Culture in America and everywhere else comes from the suffering, from those who don't want the old ways. They want to bring in the new, whether it's the ballet, when it started, or Shakespeare.

The conditions of suffering that exist today in our impoverished communities are not acceptable. The reflection of those conditions are less concerning to me. And I work everyday about changing the conditions.

There is a subject - there is a research that says a man thinks about sex every 12 seconds. And so when an artist expresses something that's sexual in music it is a reflection of our reality. If we want that reality changed, then we have to do things that affect the core.

That was never my intention to compete with the Oscars.

The difference between blues, jazz, rock n' roll and rap is that rap stayed poor. Even the white rappers are poor. It's scarier to look at poor people; it makes everyone uncomfortable. Their pain is something that people would like to see swept under the rug.

I mostly eat healthy. I just do. I'm not a vegan for health reasons - although obviously I'm 20 pounds lighter than when I started. I stayed 20 pounds lighter. I feel better. My friends say I look better. All that's true. But I'm a vegan for compassionate reasons.

The emotional attachment you get with a client or the music fan allows you access to do a lot of things.