1. “Look inside my soul and you can find gold, maybe get rich. Look inside of your shoulder and you can find out it never exists.”
2. “My always told me, ‘How long are you gonna play the victim?’ I can say I’m mad and I hate everything, but nothing really changes until I change myself.”
3. “I think my vice would be outdoing myself.”
4. “We all get distracted, the question is, would you bounce back or bounce backwards?”
5. “Being able to tell one from start to finish, and making that puzzle come together at the end. That’s art for me.”
6. “Maybe because I’m a dreamer and sleep is the of death.”
7. “It’s a great, great experience to finally get the reception that you know you rightfully deserve.”
8. “We’re all human at the end of the day, making mistakes. But learning from them is key.”
9. “Forgiving is easy. Trusting again, not so much.”
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10. “We hurt people that love us, love people that hurt us.”
11. “But what does love have to do with it when you don’t love yourself?”
12. “Don’t wait until it’s too late, you might not get another chance.”
13. “The opposite of love? Vice. Temptation. The negative influences that we have. The bad energy that comes around us and makes us do certain things. To me, it’s always a war between the two.”
14. “Kids don’t see hate in their eyes. They see the world, and live in it to the best of their abilities. And that’s where love comes from for me.”
15. “I’ve got an extra-specific story about Dr. Dre. I saw him when I was 9 years old in Compton with him and . They were shooting the second ‘California Love’ video. My pops had seen him and ran back to the house and got me, put me on his neck, and we stood there watching Dre and Pac in a Bentley.”
16. “When you go on your Twitter or look down your timeline and it’s all great positivity, I love that. But at the same time, it can really divert you from what your purpose is or what you’re trying to do. And I’ve seen artists get caught up in that.”
17. “Love is not just a verb. It’s you looking in the mirror.”
18. “God to me is love. It’s the ruler of all things, whether it’s with a person or with music or with your TV. I feel like it’s this energy. God is energy, love is energy.”
19. “It’s the beauty in her, but when the makeup occurs, I don’t see it, all I see is a blur.”
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20. “I am a sinner who’s probably gonna sin again. Lord forgive me!”
21. “We’re all put on this earth to walk in His image, the Master.”
22. “I stole a Bible, is that a sin?”
23. “So, the next time you feel like the world’s about to end, I hope you studied, because he’s testing your faith again.”
24. “The Universe’s energy doesn’t lie.”
25. “People have to go through trials and tribulations to get where they are. Do your thing, continue to rock it, because obviously, God wants you here.”
26. “I’d rather not live like there isn’t a God, then die and find out there really is. Think about it.”
27. “I have a greater purpose. God put something in my heart to get across and that’s what I’m going to focus on, using my voice as an instrument and doing what needs to be done.”
28. “My word will never be as strong as God’s word. All I am is just a vessel, doing His work.”
29. “My rights, my wrongs, I write ‘til I’m right with God.”
30. “When I talk to kids, I’m really listening. When I do that, we have a little bit of a bigger connection than me being Kendrick Lamar and you being a student. It’s almost like we’re friends. Because a friend listens.”
31. “Just let me be me. That’s the only way I know how to hold it down.”
32. “Groups break up because they never got across what they wanted to do personally, and they have creative differences, and egos start to clash.”
33. “My folks didn’t graduate from high school or nothing like that, so we always had to struggle in the family and I come from a big family.”
34. “What separated me from all my homeboys is the fact that I didn’t get caught inside the reality. I was always dreaming about doing something else or going somewhere else.”
35. “I could never right my wrongs unless I write it down for real.”
36. “Black and brown pride has been taught in my household for a long time.”
37. “I think that I finally reached the pinnacle. Finding myself as an individual.”
38. “I got a bus full of bitches, I call it Jerome Bettis.”
39. “A 24 year old millionaire. Don’t read the contract ‘less a mill in there.”
40. “The one in front of the gun lives forever.”
41. “Eventually, you get to this point where you understand what you want to do.”
