If you want a man that respects the way you think then show more mind than ass.

As much as people try to pit black entertainers against one another, because of the underlying feeling that there can't be two of us, or, all of us can't do well. That's what hurts rap the most, the fact that none of us are fighting to protect the door of those who run our industry. It's enough money for all of us.

We get better product when the focus is on the fans and the artists - all artists; musical artists; singers, the graphic designers, the painters, the DJs, I mean everybody, the writers. We can't allow ourselves to feel as if we're not important in the equation when we are everything!

We're trying to teach artists that if you're smart enough to develop the material, then you're smart enough to market and promote the album too.

I realize it's about the artists and about the fans. Those are the people who truly have the power. It's like politics, we give away our power to representatives and we give it away to our President. That's what I'm showing with this 2-M-1 movement.

Faith allows me to feel that as long as I'm in line with God everything will be O.K. and that I'll make it through whatever.

My concern was first, for the black people of Mississippi, then I became concerned for black people nationwide, now my concern is for black people all over the world. I began to realize that it's not as much about race as we think it is. It's about the rich vs. the poor. I feel as if the different races are pitted against one another so we won't see the bigger (financial disparity) problem.