A Quote by Raekwon

We was just young guys who wanted to change. We got tired of doin' this same everyday bullshit that we was doin', and we all felt like we had dreams o' bein' a big star. You know, as far as with myself, I never really took it that serious as bein' a star. I only took it that serious as bein' a emcee, which is two different things. You know what I mean?
My relationship with my dad will always be strained, but that just goes to show, I guess, that I'm doin' a pretty good job of bein' myself, and bein' a rebel.
I'm rightly tired of the pain I hear and feel, boss. I'm tired of bein on the road, lonely as a robin in the rain. Not never havin no buddy to go on with or tell me where we's comin from or goin to or why. I'm tired of people bein ugly to each other. It feels like pieces of glass in my head. I'm tired of all the times I've wanted to help and couldn't. I'm tired of bein in the dark. Mostly it's the pain. There's too much. If I could end it, I would. But I can't.
Gittin' talked about is one o' th' penalties for bein' purty, while bein' above suspicion is about th' only compensation fer bein' homely.
It's kinda hard bein humble in the belly of the struggle, Doin things that probably get you in trouble.
I can't think outside of [bein' an artist]. That's how deep I am into this, and so focused that I really can't think, like, if I wasn't an artist, what I'd be doin' in school. I'm pretty sure I'd be doin' it - if I didn't go into music, I'd be working, have a regular job or something probably, and goin' to school like everybody else and all my other peers around my age.
Everything I do, I do it because it's me. At the end of the day, I only know how to be me. Everything is gonna be authentic, so I think, when it comes down to sayin' certain stuff in lyrics, or whatever the case may be, it's just me bein' me and me bein' honest.
Hip hop is expression..our roots and culture..Its your duty to contribute uniqueness to this artform. Desire of bringing somethin new, improved, witty and soul touching is what bein an m.c. is all about. I wanted my intelligence to be heard in my lyrics..I wanted the pain to be felt...and the happiness i encountered. Bein an m.c. takes originality, style, imagination, delivery, intelligence and presence.
When you grow up in that environment of drugs and guns and people gettin' hurt, it start to reflect your background. And I think, at that time when I was doin' it, that's all I knew. But as I got older in the business, I stopped bein' involved with that, and I started to look at the world. And I said, 'Yo, I wanna start talkin' about everything that goes on in the world. I don't wanna just limit myself to one style'.
I never cared, I was careless, Fear bein afraid or maybe I'm afraid to be fearless. Or fear bein' fearless but fearful, So even in my carelessness...gotta be careful.
I always wanted to do things right and represent myself as somebody that took the art serious and someone that took the business serious also, so I had time to weigh the options and figure it out and do my best to create the situation that was ideal.
I kinda came into my manhood, or what I thought was my adulthood, early. I had to show up, and I had to make sure I had gas money, food money, rent money, clothes money - everything was on me, startin' at that age, so that's what led me to start hustlin', that's what led me to start to try to find ways to fend for myself. And once I did that, I was full-time, bein' in the street, and, bein' in the street, it's cold. It's the way the streets operate, and you have to adapt to that.
You’re just a young kid. What are you doin’ here? You oughta be out in a convertible, why… bird-doggin’ chicks and bangin’ beaver. What are ya doin’ here, for Christ’s sake? What’s funny about that? Jesus, I mean, you guys do nothin’ but complain about how you can’t stand it in this place here and then you haven’t got the guts just to walk out!
When you think of a chef you think of somebody that could cook - you don't think of chef that says, 'Yo, I make only steaks'. No. A chef knows how to bake, he knows how to fry, he knows how to sautee, he knows how to do everything that's pertaining to food, and that's how I felt about my lyrical position. It's like I would say, 'Today I'm gonna make a hot salmon. Tomorrow I make you spaghetti. The next day I make you baked fish'. This is how my lyrical content in my head was already bein' reciprocated to the world, bein' given to y'all like that.
I'm tired of screwing up. I'm tired of being down. I'm tired of myself. I'm tired of bein' down.
I'm just going to be myself. And when you're bein' yourself, you don't have to back up lies or the stories you told. You don't got to sugarcoat nothin'.
I could never deny myself bein' an artist.
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