Even when I was out on tour I used to fly home on the weekends to be with my girl and be with my family to see my kids grow up and just be there for them. When they started going to school it was like that too whether it was homework or if I have to go up to the school I was there.
RakimThere'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.
RakimA lot of reasons I didn't do records with people is because I never wanted their light to reflect on me.
RakimDabbling in music and being in music when I was young I had my own view of what I thought music was whether it was jazz, r&b, or hip hop.
RakimWhat was once easy became confused and hard, which brings us back to the mystic question, who is God?
RakimWhen you come out the streets. I ain't braggin'. I never sold drugs but I kept a joint on me. I got arrested plenty of times back when I was a juvenile. Not saying I was a bad ass. I was a juvenile coming' out to the city, to do MC conventions that Mike & Dave was doing. I had to hold myself down. Now I put the gat up. I chill. I pay more attention to life.
RakimI don't work out too much. I just do some pushups when I feel the right hook is getting a lil weak.
RakimEverything derives from the mind. From sex to the way you want people to perceive you to anything in life, it all derives from the mind. If people start realizing this and get deeper into themselves they'll realize there's nothing that they can't do.
RakimThere's things in the Bible when you read the Quran there different wordings. The Quran is dealing with the Most High and the Bible is dealing with God. If they read them both and put it together they'll know what the true culture is.
RakimMan is symbolic to the sun. The sun is dealing with a ball of fire and didn't go out yet. Me being symbolic to the sun, that's what keeps me going, that's like my hunger. That's like my fury, my self esteem. That's the elements within me that keep my body motionable. The fire is self esteem. Inner strength.
RakimIt might take a while but I think the rap game is the people that can do it. We're all role models more than athletes because athletes don't wear clothes like the kid in the hood and they don't walk and talk like the kids in the hood. We're closer to them than anybody because they can look at us and see them.
RakimWhen you're trying to please both sides of the fence at the same time you really can't do that.
RakimThat's another thing yo rappers are scared to bring new styles out. There's so many different ways we can be flowing but everybody chooses to flow the generic way.
RakimSometimes I look at new artists trying to come out or trying to make their name and it's like they're coming into the game blind. They don't really know what the world is going to expect from them and they really trying to get in where they fit in but me I almost got the red carpet.
RakimIt 's amazing how Allah made the mind to the point where we almost alike me and you, we almost see the same. But we got different aspects of things. Certain things are what they call common sense. Allah made it like that meaning there's only one mind, be we all occupy it. Some of us dig into it a little deeper. Some of us are lazy on it. There's only one right and one wrong.
RakimA lot of times when people listen to music it's because they feel down, and that's when serious hip-hop comes into play. When times is hard, people can hear a rapper that inspires them to do what they [are] supposed to do.
RakimI'm you and you are me. I'm a man and you're a man. When people understand the more they know Self, the real Inner Self of themselves it's the same physical structure you've got. The same things you deal with I deal with. Everything derives from the mind. What's funny is the mind is the hardest question and I guess that's why I'm always writing about it.
RakimI think it's a combination of my peoples that I grew up under, places that I hung out is what contributed to where I'm at now.
RakimI never really liked the idea of doing mixtapes but at the same time it was a big thing a lot of people were doing it and it almost got to the point where if you didn't touch the mixtape circuit it was like you didn't care.
RakimBefore I started rapping and touring I weighed about 160. But by going on the road every night eating fast food, performing every night, partying and drinking I started gaining weight immediately.
RakimI go up in the supermarkets and people always go what are you doing here and I go I'm hungry in a sarcastic but nice way just to let them know yo I'm human too man.
RakimI'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.
RakimI love listening to old records to keep nostalgic feeling; it allows me to not lose the love for hip-hop.
RakimI had a little more freedom when I started sampling because you could actually do what you wanted to do.
RakimEvery time someone come out with an album don't change the whole style up but don't do what they are expecting. Surprise them.
RakimI think rap was a better move for me but football's been my love since I learned how to walk. I was gonna be a running back or quarterback. That was my life. That was it but things happen for a reason. I wouldn't trade this in for nothing.
RakimWhen I write I get to the point where I slow down and I gotta go back into the world and live nahmean.
RakimNow it seems like hip hop belongs to the people you see in the videos and radios. So I want to give it bring it back to the hood, make a statement for NY to put us back in our proper perspective, and of course let them know that Ra still spits fire.
RakimI 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.
RakimI never sold drugs. A lot of people used to think I was that dude but I never sold a crumb. I used to always be upset with that.
RakimI only made x amount of albums in 20 years and to still be living comfortably. A lot of people and friends look at me and be like yo Ra how do you do it? You don't go on tour every year and you don't make an album every year, you chill with your family and watch TV. Everyone else is out on tour getting that money. But I managed to do my thing right with the help of my accountant and I'm still comfortable.
Rakim