I think that a rap aficionado, the hardcore rap fan, will always go away from pop, in the same way a hardcore jazz fan will never think Kenny G is really a jazz artist. You gotta kind of know there's always going to be that purist who's going to be like if it ain't beats and rhymes, if there ain't a DJ, then that ain't Hip Hop.

Hip-hop is a competition culture. It's based around, "My DJ is better than you. My graffiti artist is better than you."

Winners have to absorb losses.

Who can protect themselves from betrayal? The day your brother wakes up and plans to do you dirty, there's no defense against that.

When I make records I have full control of everything and I know how it sounds before it comes out, with films it's outta my hands.

Redemption just means you just make a change in your life and you try to do right, versus what you were doing, which was wrong.

Rap is rock 'n' roll. Rock is when you push the buttons in the system; when you say, I'm not going along with what you're saying. That's rock, whether it's done with guitars, or it's done with just beats.