40 Hood Quotes about Life to Remind about Your Community

The hood is a slang word used to describe a neighborhood where people with the same ethnic or racial backgrounds live. Read these 40 hood quotes about life to understand what the hood means to different people.

The hood soon became a term that gave people a sense of brotherhood, especially those that grew up in the same area. Rappers would rap about the hood, and movies began to show the hood life. But the hood means something different to everyone.

Even though the media often brandished it as poor, the hood gave birth to rap, turntables, breakdancing, graffiti art, and more. It was also the home of old-school legends such as The Sugarhill Gang, Lovebug Starski, Kurtis Blow, and others.

It is also the home of rappers like Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur, Eazy-E, 50 Cent, Fat Joe, and more. No doubt, the hood has had a positive influence on America's pop culture. Read these 40 hood quotes about life to learn more about people who come from the hood.

Lil B's quote: "It doesn't matter where you're from. You can be from the hood or the suburbs. You can be poor with no education or a college graduate. No matter your background, you can win." | Image: AmoDays

Hood Quotes about Life in the Ghetto

"The hood is also a low-stress, comfortable life. All your mental energy goes into getting by, so you don't have to ask yourself any of the big questions. Who am I? Who am I supposed to be? Am I doing enough? In the hood you can be a forty-year-old man living in your mom's house asking people for money and it's not looked down on. You never feel like a failure in the hood, because someone's always worse off than you, and you don't feel like you need to do more, because the biggest success isn't that much higher than you, either. It allows you to exist in a state of suspended animation." ― Trevor Noah, "Born a Crime"

"The tricky thing about the hood is that you're always working, working, working, and you feel like something's happening, but really nothing's happening at all." ― Trevor Noah, "Born a Crime"

"There's a gang of boys on bikes blocking the road ahead. They've got their hoods up[...]. The sky's a really strange colour and there's hardly anyone else about. I slow right down. "What shall I do?" "Reverse," Zoey says. "They're not going to move." I wind down the window. "Oi!" I yell "Move your arses!" They turn languid, shift lazily to the edge of the road and grin as I blow kisses at them. Zoey looks stunned, "What's got into you?" "Nothing- I just haven't learned reversing yet." — Jenny Downham

"What's good in the hood?" — Vince McMahon

Trevor Noah's "Born a Crime" quote: "The tricky thing about the hood is that you're always working, working, working, and you feel like something's happening, but really nothing's happening at all." | Image: AmoDays

"I was born in Houston, Texas. I grew up in Houston, by Missouri City. It's, like, a suburb in the area; it's middle-class. But I used to stay with my grandma in the hood from ages one to six." ― Travis Scott

"I grew up with pretty much nothing - in the hood, the ghetto - whatever you want to call it." ― Deshaun Watson

"I was a gangster when I was young. I had a Robin Hood mentality and tended to always want to support the weak against the strong, but sometimes it was cohesive and I really needed to fall in love with the power of education to find the right venue to express my rage. I still have a righteous indignation at injustice, no matter what form it takes." ― Cornel West

"The boys in the hood are always hard." ― Eazy-E

Deshaun Watson's quote: "I grew up with pretty much nothing - in the hood, the ghetto - whatever you want to call it." | Image: AmoDays

"I grew up on the west side of Detroit - 6 mile and Wyoming - so I was really in the 'hood. And I would go to school at Detroit Waldorf, and that was not the 'hood. Growing up in Detroit was good. I had a good perspective, a well-rounded one, and not being one-sided." ― Big Sean

"I tell stories about the people around me, I tell stories about me. I tell stories about my hood." ― Goldlink

""Right. Lack of opportunities," Daddy says. "Corporate America don't bring jobs to our communities, and they damn sure ain't quick to hire us. [...], even if you do have a high school diploma, so many of the schools in our neighborhoods don't prepare us well enough."" ― Angie Thomas, "The Hate U Give"

"I grew up at this incredibly odd intersection in Los Angeles, where it felt like the black 'hood met black elegance met white gentrification met Latin culture met wetlands." ― Amanda Gorman

Goldlink's quote: "I tell stories about the people around me, I tell stories about me. I tell stories about my hood." | Image: AmoDays

"I grew up in the hood, and I was raised to hate cops. But then, I started to realize that they're people, and they have lives, too." ― Manny Montana

"Through my life, [there have been] a lot of devils and a lot of situations, so I'm just goin' hard, maintaining, regardless of what people got to say about Ace Hood." ― Ace Hood

"I was given the name by my brother when I was about eleven or twelve years old. He was older than me, and around that age I was starting to get into girls, and when they would call the house for him, and when he was not there, I would try to talk to them. I was trying to be the man and trying to get them to come and see me, not worrying about him. When he found out... he started calling me Ice Cube as a joke because he said I was trying to be too cool. I just liked it and started telling everybody in the hood "my name is Ice Cube."" ― Ice Cube

"The majority of my interactions with police were not good. There were a few good ones who were actually protecting the community. But then you have ones from the Valley. 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. Sixteen years old." ― Kendrick Lamar

