Rakim Quotes

Take 7 emcees put em in a line And add 7 more brothers who think they can rhyme It'll take 7 more before I go for mine And that's 21 emcees ate up at the same time.

I start to think, and then I sink Into the paper like I was ink When I'm writing, I'm trapped in between the lines I escape when I finish the rhyme.

It ain't where you're from, it's where you're at.

Stay wise and the mind is untouchable.

Teach the youth to speak the truth, show them what peace can do

I'm just an addict, addicted to music Maybe it's a habit...I gotta use it.

Timeless, so age don't count in the booth When your flow stay submerged in the fountain of youth

Thinkin' of a master plan Cause ain't nothin' but sweat inside my hand.

I'm everlastin, I can go on for days and days With rhyme displays that engrave deep as X-rays I can take a phrase that's rarely heard, FLIP IT Now it's a daily word

So I start my mission- leave my residence Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents

I get a craving like I fiend for nicotine. But I don't need a cigarette, know what I mean?

What was once easy became confused and hard, which brings us back to the mystic question, who is God?

I wake you up and as I stare in your face, you seem stunned. Remember me? The one you got your idea from?

When you get to know your self, you get to know everyone and everything on the planet.

I love listening to old records to keep nostalgic feeling; it allows me to not lose the love for hip-hop.

I try to keep myself out of the unnecessary bullshit.

I used to roll up: this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny. Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money.

It's a bold statement but I think people need to read between the lines.

I ain't no joke, I used to let the mic smoke, Now I slam it when I'm done and make sure it's broke.

What's powerful about the mind, the mind comes through every physical and when the physical goes the mind still exists.

It's been a long time...I shouldn't have left you Without a strong rhyme to step to.

The older I get the wiser and more skillful I get.

The mind is one of Allah's best designs.

I go to Queens for queens to get the crew from Brooklyn, Make money in Manhattan and never been tooken. Go Uptown and the Bronx to boogie down, Get strong on the Island, recoup, and lay around.

You can't win for losing.

So all hail the honorable, microphone phenomenal Persona is unbombable? Trust me son, I continue like a saga do, bringin' you the drama to allow you that the chronicle has just begun.

Self-esteem makes me super, superb and supreme

I've always tried to insert consciousness and spirituality in my records, interpreting the writings of all cultures and religions and how they apply to life in modern times.

We lost the connection between the entertainment world and the neighborhoods.

You can look in a book of wrong and learn more right. If you're reading a book that has all wrong in it , you're learning what not to do.

I always had an intelligence with me, I was always in the streets, I was always trying to do good. I was always looking for something to guide me. In the beginning church wasn't it.

I just try to do me and stay out of harms way.

Tried to put shame in my game to make a name, I'mma put it on a bullet...put it in your brain.

I can take a phrase that's rarely heard/Flip it - now it's a daily word

I had a little more freedom when I started sampling because you could actually do what you wanted to do.

I got one of the illest crews in NY but when I travel it's mostly me and my girl, me and my kids or me and one or two of my dudes but the majority of the time its just me.

Being in this game if you are gonna sell drugs and make records too then as many records you make is gonna be as many people that know you sell drugs. We got the hip hop cops listening now.

Now I got kids and I'm more wise now. Life means more to me than having fun. I'm more calm, more wise, and more cautious.

I'm one dude and when I make my bed I lay in it but don't stereotype me. Never sold a crumb to this day and I don't do nothing on the side.

You can hear the seven sins Blowin' through the ghetto wind.

Hopefully the rappers can start to open the eyes in the neighborhoods and communities.

And I'll break, when I'm through breakin, I'll leave you broke, Drop the mic when I'm finished, and watch it smoke

There's so many different ways to write a rhyme its stupid man. I don't understand why the majority of the rap game sounds the same.

Everything becomes too normal after a while.

I saw a lot when I was young. The first time I got arrested I was twelve years old.

Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years, But weak ideas irritate my ears. Is this the best that you can make? Cause if not, and you got more...I'll wait.

Now life is imitating art.

I don't work out too much. I just do some pushups when I feel the right hook is getting a lil weak.

When you're trying to please both sides of the fence at the same time you really can't do that.

When I go out I get so much love I gotta change my way of thinking.