Quotes About Legacy

KRS One and LL Cool J are the biggest influences in my rap career, along with Heavy D.

I want to be a rap icon.

I really wish that I would have gone to college. Even my son, who's into rap himself, I tell him and tell his children, 'Go to college. Get that education - it is so important. Don't do like I did.' I had all this singing on my mind, and I just didn't have time for it.

B.I.G. was like the Alfred Hitchcock of rap. Like, this dude's story form was so nuts.

If you look at my rap sheet, it's very long.

From the beginning of my rap career, since I was seen and heard, I always had a store.

Edward Curtis was a photographer in the late 19th century who tried to document the rapidly disappearing Native Americans. He assembled a canon of work which, today, is exemplary and invaluable.

When I get done playing basketball, I'm definitely not going to be a rapper. I'm not going to be an old person who is focused on being a rapper.

I didn't want to be a rapper full time. You know, Big L kinda - God bless the dead - influenced me to do that.

I'll be, like, the oldest rapper alive.

I think more like an entertainer rather than just a rapper. My overall goal is to never be listed as just a rapper. You know how Michael Jackson was listed as a great entertainer? That's what I want to be.

Ask any rapper or singer what artist they are an expert on. What artist are they looking to emulate, and really, what artist is the one person they are an expert on? You see, if you want any kind of longevity, if you want any kind of legacy, you need to know what ancestral line you are from.

My mom was a rapper and she really shaped me as a woman, and the music that she was letting me listen to as a child really pushed me in the direction that I'm going in right now.

My mom is the first female rapper I've ever known. I'm thinking, like, Okay, yeah, this is normal. Everybody's doing this.

Nas was a huge influence. That's probably my favorite rapper of all time.

People compare me to Kendrick. I've seen comparisons with Jay-Z, with Nas, with Chance The Rapper. I get a lot of Eminem comparisons.

I'm part of the generation that grew up with great rappers like 2Pac and Biggie and people like Amy Winehouse. We've seen a lot of different artists come and go. Even people who are still here, they seem consumed and blinded by fame. It may not have taken them out physically, but they have been taken out.

My favorite rappers are a lot of other people's favorite rappers. I love Jay Z, Kanye, 2Pac, Biggie, old Mos Def.

I'm trying to resurrect old school rappers from N.Y.

I like Biggie. Like 'Pac, he was one of the best rappers in the business. Why would I try to do something to him?

The rappers have gone in and created a lot of hit music based upon my influence. And they'll tell you if you ask.

I've been around a long time, and when I was at the top of the hill, I was very ahead of my time! Evidence of that is that my music is still current today - you know, rappers sample it all the time. So, rather than compromise my artistic integrity, I concentrated on movies.

I'm the type of guy that always respect the older rappers who paved the way for us to get here.

Eminem is one of the greatest rappers of all time.