We were in the heart of the ghetto in Chicago during the Depression, and every block - it was probably the biggest black ghetto in America - every block also is the spawning ground practically for every gangster, black and white, in America too.

Young people should travel, and they don’t. You can’t know if you don’t go.

Every day you must be able to say, I have to get up because I'm needed by someone. As long as you have that, you're healthy.

You have to know that your real home is within.

All guys get into music because they love music and they also want to get the girls.

I guess hip-hop has been closer to the pulse of the streets than any music we've had in a long time. It's sociology as well as music, which is in keeping with the tradition of black music in America.

Making a record is like painting a school bus with a toothbrush