Top 90 Mos Def Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Hip-hop is a beautiful culture. It’s inspirational, because it’s a culture of survivors. You can create beauty out of nothingness.”

— Mos Def

2. “Focused. I’m a hustler. And my hustle is trying to figure out the best ways to do what I like without having to do much else.”

— Mos Def

3. “Don’t look down, it’s an impossible view; Fly like an eagle whatever you do.”

— Mos Def

4. “All the things that are worth doing, take time.”

— Mos Def

5. “If Islam’s sole interest is the welfare of mankind, then Islam is the strongest advocate of human rights anywhere on Earth.”

— Mos Def

6. “Make today’s solid ground out of yesterday’s quicksand.”

— Mos Def

7. “That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn’t be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind.”

— Mos Def

8. “Fear not of men because men must die. Mind over matter and soul before flesh.”

— Mos Def

9. “Man, I smashed her like an Idaho Potato.”

— Mos Def

10. “My presence speaks volumes before I say a word.”

— Mos Def

11. “I’m an independent thinker. And I’m not the poster child for any movement. I’m trying to support whatever’s right no matter where it is.”

— Mos Def

12. “African art is functional, it serves a purpose. It’s not a dormant. It’s not a means to collect the largest cheering section. It should be healing, a source a joy. Spreading positive vibrations.”

— Mos Def

13. “You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions.”

— Mos Def

14. “Young bloods can’t spell but they can rock you in Playstation.”

— Mos Def

15. “You can positively affect and change a social circumstance with art, and it’s vital that a change happens now.”

— Mos Def

16. “At its heart, music is all higher mathematics.”

— Mos Def

17. “I don’t care about what brand you are, I’m concerned what type of man you are, what your principles and standards are.”

— Mos Def

18. “My Umi said shine your light on the world, shine your light for the world to see.”

— Mos Def

19. “I give a damn if any fan recalls my legacy, I’m trying to live life in the sight of GOD’s memory.”

— Mos Def

20. “Speech is my hammer bang the world into shape now let it fall – HUNGH.”

— Mos Def

21. “You want to know how to rhyme, then learn how to add. It’s mathematics.”

— Mos Def

22. “There are a lot of people who call themselves teachers or leaders, but they’re really just propagandists.”

— Mos Def

23. “It wouldn’t be fair to cast aspersions on an entire cultural movement based on the actions of a few. To quote my grandfather, ‘One bad apple don’t spoil the whole bunch.’”

— Mos Def

24. “Live now for the promise of the Infinite.”

— Mos Def

25. “I don’t have advice for people on how to dress. People should dress based on what they find beautiful. My best advice: Keep your clothes clean.”

— Mos Def

26. “What I take from writers I like is their economy – the ability to use language to very effective ends. The ability to have somebody read something and see it, or for somebody to paint an entire landscape of visual imagery with just sheets of words – that’s magical.”

— Mos Def

27. “But even creeps deserve to live someplace halfway decent.”

— Mos Def

28. “I ain’t no perfect man I’m tryna do the best that I can with what it is I have.”

— Mos Def

29. “I don’t hate nobody. I hate certain conditions that are inflicted upon the people – and they’re helpless with it.”

— Mos Def

30. “When people say, ‘I don’t see you enough,’ well just because you don’t see me don’t mean I don’t exist, or just ’cause you haven’t heard me don’t mean I haven’t been making noise. But if I keep making noise, you’ll pick up.”

— Mos Def

31. “And remember don’t high post when you’re far from home, and high posting when you’re all alone.”

— Mos Def

32. “They say that when a man faces his destiny, the destiny ends and he becomes the man that he really is.”

— Mos Def

33. “Everything’s got space between it, the planets, trees, your eyes. Your eyes get too close together, it’s a whole different world. You can lose perspective.”

— Mos Def

34. “I’m doing exactly what I was supposed to do. Yeah. I didn’t exactly choose this. My own life, if it were up to me, would be very, very quiet. I’d be like a shopkeeper, a book collector, or something like that. I’m not like this. Myself as a performer and an artist is totally different from who I am.”

— Mos Def

35. “I don’t want to waste anyone’s time or money. I want to give people some truth and positive heart lift.”

— Mos Def

36. “You’re not gonna get through life without being worshipful or devoted to something. You’re either devoted to your job, or to your desires. So the best way to spend your life is to try to be devoted to prayer, to Allah.”

— Mos Def

37. “If it’s just fame for the sake of being famous, no one even cares about you – and you don’t even care about yourself because you’re like, “This is so ridiculous.””

— Mos Def

38. “Hip-Hop went from selling crack to smoking it.”

— Mos Def

39. “Bob Marley performed the ‘One Love Peace’ concert in Jamaica with the two different warring political sides. There’s always been that in black music and culture in general. It’s no surprise because black music is such a reflection of what’s going on in black life. It’s not unusual for hip-hop.”

— Mos Def

40. “Good art provides people with a vocabulary about things they can’t articulate.”

— Mos Def

41. “Every time you ask yourself where hip-hop’s going, ask yourself where you’re going; how are you doing?”

— Mos Def

42. “I can’t control what people think. I’m not trying to manipulate people’s thoughts or sentiments. I write all the time. You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions. It’s machine-like how things are run now in hip-hop, and my ambitions are different.”

— Mos Def

43. “I’m not shy about heated debate or passionate discourse, but when people get crazy or rude, that’s a buzz kill. There’s got to be a better code of conduct, some basic etiquette.”

— Mos Def

44. “We can be beautiful and feel beautiful about who we are everyday.”

— Mos Def

45. “History has proven that it’s impossible to crush the artist. There’s always gonna be a need for somebody to write a poem or sing a song about something, about life – that makes it real. There’s the word that goes beyond the word.”

— Mos Def

46. “Hip-hop is the last true folk art.”

— Mos Def

47. “We blasted holes in the night until she bled sunshine.”

— Mos Def

48. “I believe the projects were a social experiment; we were laboratory rats stacked on top of each other, and people just knew, inherently, that there was something wrong. There’s not a lot of regard for the property by the residents.”

— Mos Def

49. “I know what it feels like to have the door slammed firmly in my face, so I’m cool with that.”

— Mos Def

50. “I guess something that you love to do, you gotta ease up off it and give it a little space, come back and be fresh to it.”

— Mos Def