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

The thing is with hip-hop, it has its waves and the waves crash against the beach and the new waves come in. So to stay relevant you have to roll with that.

I've always gotten good grades, you know, with my teachers and my English teachers, 'cause I was able to - they'd say, "What did you do for the summer?" I'm able to explain it to them in a written form. And my teachers always patted me on the back for that, being able to take what's in my mind and put it on paper.

People are still tied to their hoods, and it's usually not the artist, it's usually the friends and instigators who get it popping.

I won't lay down my principles for any kind of recognition or any kind of position or trying to be more famous. It's just not in me. I'd rather be a man. And then to have all this crazy stuff on my conscience.

Don't want to hear my favorite rapper doin' a love song. If I want to hear something soft, I'll throw on Luther Vandross.

Ice Cube is the piece of me that I give away to the public.