Alternative spaces, independent media, satellite, these all provide some tools by which we can work more independently and deal more directly with communities we hope to reach. Distribution is key, and finding alternative ways to do that with new media is critical.

You can't take anything with you. So I don't understand this whole psychotic area of greed, I don't get it.

I think a good thing that needs to change is that people should be at least fearless about expressin' themselves.

We were coming out of the black community with this thing called rap music, which was basically black men yelling at the top of their lungs about what we liked and what we didn't like. It was disturbing to the status quo. It really shook things up. And those in power didn't know what to make of us, but they knew that we had to be silenced, stopped in any way from expressing our outrage.

You can't master time, but you have to work your hardest to manage it.

The immediacy of the technology of the web allows us, as songwriters, to write something very sharp and quick. That has a lot to do with helping a songwriter be more reflective of reality, instead of being in an area where you have to process things. It's the difference between processing fish and catching it in a boat.

The biggest thing that has happened to hip-hop is the clinging on to the corporation as the all-mighty hub of the music.