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

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.

[Big K.R.I.T] is a person who wants to make sure that the music is here for the kids when our time passes. He's a respectful and respected man. He has a level of respect for me, and I definitely have a level of respect for him.

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!

I'm giving my fans the songs that they want to hear from me. Why do we love to hear ourselves being downgraded. Why do we love to hear the negative situations that we see in our lives daily? I'm not trying to make sense of it, I'm not giving any solutions, I'm just tossing the question.

I will probably have a tendency to lean toward trying to resolve the issues that negatively impact black people, but the overall picture and the overall power is achieved in bringing all impoverished people together. The common denominator is pain, because we all suffer through the deaths of loved ones and eventually suffer death.