I didn't mind working in the clubs, but I resented it being a club where pimps hang out. Because the music that I create is of a higher intellect than that. It not only encompasses pimps, but whores, ballplayers, executives... everybody.

I went to jail at 16 for stealing tires off Cadillacs. When I got out I said, Never again.

I woke up one morning, went downstairs, said 'Good morning' to my mother and nearly scared both of us to death.'

I don't know if it's my music, my lyrics, my sound and knowing the music business the way I do - all I can say is, my career has lasted way longer than I expected.

When a man's making love, the last thing he thinks about is war.

As a boy, I believed freedom for America meant freedom for me. There was a time I believed every word spoken.

One preacher turned me on, another turned me off.