“Hip-hop has taken a lot of different routes throughout the years, man....” — Rakim Quote

Hip-hop has taken a lot of different routes throughout the years, man. I've been around since 1986.

I'm a fan of Jay-Z, from the negotiating table to the booth.

I'm not in that state of mind that I was back in '86 - hip-hop is not in that state of mind that it was back in '86. Times change. I change.

People always tell me that they grew up with me - like I'm their brother or uncle or some other family member. That keeps me going.

When you listen to old-school music, you can smell your mother's food in the kitchen. You can feel where you was when you first heard that song. That's what's beautiful about music. It's for everyone, but we all have individual memories that make us love it.

I was about nine years old when I first heard Wu-Tang's 'C.R.E.A.M.' Before that, I didn't know anything about rap or hip-hop. I was just into Korean pop.

I can do every type of music, but hip-hop was my way into the game.

I grew up around hip-hop so I didn't think it was about being cool or being black or being white or whatever.

In hip-hop, there's not a lot of love. There's not a lot of love being spread. It's always like 'I'm stuntin' on you raps, or I'm better than you raps.' It's not a lot of 'Yo man, I idolize you raps.'

I feel like hip-hop is the new pop because it has a lot of influence because of our culture.