Luckily for me, I became a rap star so I'm making enough money to support my family. It's funny because that may seem like the only way that I can do such a task.

I would never know how that person felt when they first heard my song. They coulda been at rock bottom and my song could have literally been the thing that saved them, but I would never know that.

Hate is a strong word. I don't really try to hate anything. Yeah, you could say I have a complicated, domestic relationship with America for sure.

On tour things go wrong all the time, I mean that's live music, that's what it's all about. I think one of the things I'm learning is that when stuff goes wrong, really brilliant musicians have the ability to turn this into something interesting and unique. I think good people in any sphere of anything know how to deal with problems, how to take it in your stride. We are learning this by touring, by being put in these positions when we need to focus and deal with it.

Once you dive into the African-American struggle or whatever you want to call it and you look past that, you realize that it's not a black people problem, it's a human problem. We all can't be at peace until we are all at peace. If there's a piece of us suffering, then we are all suffering. That's what it's about. That's the macro level.

I was never blinded by the American dream. I have my own dreams. You know what I'm saying? The Joey dream.

Yo, why can't I speak out and then have fun? Why can't I just be a human? Why can't I just do what I want? People just want to keep you in one type of box or lane.