I can admit there are some problems in hip hop but it is only a reflection of what's taking place in our society. Hip hop is sick because America is sick.

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 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.

My passion comes from the things that have historically happened to black people in Mississippi. I can honestly say that most of the things that I've accomplished in my life have come from my spirituality and my belief in God.

We have to be very clear about what we're doing to our music. We're giving away free albums. Now think about the psyche of the ordinary man, we don't respect anything that's free. Anything that we get easy has no validity.

[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.

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.