Do I gotta go sell me a whole lotta crack for decent shelter and clothes on my back?

You like a woman, she's got kids, it's a package. You can't just go in one-sided.

The '80s was wild compared to my real small childhood, which was late '70s.

If you really think back to the culture or just black America before rap music took off, New York could have been Paris.

Whatever happened in the neighborhood. That's what I was rapping about. And that sparked people's interest. And that's what kind of put me on that path.

The way I grew up and the neighborhood I come from, when you know somebody's beating you and you still let it happen, then you're a victim. You're no longer a man when you know something is happening and you don't stand up. So that's just how we raised.

I get freedom out of hip-hop. I get to be a true artist without any shackles or harnesses.