A lot of people heard about gin and juice for the first time from Snoop Dogg, but it was nothing new in rap music, and it was nothing new in the black community.

I wanted to be part of changing the world. I don't want to just stand by and watch it be however it is.

Sometimes it takes time to get into what ideas actually mean to you. Even when you're not writing a song, it's like that.

I always write knowing that people will hear it, but also hoping they'll see it. So a lot of times I make lyrical decisions based on what looks better. Also I write based on what I saw for a video. I obsess over lyrics in the hopes that they'll endure in different ways. I'm very precious about it.

All of a sudden it became that hip hop didn't used to be about partying; hip hop used to be about putting out a message.

A lot of what we say and do are regurgitated things that have to do with what we think we're supposed to be saying and doing.

A lot of people heard about gin and juice for the first time from Snoop Dogg, but it was nothing new in rap music, and it was nothing new in the black community.