American culture is often so self-consumed that we often think that our problems are just our problems.

Niggy Tardust' is the voice of a generation, a generation that does not define itself simply by what it's born into.

I feel pretty vulnerable all the time.

I think that the heart is a lot like those wonderful fruit, like coconut and mangoes, you know, you have to break the skin, you have to break it open to get to the good part.

I'm somewhat of an empath, I would say. I relate easily to ideas and stories, books, films, music. I'm moved by all of these things. Art in general. But not just art, you know?

Why shouldn't rap be esoteric, able to take in current events, history and criticism? I guess it's this old idea of containment - that rappers, because they're black, can't and shouldn't aspire to look outside the ghetto for influence.

You change the beat up, you might change the way people dance to the music. If you change the way they move, maybe they'll think about it differently.