The economic crisis really affected my family - 2006 to 2011 were really bad times. Almost everybody in my family lost their jobs.

I was watching lectures by Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Dr. Sebi and Umar Johnson. It's super mind opening when you listen to those words and think about how much they still resonate today. Think about how true those words are, and how much they predicted the future. That was what was really mind-boggling to me.

The economic crisis really affected my family - 2006 to 2011 were really bad times. Almost everybody in my family lost their jobs.

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

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.

I believe I am of the natural.

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.