What happened to [Michael Brown] should've never happened. Never. But when we don't have respect for ourselves, how do we expect them to respect us? It starts from within. Don't start with just a rally, don't start from looting - it starts from within.

I was raised inside the gang culture.

You don't hear no artists from Compton showing vulnerability.

My mind is living on cloud 9 and this 9 is never on vacation.

If I'm gonna tell a real story, I'm gonna start with my name.

A lot of incredible rap albums over the past couple of decades have deserved Album of the Year. 'To Pimp a Butterfly' is an extension of those albums.

There's a lot of other artists doing things outside of that depth that I enjoy - that music that I can actually have fun to, and not be in depth and think about, then I appreciate that.