I'm retiring the Mos Def name after 2011. I'm actually doing it.

I never had any ambitions of being a movie star or anything like that, but you know, this is nice.

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

What I take from writers I like is their economy - the ability to use language to very effective ends.

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.'

To me, the job of the artist is to provide a useful and intelligent vocabulary for the world to be able to articulate feelings they experience everyday, and otherwise wouldn't have the means to express in a meaningful and useful way.

I'm blacked than midnight on Broadway and Myrtle