-cannot-believe-homosexuality-is-that-much-fun-heterosexuality/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“Either everything is sacred or nothing is. And if he starts burning other people’s things, then he loses something sacred also. 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I don't like them around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-don-t-keep-any-copies-of-my-books-in-the-house-they-go-to-my-mum-s/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [But it makes an immigrant laugh to hear the fears of the nationalist, scared of infection, penetration, miscegenation, when this is small fry, peanuts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/but-it-makes-an-immigrant-laugh-to-hear-the-fears-of-the-nationalist/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [Oh, I know that. You know me, baby, I cannot be broken. Takes a giant to snap me in half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/oh-i-know-that-you-know-me-baby-i-cannot-be-broken-takes-a-giant-to/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“In short, it was precisely the kind of friendship and Englishman makes on holiday, that he can make only on holiday. A friendship that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/in-short-it-was-precisely-the-kind-of-friendship-and-englishman-makes/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I suppose I often think of my writing as quite impersonal. But it turned out, when my father died, writing was exactly what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-suppose-i-often-think-of-my-writing-as-quite-impersonal-but-it/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“Some of us are happy with our African hair, thank you very much. I don't want some poor Indian girl's hair. And I wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/some-of-us-are-happy-with-our-african-hair-thank-you-very-much-i-don/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [You can't state difference and also state equality. We have to state sameness to understand equality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-can-t-state-difference-and-also-state-equality-we-have-to-state/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“(Unlike many others around this time, Joyce felt no shame about using the term 'middle class'. In the Chalfen lexicon the middle classes were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/unlike-many-others-around-this-time-joyce-felt-no-shame-about-using/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [A lot of women, when they're young, feel they have very good friends, and find later on that friendship is complicated. It's easy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/a-lot-of-women-when-they-re-young-feel-they-have-very-good-friends/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) [Explore all 457 Zadie Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) ## More Confession quotes > [If You Love Someone, Be Brave Enough To Tell Them., Otherwise Be Brave Enough To Watch Them To Be Loved By Someone Else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bilal-zahoor/if-you-love-someone-be-brave-enough-to-tell-them-otherwise-be-brave/) [Bilal Zahoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bilal-zahoor/) > [A love to Christ which is so cowardly and selfish that it is unwilling to proclaim by a public confession its faith in Him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-eliot-kittredge/a-love-to-christ-which-is-so-cowardly-and-selfish-that-it-is/) [Abbott Eliot Kittredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-eliot-kittredge/) > [Boys say its great..boys say its fine... 9 months later boys say its not mine..!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simi-ngr/boys-say-its-great-boys-say-its-fine-9-months-later-boys-say-its-not/) [Simi Ngr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simi-ngr/) > [The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. That is why I am equally fond of them all and equally horrified by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-characters-in-my-novels-are-my-own-unrealized-possibilities-that/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Notoriety and public confession in the literary form is a frazzler of the heart you were born with, believe me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/notoriety-and-public-confession-in-the-literary-form-is-a-frazzler-of/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [In Confession, Jesus welcomes us with all our sinfulness, to give us a new heart, capable of loving as he loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/in-confession-jesus-welcomes-us-with-all-our-sinfulness-to-give-us-a/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [A man does not have to feel less than human to realize his sin; oppositely, he has to realize that he gets no special…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/a-man-does-not-have-to-feel-less-than-human-to-realize-his-sin/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [“I was going to make a confession. Then I remembered I don't make them very well. We still need to see the monkeys." "You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/i-was-going-to-make-a-confession-then-i-remembered-i-don-t-make-them/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [Yelena, you've driven me crazy. You've caused me considerable trouble and I've contemplated ending your life twice since I've known you." Valek's warm breath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-v-snyder/yelena-you-ve-driven-me-crazy-you-ve-caused-me-considerable-trouble/) [Maria V. Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-v-snyder/) > [“in other words, his story was part boast, part confession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-mezrich/in-other-words-his-story-was-part-boast-part-confession/) [Ben Mezrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-mezrich/) > [“I have a confession to make.121 Almost every time I tune in to religious radio or TV, I want to change my religion. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-d-mclaren/i-have-a-confession-to-make-121-almost-every-time-i-tune-in-to/) [Brian D. McLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-d-mclaren/) > [A catechism is simply a tool for teaching the fundamentals of the faith. Unlike a creed or confession, a catechism uses questions and answers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-deyoung/a-catechism-is-simply-a-tool-for-teaching-the-fundamentals-of-the/) [Kevin DeYoung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-deyoung/) > [“I’m beginning to get the feeling that confession is what we need in order to forgive ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-kuhn/i-m-beginning-to-get-the-feeling-that-confession-is-what-we-need-in/) [Shane Kuhn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-kuhn/) > [“We need repentance. You see, repentance is not only going to a priest and confessing. We must free ourselves from the obsession of thoughts.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elder-thaddeus-of-vitovnica/we-need-repentance-you-see-repentance-is-not-only-going-to-a-priest/) [Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elder-thaddeus-of-vitovnica/) > [You said, I love you. I said it too. The only difference is, I didn't lie to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-said-i-love-you-i-said-it-too-the-only-difference-is-i-didn-t-lie/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 909 Confession quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confession/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's a funny thing about rap, that when you say 'I' into the microphone, it's like a public confession. 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