Quotes from KRS-One

I existed before the mainstream. Why would I join them? I watched the mainstream come up, and now I'm watching it collapse. I don't want to be a part of that.

Self-management and self-control are the keys to advanced knowledge, and both are difficult to learn without a sense of your own cultural identity.

Hip Hop is an extension of our very being, and so the study of Hip Hop is the study of self-expression leading to the study of one's true self.

When we say, 'Look, Donald Trump was a friend to hip hop back in the day; so was Bill Clinton,' It doesn't mean that because he was a friend to hip hop back in the day, that the same Bill Clinton wasn't at the lead of this mass incarceration of African Americans today.

I look at it like this: you may only sell 20,000 to 100,000 albums. But those albums are going to be heard by future doctors, lawyers, judges, firemen, etc. Those albums are being sold to the right people that move society. They're interested in what you have to say.

The only solution to the education system is to find yourself.

Hate reveals itself for what it really is - evil! It cannot see clearly, so it exposes itself at every turn, and those that truly love can see it.

When I wake up in the morning, do I think I'm a role model? Yes. I'm not trying to have a pristine image, because a real role model shows you to the good and ugly.

Graffiti art brings you back to your human skills - your spirit and what your being is really about.

When you're not attached to anything, nothing can harm you. When people become attached, they can be harmed. I know this, so I don't attach myself to anything, really.

I think that Napster is the greatest invention since sliced bread. Napster, to me, is liberation and freedom for artists.

We gotta put our heads together, and stop the violenceCause real bad boys move in silenceWhen you're in a club, you come to chill outNot watch someone's blood just spill outThat's what these other people want to seeAnother race fight endlessly

Love yourself and your expression, you can't go wrong.

You know, you don't see with your eyes You see with your brain And the more words your brain has The more things you can see

Rap is something you do. Hip-hop is something you live.

You know something, it's best no to have what you need because then, you start looking for what you need and make it what you need.

This is how many today treat GOD and Hip Hop. They seek the hand and not the face. They seek the luxury but not the culture, the food but not the appetite, the house but not the home, the medicine but not the health, the bed but not the rest. They would rather use GOD/Hip Hop than live GOD/Hip Hop.

The universe thinks and responds to your thinking, and this is the essence of what Hip Hop is for us; it is our relationship with divinity. Hip Hop is what we are doing with our portion of GOD.

the way to experience GOD is to experience true Love, and this is achieved not by receiving love, but by being Love itself.

At its core, Hip Hop is not just an art form; it is the pursuit of one's authentic being through the Arts.

Hip Hop is GOD's response to our suffering and this gospel celebrates that response and the personal character that caused such divine responses to occur.

But as for us, as for our group commonly known in the World as "Hip Hop," this gospel acknowledges and celebrates the Love that has saved OUR people from self-destruction. It is time to repent and grow up! Rapping about crime and murder may sound good amongst those who have never committed such acts, but for those of us who are REAL IN THE FIELD, we send this message to our young people—YOU DON'T REALLY WANT IT!

Only love is consistent because only love is unconditional.

For me, I see myself as a role model because, everything I do, there is a person somewhere who needs to hear me spread a message of non-violent conflict resolution.