When I got a chance to rap, I just busted my ass. When I got a chance to act, I busted my ass. Anytime I get a chance. I'm not wasting time. I won't do it if I'm not doing it 110 percent. You've got to work hard if you want to play hard. I like to play, but I know I gotta bust my ass.

I'm not going to allow anybody to hold a badge up over me or a cross or any other power symbol and say I'm going to kill you and you're just going to kneel down to me because I'm the law.

I've lectured at Stanford, Princeton & Harvard to name a few... I just might be smarter than YOU

I don't rhyme for the sake of riddlin'. If I say it, I gotta be able to back it up.

If you really listen to my music my music is more like stories than party records. I never made party records.

Jay-Z is like a rap-savant, he doesn't have to write the rhymes down, he can create complex raps in his head. I mean he does memorize it, he just doesn't write it down on paper. He doesn't freestyle onto the track, it's all thought out.

The best way to listen to the album is to put it on, get some Moet, lay back with your boys, and kick it.