Identity is a prison you can never escape, but the way to redeem your past is not to run from it, but to try to understand it, and use it as a foundation to grow. Jay-Z More Quotes by Jay-Z More Quotes From Jay-Z Used to rock a throwback ballin on the corner, now I rock tailored suit lookin' like a owner. Jay-Z tailored-suits rocks used By the time I got to record my first album, I was 26, I didn't need pen or paper - my memory had been trained just to listen to a song, think of the words, and lay them to tape. Jay-Z song memories thinking Hip-hop is more about attaining wealth. People respect success. They respect big. They don't even have to like your music. If you're big enough, people are drawn to you. Jay-Z hips hip-hop people Gotta keep it peace like a buddhist Jay-Z buddhist writing moving The average rap life is two or three albums. You're lucky to get to your second album in rap! Jay-Z second-chance rap life I got 99 Problems but Mitt ain't one. Jay-Z election problem Got some, dirt on my shoulder, could you brush it off for me? Jay-Z shoulders dirt hip-hop All these ways we classify things as R&B and hip-hop and rock... It's bullshit. It's all music. If you put yourself in that box, then you won't be able to hear that it's all music at its soul. Jay-Z bullshit rocks hip-hop How could I be out there and not do anything? Jay-Z live-life compassion We were kids without fathers, so we found our fathers on wax and on the streets and in history, and in a way, that was a gift. We got to pick and choose the ancestors who would inspire the world we were going to make for ourselves. Jay-Z inspire father kids I would run into the corner store, the bodega, and just grab a paper bag or buy juice - anything just to get a paper bag. And I'd write the words on the paper bag and stuff these ideas in my pocket until I got back. Then I would transfer them into the notebook. Jay-Z notebook writing running You know the type: loud as a motorbike but wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight. Jay-Z grapes fruit fighting Stop screamin', you know the demon said it's best to die, And even if Jehovah witness, bet he'll never testify, D'Evils. Jay-Z jehovah rap evil I came, I saw, I conquered Jay-Z concerts saws records The most amazing feeling I feel Jay-Z fathers-day dad real That's why this generation is the least racist generation ever. You see it all the time. Go to any club. People are intermingling, hanging out, having fun, enjoying the same music. Hip-hop is not just in the Bronx anymore. It's worldwide. Everywhere you go, people are listening to hip-hop and partying together. Hip-hop has done that. Jay-Z nightlife party fun Kurt Cobain OD'd on heroin before committing suicide, but he also OD'd on fame. Cobain was like Basquiat: They both wanted to be famous, and were brilliant enough to make it happen. But then what? Drug addicts kill themselves trying to get that feeling they got from their first high, looking for an experience they'll never get again. In his suicide note, Cobain asked himself, "Why don't you just enjoy it?" and then answered, "I don't know!" It's amazing how much of a mindfuck success can be. Jay-Z drug suicide feelings I love you so, But why I love you, I'll never know. Jay-Z i-love-you music knows I get my by any means on, whenever there's a drought get your umbrellas out because that's when I brainstorm. Jay-Z umbrella drought mean I couldn't even think about wanting to be something else; I wouldn't let myself visualize another life. But I wrote because I couldn't stop. It was a release, a mental exercise, a way of keeping sane. Jay-Z exercise way thinking
