If you see yourself reflected in art, you feel validated.

All the songs are pieces to the puzzle. They each represent something different. So it's really difficult to say one song represents the album.

The things Nas' Illmatic was saying were sometimes hard realities but it was done on such a high level, I felt I could point to him as a representative. Someone who put my struggle and my worldview into poetry.

Hip hop is still strong. As an art form, music helps people express themselves, find meaning in their own lives and connect with their tribes.

There are songs and artists now who are trying to do the same thing: be honest to their experiences.

Nas' Illmatic blew my mind when I first heard it. The poetry was done on such a high level that in a way, it validated our existence, our culture. He used the language of the street at the time and made it art. Art tends to be validating.

Older generations can sometimes look down on today's hip hop but I refuse that mindset. I remember how hurt I was when older people told me that Run-D.M.C. was jungle music or that it was not music at all. Or that LL Cool J was not art.