Jay-Z

My brands are an extension of me. They're close to me. It's not like running GM, where there's no emotional attachment.

As kids we didn't complain about being poor; we talked about how rich we were going to be and made moves to get the lifestyle we aspired to by any means we could. And as soon as we had a little money, we were eager to show it.

It's hilarious a lot of times. You have a conversation with someone, and he's like, 'You speak so well!' I'm like, 'What do you mean? Do you understand that's an insult?

I was forced to be an artist and a CEO from the beginning, so I was forced to be like a businessman because when I was trying to get a record deal, it was so hard to get a record deal on my own that it was either give up or create my own company.

In the end, you can't censor the truth, especially when it comes packaged in hot music.

Everyone needs a chance to evolve.

May the best of your today's be the worst of your tomorrow's

No matter where you go you are what you are player and you can try to change but that's just the top layer man you was who you was before you got here

I'm far from being god, but I work god damn hard.

I've never looked at myself and said that I need to be a certain way to be around a certain sort of people. I've always wanted to stay true to myself, and I've managed to do that. People have to accept that.

I'm a mirror. If you're cool with me, I'm cool with you, and the exchange starts. What you see is what you reflect. If you don't like what you see, then you've done something. If I'm standoffish, that's because you are.

I believe you can speak things into existence.

You can put a new shirt on your back, slide a fresh chain around your neck, and accumulate all the money and power in the world, but at the end of the day those are just layers. Money and power don't change you, they just further expose your true self.

We change people through conversation, not through censorship.

Hip-hop gave a generation a common ground that didn't require either race to lose anything; everyone gained.

I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man!