I lay puzzle as I backtrack to earlier times, Nothing's equivalent to the New York state of mind

I think hip-hop could help rebuild America, once hip-hoppers own hip-hop... We are our own politicians, our own government, we have something to say. We're warriors. Soldiers.

We're all Africans, everyone - black, white, yellow.

No temporary chaos is worth your sanity.

Unfortunately, man, a lot of places in America have to deal with unnecessary violence. Somebody like me who knows it firsthand and could relate... I had a best friend killed, plenty other friends killed. I been through it. I seen it.

The reason I want to be alone, is I'm tired of all the things that went wrong that would've went right if I had did 'em on my own

All on the street, you get treated like a street cat: "All right, you've been eatin' enough, you're fat, get out of the way now and let somebody else come by."