You're always going to sound like yourself, but you can make really strong attempts to keep some similarities, but move away from what you did before for popularity's sake.

One side of the street is a Church; across the road is a liquor store. Both of 'em keepin us poor.

A visit to the hood through a record, or through a video, or through a film, is a lot safer than actually visiting the people in real life. It became a business model. It became a revenue engine that, you know, you can get to the hood without ever going there.

I would like to say is that to be truly American and represent American ideals you need to consider yourself a citizen of the world. American policy has gone contrary to that ideal. The Bush Administration is bent on making the world submit to "Americanism" instead of becoming a member of the world community. This orchestration comes from the very top of the Administration and has pushed America into a corner. So, rather than trying to humbly mix with the rest of the world, we are forcing ourselves upon it. We seem to create conflicts with everyone.

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.

I think hip hop should be a living word. And what I mean by the living word is like yo, you gotta have the words that provide life.

Government and culture are two diametrically opposed forces - the one blinds and oppresses, the other uplifts and unites.