I always remain optimistic.

If they can send you to war at 18, maybe it's beneficial for some people to think that most of us gotta go to war for our own existence.

If you have no soul you can gut it out. You know, like a marionette, you'll just follow what seems to actually give you whatever you ain't got.

My advice to young people is ask older people questions and don't be afraid.

One of the problems with hip hop is lack of infrastructure and not being able to control its own course. I don't like that hip hop is full of infantile 35-year-olds. Hip hop cannot afford to be lazy.

People aren't going to support an artist just because they have an audio file. They have to feel a real connection.

Someone like Jay-Z does have a timeless quality, but it's much different than ours. You can look back at something like "At the Hop" by Danny and the Juniors or the music that was on American Bandstand in the 1950s-'60s.