Hip-hop is still cool at a party. But to me, hip-hop has never been strictly a party; it is also there to elevate consciousness.

I've always been inspired by a lot of work coming out of the UK

The role that theater has placed in enhancing consciousness and moving systems ahead. I think of what South African theater meant for the apartheid movement, for example. I think of what music has meant for so many social movements across time.

I used to have weird practices in crowded used-book stores in New York where I'd go in and just stomp my foot and see what fell from the shelf. And of course, because it's an unexpected encounter, there's always some magic that comes from it.

There's so much to be found in literature, especially if you don't have the money to travel or the means to get out of your neighborhood or get off work.

I have a very family-like connection to hip-hop, which is why it frustrates me so much.

Art can play a major role. I look at art as an alternative source of energy, the same way we might look at wind or solar or lithium batteries.