There is no music more powerful than hip-hop. No other music so purely demands an instant affirmative on such a global scale. When the beat drops, people nod their heads, “yes,” in the same way that they would in conversation with a loved one, a parent, professor, or minister.

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.

I feel pretty vulnerable all the time.

A lie preserved in stained glass doesn't make it more true.

she kissed as if she, alone, could forge the signature of the sun

I've never believed it's really so important that you conform to the ways of the system in order to beat the system. I think that the system follows a great deal.

There is a lot of fun to be had when you try and fit as many words as you can within a three-minute song, but there is also a lot of fun in trying to get that message across in three words, or better yet when the music can overpower the words and convey something really pure and perfect that affects our psycho-emotional space.