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.

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.

I was a full-blown street cat. I was trying to hustle my way. I thought I was going to hustle my way to a mansion or something. I was doing pretty good, but I didn't realize that there was no way to win that game.

Before rap came along, I was, actually, actively in the streets; getting in trouble, doing the wrong thing.

You know, the radio never wanted you to speak about anything, so the music is kinda influenced by the hands of the radio which wants to homogenize it and dilute it and sanitize it. And for the most part, nobody's takin' the time to seek out the cats that are still tryin' to talk, so they have a difficult time being heard.

You can't come out on a record dissing the system and be on a label that's connected to the system.

If you believe that I'm a cop killer, you believe David Bowie is an astronaut.