When I made Illmatic, I was trying to make the perfect album. It comes from the days of Wild Style. I was trying to make you experience my life. I wanted you to look at hip-hop differently. I wanted you to feel that hip-hop was changing and becoming something more real.

I don't have time for the news clippings. I got my own mission.

My first record - it was 1991. I was 16 years old. My first album came out when I was 20. So, I've been here that long and I still have the passion to do it.

I don't want to disappoint - that's a nightmare to me.

How can you lose when you're doing you?

You can't please everybody. You['d] be crazy if you're trying to. So take some time out to do some things for yourself.

Business, endorsements and things of that nature, I got into it kinda naturally. Those ventures materialised as a direct result of things that I was actually doing; all the partnerships have been organic and not necessarily etched out plans for monetary gain.