Of course I'm going to say "I'm a thug" that's because I came from the GUTTER and I'm still HERE!

The ground is the symbol for the poor people; the poor people is gonna open up this whole world and swallow up the rich people. It's gonna be like - there might be some cannibalism out this mother. They might eat the rich.

My mama always used to tell me: 'If you can't find somethin' to live for, you best find somethin' to die for.'

I'm not a gangsta rapper. I rap about things that happen to me. I got shot five times. People was trying to kill me.

It was hell, hugging my Mama from a jail cell.

All B.S. aside, it all comes down to... we got to survive. I mean, even warriors put their spears down on Sundays. We got to survive here in this country... 'cause I'm not going back to Africa. We got to survive here. And for us to survive here-White folks, Black folks, Korean folks, Mexican folks, Puerto Ricans-we got to understand each other.

My mother taught me three things: respect, knowledge, search for knowledge. It's an eternal journey.