42. “Life will put many red lights in front of you, but sometimes, we must push on the gas and trust God.”
43. “Live your life, live it right. Be different, do different things.”
44. “I live this life at a pace that anyone can go. Know your place and dedicate your role to the faith that you’ll die alone.”
45. “Talk about it. Make me talk about it. Life to me is currency, prosperity. I got it.”
46. “Whatever pressure I feel all comes from me from within. I always was that person who was hard on myself and challenged myself no matter what I was doing, whether it was passing third grade or playing basketball.”
47. “There’s kids out there that have so much life to live. That’s a beautiful thing.”
48. “I had to come from something that was negative and positive, but the majority of it is a negative place.”
49. “Take advantage. Do your best. Don’t stress. You were granted everything inside this planet. Anything you imagine, you possess.”
50. “I always thought money was something just to make me happy. But I’ve learned that I feel better being able to help my folks, ’cause we never had nothing. So just to see them excited about my career is more of a blessing than me actually having it for myself.”
51. “One for the money, two for the show, three for No Limit and the rest for Def Row.”
52. “Don’t you know your imperfections are a wonderful blessing?”
53. “Before finding music, I didn’t have too many aspirations. I wanted to hang out, make a little money from whatever I had to do.”
54. “Cooking in a laboratory, hoping I can tell a story that the whole world can feel like the ones that came before me, knowing that I’m misunderstood.”
55. “I want you to recognize that I’m a proud monkey.”
56. “I don’t want to be something that just comes and goes.”
57. “I knew I was blessed with the gift of having both parents.”
58. “I walk alone with a cross and a diamond stone. I’m a diamond inside the rough, that’s too mighty for maricons.”
59. “If I speak the good into existence, that instant my dreams will unlock, money will flow like water, I’ll just wait at the dock.”
60. “I’m trying to learn something new. I’m trying to surround myself with people that inspire me, or at least inquire about similar desires.”
61. “Tell me how I stay positive when they never see the good in me.”
62. “My whole thing is to inspire, to better people, to better myself forever in this thing that we call rap, this thing that we call hip hop.”
63. “Everybody looking at you crazy, what you gon’ do? Lift up your head and keep moving, or let the paranoia haunt you?”
64. “People are gonna be their own individuals and have their own worlds, and I can’t knock it.”
65. “You can’t change where you are from. You can’t take a person out of their zone and expect them to be somebody else now that they are in the record industry. It’s gonna take years. Years of travelling. Years of meeting people. Years of seeing the world.”
66. “Tupac, Biggie, Jay. Your usual suspects. These were the people that played in my household.”
67. “The best thing is to always keep honest people around, because when you have a bunch of yes men around that know that you’re making a mistake but let you go on with it, that’s when it ruins your mind state as an artist.”
68. “You can’t have people listen to you unless you come to their world and then bring them to yours.”
69. “Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.”
70. “I don’t talk about these things if I haven’t lived them, and I’ve hurt people in my life. It’s something I still have to think about when I sleep at night. The message I’m sending to myself—I can’t change the world until I change myself first.”
71. “Temptation is just the feeling that you’re the most independent person on planet earth. That’s something that we all go through as a kid. Now, this lifestyle that I’m in, the same thing exists! But it’s ten times worse, because everything is at my disposal. When you’re in the limelight, you can get anything you want.”
72. “The majority of my interactions with police were not good. There were a few good ones who were actually protecting the community. They never met me in their life, but since I’m a kid in basketball shorts and a white T-shirt, they wanna slam me on the hood of the car.”
73. “Being acknowledged for your work is always a great accomplishment whether it’s people in my city, kids in the street, all the way up to the Grammys.”
74. “The way people look at me these days, that’s the same way I looked at President Obama before I met him. We tend to forget that people who’ve attained a certain position are human.”
75. “I cut off my ears before I hear your advice and vice versa.”
