“It’s a make-it-or-break-it period for us. We do the right thing, we’ll be able to pull into the 21st century with some kind of program. We do the wrong thing, the 21st century is going to be gone, there’ll be no coming back”

"Since October 1985, rock has been attacked from city halls, statehouses, fundamentalist pulpits, and the executive echelons of the FBI."

“Too many people who profess to like rap don't distinguish among its many historic and stylistic differences. Only by placing Ra­kim in context do you appreciate his mastery”

Rappers make their livings being articulate, and there's no one better to articulate the '80s from an Afrikan, youthful, working hip-hop perspective