You can't say I don't sound like a N.Y. rapper - it's because I don't wanna sound like nobody else.
A Boogie wit da Hoodien
The best rappers I know are, like, air-conditioner men.
Action Bronson
New York was at the forefront of rap, so because of all the great people who have gone before me, being a rapper from Queens, I have to live up to those standards. I'm basically just a regular guy who says what he feels and likes to joke. I like long walks on the beach... and I love rap.
The first rappers I ever got into were Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, and Nas. Those are the guys. Those are the dudes that flipped my wig.
I guess I am a rapper. It's weird to be called that, or tell someone that's your profession.
I grew up in the '90s. My goal isn't to be a '90s rapper, but I have little hints of '90s influence in my music. It's a modern approach to classic rap.
You know how there's all these rappers like Mike D and King T and Ice T and Cool C or something like that? Well, on Mayberry, on 'Andy Griffith,' they had Aunt B.
Ad-Rock
Our talent and skill as rappers is clearly the first thing you notice. I don't know what we were thinking. We just really love rap and wanted to be rappers. Is that weird?
I head a Salt-n-Pepa song one time, where they named every rapper in New York. And they didn't name us!
Everybody wants to be a rapper - even country musicians.
I'll be, like, the oldest rapper alive.
I'm not a good rapper. For whatever reason, my brain does not work that way. I just do the beginning, like, 'Yeah, yeah! Ha ha! Woo! What up? Come on! Get at me!' I'm Captain Hook.
Adam DeVine
I was a rapper and a DJ, and if you wanted to be involved in hip-hop, you had to be involved in the sonic, the kinetic and the visual aspects. The visual was graffiti.
Adam Mansbach
I remember when I was younger, I read that Jay-Z was 33 and I was just like, 'Damn! This dudes really still goin for it?' It's just so rare that you see any rapper over 30 doing anything interesting.
Aesop Rock
I had written rap songs in the early '90s and even did a couple homemade rap songs with my brother in like '88 or '89, but it was just like... I don't even know how to say it. Just plain rap. I was just rapping about whatever, there was no real style or direction, it was just semi-braggadocious rhymes that probably imitated 100 other rappers.
I love the playfulness and braggadocio that accompanies a ton of rap music - that's basically what makes up the foundation for most rappers. But there is nothing 'weirder' to me than someone who has never doubted themselves.
I never really planned on being a rapper, I just kinda did it and then people started liking it.
I'm not interested in hearing yet another rapper tell me why he's the best. Why not tell a story set in a specific time and place? Create some characters, add a little bit of action and you're good to go.
A lot of times, when people say hip-hop, they don't know what they're talking about. They just think of the rappers. When you talk about hip-hop, you're talking about the whole culture and movement. You have to take the whole culture for what it is.
Afrika Bambaataa
People get caught up in worshipping certain rappers, or they try to demonise hip hop by looking at what certain rappers are doin' in their lives.
I have a personal relationship with Dizzee Rascal - I know him, he's cool - so this is no disrespect to him or any other British rappers who tried to make it in America, like Wiley and Tinie Tempah, but the type of music they were making to be accepted over there - it doesn't translate.
In America, they don't need to look outside their country for anything, so they definitely don't need to look elsewhere for rappers with weird accents that they have to get accustomed to, which is like homework to them.
Once upon a time Americans didn't want to listen to Canadian rap and now Drake's the biggest rapper in the world.
It's a bit cheeky as a rapper to make a singing album.
My dad used to be a rapper, he had a rap group. They did proper old school, boom-bap music. He had a high top and everything.
I'm obviously not a rapper, and I don't have any claims to be one, really.
People said that way back in the early days I was probably one of the first rappers; the reason is that I couldn't sing, so I had to talk! Lou Reed was probably the one who started it all.
And I learned a lot from working with this kid, and I think he's gonna be a big star. Remember the name, Tim Dark, because he has something about his voice that's different from all the other rappers, even though his style is similar.
I still very much appreciate the storytelling of the best rappers.
In hip hop, 'real' has always meant one who represents in actuality what they present in imagery. For instance, once upon a time, if a rapper spoke about being gangsta, they needed to truly be that, or they were 'frontin.'
I love songwriting, and rap is part of my songwriting, but I'm not a rapper.
Nothing I do is ever void of melody. I know it might seem like I'm doing a lot of rapping, but I'm always utilizing tone and trying to find a key signature. So, I don't look at myself as a rapper.
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.
I'm a huge fan of Big L. He is my favorite rapper.
If someone announces me as a 'Christian rapper,' there's still an 'Eh, no thanks.' But perceptions are starting to change.
I don't like calling it Christian rap. Titles are so limiting. It's hip-hop. I'm a rapper.
For some reason, we have completely separated Christians who are rappers, and we have separated, I guess, regular rappers. I feel that we should be able to mingle, enjoy each other's company, and trade ideas.
Guys pit female rappers against each other because female rappers - if you haven't noticed of late - are a lot more interesting than guys.
I put everyone in my school on to Nicki Minaj before she blew up. I was obsessed with her and I was like, 'If she's the best female rapper then I've got to be better than her.'
The one thing about this Trump fiasco that never set well with me was the fact that everyone loved him until he ran for president. Every rapper, entertainer and actor was chasing a Trump check, then everyone changed on him almost overnight and I thought that was weird so I kept my eyes open.
I like Chance The Rapper a lot.
I wanted to write a book like a rapper would write it - I didn't want to hold back. Rappers catch a lot of slack; I'm not going to be cursing up a storm, but when I look at Nas... his first album is one of my favorites. I want to tell stories like that.
You take the quote from Sam Jackson about how he'll never work with a rapper, and I can understand where he's coming from because he says rappers can't act.
Some of these guys... I've worked with Ice Cube, I think he's an immensely talented rapper and actor.
You can say what you want to about a rapper in a movie, but look at what Ice Cube has done. Ice Cube has created more opportunities for other actors to get jobs in this business than some actors have.
Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar sounds decades older than he is, and it's not necessarily the wear and tear that comes from a rough life; instead, his world-weariness seems to result from years of soul-searching.
Gonjasufi may sound at first like a rambling hip-hop crackpot, but there's more to the California rapper and singer than mere eccentricity: What appears messy and thrown together is anything but.
There was this rapper from New Orleans, Mystikal, who when I hear his music, I hear myself. Whenever I wanna get hyped, I put on Mystikal.
I actually think some of the rappers can help our image, because the thing I'm concerned about is the NBA's image. I always want our image to be on the rise, and if the rappers can help young players get business-minded, then I'm all for it.
I listen to what people say in the songs, not just the melodies. With rappers you gotta listen to what they say.
