Quotes by Chuck D

Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and when people start getting it confused, that means they need to sit down with some real people.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

Being positive is like going up a mountain. Being negative is like sliding down a hill. A lot of times, people want to take the easy way out, because it's basically what they've understood throughout their lives.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

The immediacy of the technology of the web allows us, as songwriters, to write something very sharp and quick. That has a lot to do with helping a songwriter be more reflective of reality, instead of being in an area where you have to process things. It's the difference between processing fish and catching it in a boat.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

Of course voting is useful. But then again, I don't put a big glow to it. Voting is about as essential as washing yourself. It's something you're supposed to do. Now, you can't go around bragging, expecting to get props because you voted. That's stupid.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

When you travel the world, you have to watch and you have to listen. We're not going to come in to Ireland without an understanding that there's a history that's very sensitive.

— Chuck D

Life

A lot of times black folks look for love in all the wrong places. You're always looking for somebody to love you, be accepted, and there's the insecurities that are even transmitted through rap. Everyone is trying to aim to please too much.

— Chuck D

Love

I'd rather have a hundred thousand or a million people saying I'm nuts and I'm crazy for my musical choices and what I've said lyrically, than a million people all raising their hand on the first day.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

I think governments are the cancer of civilization.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

There are too many leaders anointed because they have a public voice - television, radio, or record, or whatever. That even includes myself. In the past, I'd say, 'Don't anoint me when you can anoint yourself.'

— Chuck D

Wisdom

Government and culture are two diametrically opposed forces - the one blinds and oppresses, the other uplifts and unites.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

Music and art and culture is escapism, and escapism sometimes is healthy for people to get away from reality. The problem is when they stay there.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

Downloadable music is the biggest musical phenomenon since the Beatles, and the music industry is slow to come to grips with that.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

I'm a multi-tasker. I was down with that stuff before they invented the term.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

You can't master time, but you have to work your hardest to manage it.

— Chuck D

Success

Hip-hop is a part of rock & roll because it comes from DJ culture. DJ culture is the embodiment of all genres and all recorded music, if you actually pay attention to it.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

I grew up as a sports fan, and I know that a hall of fame is very different than an award for being the best of the year. It's a nod to the longevity of our accomplishment.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

I believe that, artistically and culturally, the free radio air should be able to support local artists of whatever genre. Play 40 percent of your local artists; don't suck up to major labels to the point where you neglect your own locale.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

I spread the message of hope and of unity. That's what gets me up in the morning. I can tell you what is wrong, but I can't tell you how to fix it. I'm a raptivist, not a politician. I deal in hope.

— Chuck D

Hope

I was inspired by the classic rock radio of the Seventies. They separated Chuck Berry and the Beatles from the Led Zeppelins and Bostons and Peter Framptons of the time. In many ways, classic rock became bigger than mainstream rock.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

Real people do real things. A collective of a whole bunch of people who do things in their own locale, in their own neighborhoods - the sum is bigger than the parts, and the parts will grow.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

Rappers should just be able to perform what they create and satisfy the people that like and love them.

— Chuck D

Love

I think too much of the music industry is for the lawyer and accountant mentality.

— Chuck D

Wisdom

My mother went to university, my father didn't. But they are very educated, very wise people. My father went to the military, so he's worldly.

— Chuck D

Life

People aren't going to support an artist just because they have an audio file. They have to feel a real connection.

— Chuck D

Wisdom