I always wanna be able to fight, I always wanna be able to go left when they tell me to go right, not because I'm being hard-headed, it's just me taking a creative stance. I have no problem with constructive criticism, but, at the same time, I have a problem with doin' the same thing that everybody's doin'. And that's the way I've found a way to survive in the music game.

I don't wanna make hood music, I don't wanna make street music, I want to make world music, global music, international music.

The people in Cuba, they know what I stand for, and there's a lot of people in Cuba that stand for the same. But they can't say it.

The thing with me and endorsements is it's harder for me to get endorsements because of the simple fact that I want in.

My whole thing is just being a part of good music.

Don't just give me an advance. I want a percentage.

Humor is everything. Everything. Usually the negatives turned out to be the most positive for me. In the music industry, any other artist would have looked at the situation I was in and thought, "Oh man, this is not for me." I looked at it more like Darwin exploring the Galápagos Islands. You know - survival of the fittest.