Ta-Nehisi Coates, on not letting them take it from you

Coming up on hip-hop really taught me the beauty of poetry. Reading comic books taught me the beauty of poetry. Studying poetry after that, I had this obsession with how language sounded.

Do you worry about going further than your audience is ready to go?

“No, because I wrote for 12 years and had no audience. I’m prepared for it to go. I loved writing before this and I will love writing after this. I loved it when it made no money. I love it now that it makes more money. I will love it when it goes back to making no money again. It’s not for that. And the minute you let them take it from you, the minute it becomes for them, you are lost.

— Ta-Nehisi Coates interviewed by Playboy

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