In Harlem, I got all my black friends. But when I go downtown, I got black, white, Asian, Indian friends. There's no borders, no barriers.

I would not consider myself to be a quote unquote real New York rapper. I don't even like New York rappers.

A lot of energy and excitement - that's what a lot of my shows are, energy and excitement.

I used to be homophobic, but as I got older, I realized that wasn't the way to do things. I don't discriminate against anybody for their sexual preference, for their skin color... that's immature.

My real name's Rakim - my parents named me after the god MC himself.

I know that women are smarter than men. I don't wanna sound like I'm on a bandwagon for chicks but I do love 'em, can't front. Women are smarter than men. I know I gotta lot of chicks up my sleeve but you guys are twice as good.

I don't care what straight people do, I don't care what gay people do. I don't care what nobody do. That's they business. I just care about what I do. You know what I'm saying?