Women are in a position now to voice their opinion... women are getting empowered. The more power they get, the more voice they get to shift certain things around. Now I have a daughter, I understand. When I didn't have a daughter, I didn't understand.

I do my best to stay with tha times and keep makin hits that are timeless and relevant. Goin on 20 years so I must be doin sumthin right!

My liberty is about living. It's about spreading more love. Even though I was always a peaceful, loving individual, my music sometimes didn't reflect that. But now it's different. My music is reflecting the way I feel.

So many people representing different sections of our community are taken down one way or another. The system was designed to break us down. You think it isn’t true? The three-strike rule is to break down a black man.

An older guy, he's going to show you things that a young man can't show you. He's going to show you how to stay alive. He's going to show you how to turn corners where your young friends will show you how to turn right into that wall, you know what I'm saying?

You got two black folk representing us through the Sixties. One of them was for violence, one was against it, and they both are dead.

I went out and got little jobs. I was selling candy as a teenager, selling newspapers. But as I got older, I didn't want to sell that anymore. I wanted to make more money.