When you talking about funk music you just talking about a collage of a lot of different types of music. They used strings, they had brass, they had vocalist.

I feel worn down as a human being who has to constantly justify their existence to other human beings because I'm a minority

I love Dr. King, but violence might be necessary; Cause when you live on MLK and it gets very scary, You might have to pull your AK, send one to the cemetery.

What I am is an encourager. I encourage all who deserve freedom to fight for that. And if you can't win by yourself, then find other people to be in solidarity with.

Being a black rapper is like being a Southern, socialite woman: You're always worried about appearances.

I'll always push for what I believe in. That's what you're supposed to do. If you're an American, you're supposed to be part of the political process, especially if you've been denied it.

This is jazz, this is funk, this is soul, this is gospel This is sanctified sick, this is player Pentecostal. This is church front pew, Amen, pulpit, What my people need and the opposite of bullshit.

I learned to fly planes at fifteen years old because one of my teachers thought I'd be a better pilot than rapper.

I'm lucky in that in my character in hip hop is me. I'm Michael Render. My character is Killer Mike. But the truth that I sing in my raps align themselves with the policy of Bernie Sanders.

The futile and exhausting existence of a purgatory-like law enforcement system.

I don't trust the church or the government, and anything the church or the government tells me I assume to be a lie or a conspiracy, until proven true.

Your brightest light will take you to your greatest heights.

I'm just writing love songs. I'm not trying to be pop. I'm not trying to be jazz. I'm not trying to be anything. I'm just writing love songs. And everyone loves a love song.

Live interviews are more difficult to distort.

I enjoy pushing my characters to the limit. No matter how far out there I go, I look for things that make the characters human.

The Four Aces asked me if I'd like to sing with them as they didn't really have a lead singer.

Courage lies in being oneself, in showing complete independence, in loving what one loves, in discovering the deep roots of one's feelings.

Clearly the most unfortunate people are those who must do the same thing over and over again, every minute, or perhaps twenty to the minute. They deserve the shortest hours and the highest pay.

If they don't go to law school, bright college graduates head to Wall Street precisely because they have no real plan for their careers.

Every popular zillion dollar sport has its share of personal scandals around the sport and its leadership.

With type as with philosophy, music and food, it is better to have a little of the best than to be swamped with the derivative, the careless, the routine.