76. “I’m a person of my own opinions, that’s how I was raised. I speak what I feel. A lot of people feel the same way but they’re scared to talk. They’re really scared of the truth; they only want half of the truth. I’ve been living like that forever in fear but I know what to say and how to say it now. I ain’t scared of myself.”
77. “The hardest thing for, not only an artist, but for anybody to do is look themselves in the mirror and acknowledge, you know, their own flaws and fears and imperfections and put them out there in the open for people to relate to it.”
78. “At first, I was scared to show fear because you can never be sure how people will perceive you. But I dared myself to do that, to stand out. Now I’ll talk about being beaten up or robbed or making a stupid decision because of a girl or whatever.”
79. “We’re in the last days, man. I truly, in my heart, believe that. It’s written. I could go on with biblical situations and things told me. But it’s about being at peace with myself and making good with the people around me.”
80. “I learned, when I look in the mirror and tell my story, that I should be myself and not peep at whatever everybody is doing.”
81. “Once I looked in the mirror and decided this is who I am, and I’m not scared of who I am, and I’m not scared that I can’t be like you, and I’m good with just doing me, that’s when I found myself, as a man.”
82. “Can’t let the government tell me how my future lookin’.”
83. “Oh, I stare at the mirror then realize that real lies within me.”
84. “If I’m gonna tell a real story, I’m gonna start with my name.”
85. “Look at me. I’m a loser, I’m a winner, I’m good, I’m bad, I’m a sinner, I’m a killer. What I’m doing, I’m saying that I’m human.”
86. “The sky is falling, the wind is calling. Stand for something, or die in the morning.”
87. “I’m not even thinking about it right now. This album has to live and teach. This album has to teach not only in these times, but for the future. To understand all the history and what we were going through.”
88. “I find myself to be quite confident as a person, but you’re going to have that piece of doubt in the back of your head because we’re human. We all have it. It’s just I like to address it and not keep it bottled in, because I don’t know what it could turn into.”
89. “Sometimes, you just need to distance yourself from people. If they care, they’ll notice. If they don’t, you know where you stand.”
90. “I think that’s why I put my energy into making music. That’s how I get my thoughts out, instead of being crazy all the time.”
91. “Am I the only one who measures time using songs? Oh it only took me 4 songs to get here! that’s not too long!”
92. “My lyrics say I have morals, I have confidence, I have weaknesses, I have strong points, that I am a human being.”
93. “I don’t do black music, I don’t do white music. I do everyday life music.”
94. “You can have a platinum album. But, you know, when you still feel like you haven’t quite found your place in the world, it kind of gives a crazy offset.”
95. “Sonnymoon and Quadrants are a couple of bands that really inspire me in terms of the melodics of things and certain tones and just what feels good. It takes me back to the type of music that I grew up on in my household. We played a lot of gangsta rap, but we also played a lot of oldies, and I think that mix is part of what inspires my sound.”
96. “I used to consider the listener. But now I’m in a space where, if I’m not inspired, I can’t really do the music. I can’t feel it.”
97. “This is the thing about hip-hop music and where people get it most misconstrued—it’s all hip-hop. You can’t say that just what I do is hip-hop, because hip-hop is all energy. James Brown can get on the track and mumble all day. But guess what? You felt his soul on those records.”
98. “I always felt like there was that I had to do from the beginning, even when I didn’t have the recognition that I have now.”
99. “As long as my music is real, there’s no limit to how many ears I can grab.”
100. “I think one of my biggest battles within myself is . It’s impossible to fight for the title of role model. Especially when the type of music I make is so personal. I find out that they live their lives by my music.”
101. “From the moment I started writing raps, I was always aware of the pressure. I always wanted to live up to how huge Snoop got, how huge Dre got, how huge Pac got. I was always aware.”
102. “To expose yourself even more, to have that closer connection with another human and have them relate to it. You know it’s not easy telling your truth and things that you fear. But I know at the end of the day, the music is not for me. It’s for somebody else that’s going through a fucked-up day to listen to and progress in their lives.”