Manny Montana's quote: "I grew up in the hood, and I was raised to hate cops. But then, I started to realize that they're people, and they have lives, too." | Image: AmoDays

"I have a former Baltimore City police officer's uniform and his robe and hood. He was the grand dragon, which means state leader. His day job, what paid his bills, he was a Baltimore City police officer, not an undercover officer in the Klan gathering intelligence, but a bona fide Klansmen on the Baltimore City police force." ― Daryl Davis

"Back when I was growing up, gangs wasn't heavy. We was solo thugging. When we got money on our own, the hood got money. It wasn't about colors or a certain name when I was growing up. We wasn't doing no gangs. But as the generations change, things change." ― Yo Gotti

Hood Quotes about Life to Give Motivation

"Don't slip into the traps, and don't forget about your 'hood, the kids in the 'hood. Remember, you're disposable, so take advantage while you can." ― Isaac Hayes

"It doesn't matter where you're from. You can be from the hood or the suburbs. You can be poor with no education or a college graduate. No matter your background, you can win." ― Lil B

Isaac Hayes' quote: "Don't slip into the traps, and don't forget about your 'hood, the kids in the 'hood. Remember, you're disposable, so take advantage while you can." | Image: AmoDays

"Mr. Idris Elba is amazing! He happens to be British, but what's funny about him is that when he's speaking in his American dialect, he looks like he's a brother from the 'hood. But as soon as he brings out that English thing, I'm like, 'Woo! You look like you're from London. Oh my God!' It's like everything on him changes. He's so cool!" ― Tasha Smith

"Hoods are good parts because they're always flashy and attract attention. If you've got any ability, you can use that as a stepping stone."― Richard Widmark

"She's like a Barbie, then she wants to be a superhero, or coming out of a spaceship and everything's pink. She makes a certain move that's ghetto hood mixed with a little robot so its like I'm evolving Nicki Minaj and developing her style. She's fearless, and I love her." ― Laurieann Gibson

"I think I'ma make every hood proud. Everybody that ever seen me come up, know what I came from, know how I came up, know where I started. I feel like I'ma just make everybody proud." ― Roddy Ricch

Richard Widmark's quote: "Hoods are good parts because they're always flashy and attract attention. If you've got any ability, you can use that as a stepping stone." | Image: AmoDays

"I may not be a role model, but I most definitely could be motivation for a lot of people in the hoods." ― Rick Ross

"Nah, I don't really have to spit nothin' too complex, I just rep for my hood, and it sound correct." ― Cappadonna

"If we dont heal our own hood, who will?" ― Nelly

"You have to realize that for some of these people - definitely me when I was growing up - you treat every day like it's your last, because that's the reality of your situation. You never know when someone's going to go, because you're living in a war zone. It's almost like you're in a jungle, and you're just waiting for the predator to catch everybody one by one. So everybody cherishes each other. Instead of calling people the n-word, you're calling people "loved one." There is a level of appreciation for brothers and sisters in the hood." ― John Boyega

"However this miraculous place worked, it seemed real enough. The sun was hot, the soda was cold, the sky was blue, the grass was green. What more did he need to know?" ― Clive Barker, "The Thief of Always"

Rick Ross' quote: "I may not be a role model, but I most definitely could be motivation for a lot of people in the hoods." | Image: AmoDays

Hood Quotes about Life That Provoke Deep Reflection

"What if there were health food stores on every corner in the hood, instead of liquor stores!?" ― Supa Nova Slom, "The Remedy: The Five-Week Power Plan to Detox Your System, Combat the Fat, and Rebuild Your Mind and Body"

"The hood was strangely comforting, but comfort can be dangerous. Comfort provides a floor but also a ceiling." ― Trevor Noah, "Born a Crime"

"Children listen, I'm trying to tell you something good, don't get caught up in the hood." ― Dr. Dre

"The greatest competitor was Bob Gibson. He worked so fast out there and he always had the hood up. He always wanted to close his own deal. He never talked to you because he was battling so hard. I sure as hell don't miss batting against him, but I miss him in the game." ― Pete Rose

"The Knowledge Rule 2080: From maggots to men, the world is a corner bully. Better you knuckle up and go for yours than have to bow your head and tuck your chain." ― Ta-Nehisi Coates

"When you walk in your home you don't have to maintain the same attitude that you had out in the street. You can be different with your people and your family than you are with a person that you run into in the hood. Even them they have to know to respond to you differently in the hood cuz if people see something out of the character that they portray you. They'll try you." ― Curtis Jackson

Dr. Dre's quote: "Children listen, I'm trying to tell you something good, don't get caught up in the hood." | Image: AmoDays

With the amount of talent that comes from the hoods, there have been several attempts at rehabilitation. In recent years, organizations and programs have sprung up to help young people realize their talents and aspirations and get a new path in life.

Various organizations focus on different areas to positively influence their communities to live fulfilled lives. However, if you don't live in the hood but want a productive life, read these quotes to get insight into living a balanced life.