Quotes from the Hood

14 July 2009 Kain English

shakespeare_nolita_4

“Shakespeare is a drunken savage with some imagination whose plays please only in London and Canada.”- Voltaire

The media can be pretty hard on any hardcore art form, regardless of the medium. As a result, rap more often than not gets- a bad one. If you’re not a die hard rap fan or you lack even a semi-healthy appreciation for its artistic qualities, you might be missing out on some of the most poignant poets of our time. We’ve started this piece off with a few quotes from some well known, as well as lesser known urban poets whose thoughts seem to be ignored by everyone but rap fans.
If you can come up with some better ones that we may have missed, let us know so we can educate. This month is rap, but who knows? It’s not the only type of music that gets a bad rap. We bet country, rock, reggae; all music fans can help us to reveal the true poets (rather than posers) within their genre of choice. Hook us up! In the meantime, check these out….

1. “What you know about being so deep in poverty’s dirt that the grid on your navigation won’t work?” – On being poor and under privileged. /Track: Rize (from the motion picture Rize)- Fili Stylz

2. “I don’t say only God can judge me ‘cause I see things clear- quick these crackers’ll give my black ass 100 years.” – On being a black male in the judicial system. /Track: Many Men- 50 Cent

3. “I’m sorry there must be a mix up. You want me to fix up lyrics while our president gets his dick sucked?” – On censorship. /Track: I Never Knew- Eminem

4. “I rub elbows with people you couldn’t get a hello from with a mask and a gun.” –On celebrity. /Track: Animal House- Angie Martinez

5. “Define ownership. Now will your mother ship take with it what you purchased at your outlet?” – On self awareness vs. material things. /Track: Subliminal- Floetry

6. “White kids buy it, it’s a riot when we talkin’ about pimpin’
or sippin’ on Old English brew or whatever they think we do.
Spraying double Uzis ‘cuz you know they think we live in zoos.
The problem is with this… everyone seems to be real confused;
the niggas on the streets to the old people that watch the news.”
- On misconception of culture. /Track: I Will Not Apologize- Dice Raw w/The Roots

7. “What do you do, when all eyes are looking at you
For the answers to impossible questions that ain’t true?” /Track: Equalizer- K-OS

8. “When you first come in the game they try n play you, then you drop a couple hits, look how they wave to you.” – On posers in the music industry. /Track: Encore- Jay Z

9. “It’s hard when your lady don’t believe what you say-
and what you did in the past you gotta live with today.”/Track: Faithful- Common

10. “In our days, things changed;
Everyone’s ashamed of the youth ‘cuz the truth looks strange.
And for me it’s reversed, we left them a world that’s cursed… and it hurts.
Cause any day they’ll push the button,
and all good men like Malcolm x and Bobby Hunton, died for nothing.
Don’t it make ya’ get teary? The world looks dreary,
but when you wipe your eyes- see it clearly.
There’s no need for you to fear me-
if you take your time to hear me, maybe you can learn to cheer me.
It ain’t about black or white, ‘cause we’re human
I hope we see the light before it’s ruined.”
/Track: Ghetto Gospel- Tupac