103. “People are used to music that justifies street culture but something that’s not touched on is why these kids act the way they act, live the way they live.”
104. “Whenever I make music, it reflects where I’m at mentally.”
105. “I don’t really believe in the type of pressure that people are wanting to put on the type of music that I make.”
106. “I don’t just wanna be a popular person, I want my music to always live because that’s what’s gonna drive your legacy.”
107. “You really can’t categorize my music, it’s human music.”
108. “I’m putting out this free music, constantly putting it out.”
109. “I’m just writing, writing, writing. I keep these tablets on me until I’m inspired to go back in and make the music. I never take a break from my pen, because I pride myself on that.”
110. “Everyday I try to escape the realities of this world.”
111. “Don’t say one thing then do another.”
112. “I’ve been called a recluse. There’s definitely truth in that. I like to spend time alone.”
113. “I don’t vote. I don’t do no voting.”
114. “Although the butterfly and the caterpillar are completely different, they are one and the same.”
115. “Ya’ll don’t want me to win. I’m tryna , you want me to follow trends.”
116. “If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?”
117. “We look so much on color that we forget about the soul.”
118. “Consequences from evil will make your past haunt you.”
119. “It’s easy to forget who you are.”
120. “The best way to describe myself would be unpredictable.”
121. “Build your own pyramids, write your own hieroglyphs.”
122. “I think my worst problem is and understanding everything that’s going on. I feel like I’m in my own bubble.”
123. “A dollar might turn into a million and we are all rich, that’s just how I feel.”
124. “Found myself screaming in a hotel room. I didn’t want to self-destruct.”
125. “I’m constantly thinking.”
126. “I was , but now I’m just a goat.”
127. “The sky can fall down, the wind can cry now. The strong in me, I still smile.”
128. “I ain’t a drinker. I’m a thinker, call it what you want.”
129. “My passion is bringing storylines around and constructing a full body of work rather than just a 16-bar verse.”
130. “I look at where I’m at today and realize that most of my success is owed to the mentors that were in my life.”
131. “My mind is living on cloud 9 and this 9 is never on vacation.”
132. “The worst part of success is, to me, adapting to it. It’s scary.”
133. “If my edge is dull, my sword is dull, and I don’t want to fight another guy whose sword is dull. If you’ve got two steel swords going back and forth hitting each other, what’s gonna happen? Both of them are going to get sharper. Everybody that’s in the industry has lost their edge.”
134. “It’s fascinating to me how far an idea can go.”
135. “Me, as a person, I grow. I’m like a chameleon, you know? That is a gift and a curse for me. But more so a gift, because it never puts me in a box.”
136. “I’m only as good as my last word, my last hook, my last bridge. “
137. “Since day one, since the first time I touched the pen, I wanted to be the best at what I do.”
138. “We all seem to stumble, planning our own demise, getting the big picture, and making it wallet-sized.”
139. “When you give up, it means you never wanted it.”
140. “You consume every message. As I lead , make room for mistakes and depression.”
141. “I’m standing on a field full of landmines doing the moonwalk, hoping I blow up in time.”
142. “As a kid from Compton, you can get all the success in the world and still question your worth.”
143. “Sometimes, you have trends that’s not that cool. You may have certain artists portraying these trends and don’t really have that lifestyle, and then it gives off the wrong thing.“
144. “Beauty is what you make it. I used to be so mistaken by different shades of faces.”
145. “My knees are getting weak, and my gun might blow, but we’re gonna be alright.”
146. “Mark my word, I’m making my mark, even when they start their martial law. Even when these Martians alienate, my mental state is still at heart.”
147. “Ain’t nothin’ new, but a flu of new Demo-Crips and Re-Blood-licans. Red state versus blue state, which one are you governing?”
148. “Knock these walls down, that’s my religion.”
149. “The history books overlook the word and hide it. America tried to make it into a divided house.”
150. “Now I run the game and get the whole world talking.”
