The Chronic represented everything that I hated about hip-hop as a fan, but then later represented everything that I stood for as a musician and engineer.

How do you plan a rebirth? I'm not sure you do. You just stand in the darkness until you can't endure it any long, and then you move forward until you're standing in the light.

I feel like the downfall of any person is the second an artist starts celebrating their work themselves, that becomes problematic.

According to my parents, I just started drumming when I was two. I traveled with them from five to seven on the road, playing percussion. Between 8 and 12, my dad sort of prepared me by teaching me every aspect of road life.

It's a funny word, persistence. It means not giving up, but it also means just passing on through time.

I think all of this—The Roots and DJing included—was meant to prepare me for The Tonight Show.

In the 2000s, I became an artist. I started preserving and educating. I became more obsessed with making iPod playlists for people.