If you don't have your friends and your family, what do you really have? You can have all the money in the world, but with no friends and no family, it's no good.

I don't know what type of music my son will want. By the time he starts listening to music, really, at like 15, 16, I'll probably have 10 albums out by that time.

I smoke weed.It's not an addiction. It's something I wanna do. It's not smart though. It's not good for my body but I'm doing it. I'm not telling people to do it.

This is a broad thought, but loving yourself and having the support so that you can love yourself is the most important thing that young people in Chicago can get.

I would never design anything. I just think that's kind of wack. I hated every rapper fashion line that ever came out, you know what I'm saying? I would never try.

I'm not a 'dystopian, futuristic master': I'm a schnook walking the street. It's an insane reality we're living in, and I'm just trying to translate it for myself.

Yo, why can't I speak out and then have fun? Why can't I just be a human? Why can't I just do what I want? People just want to keep you in one type of box or lane.

I'm just seeing as I grow older, and hopefully wiser, that a lot of things I see from a race perspective are class problems too, so I should be advocating for all.

Ultimately, Dead Prez should have went multi-platinum. But when people didn't rally around them, I knew the black hip-hop audience had become far less politicized.

I've been out there 3 days and I got shot at 3 times, Felt like every bullet hit me when they flew out each 9. I'll be happy when I wake up and I have a free mind.

I don't know what type of music my son will want. By the time he starts listening to music, really, at like, 15, 16, I'll probably have 10 albums out by that time.

When I say right, it just has to be well thought out. I feel like I'm on a pretty good roll, and it can't be me trying to force what might be perceived to be next.

The Bible cares about the systems that create oppression. We see this in the Exodus all the way to Jesus' interactions with Zacchaeus and the prostitute in John 8.

Who knows what the future holds but I think I'll always be that dude that can run hooks, and do hooks for other artists, and really know how to make a catchy hook.

I think in your 30s you can still pretend you're in your 20s, or at least maintain some semblance of youth. Forty is when you've got to stop denying the inevitable.

Everybody's not always open to everything. People have biased feelings about certain things, especially in the hip-hop world. The hip-hop world hates homosexuality.

I've been a sinner and a saint. If you've been a saint all your life, it's pretty easy to sleep at night. If you've been a sinner, you're just as comfortable in it.

I'm trying to get more into television and film. I know, like, a million models and rappers have said that, but I actually enjoy voiceover and acting in particular.

I'm always gonna be all over my CD the most, of course. My talent is my talent. I ain't really tripping off no ego; I just like to make good music with good people.

About the Sauconys, there are a lot of sneakers that are not as marketed as heavily as like Nike but those silhouettes are still fresh. I'll always go to a Saucony.

I'm of the generation that discovered Aerosmith because of Run-DMC. They just looked crazy to me. They were the dudes in the Run-DMC video. That's who Aerosmith was.

I always liked the idea that you can put something in you onto a canvas or a piece of paper and have it exist there and not inside you. It's a way to control things.

What I am is an encourager. I encourage all who deserve freedom to fight for that. And if you can't win by yourself, then find other people to be in solidarity with.

As I have continued to make music and progress as an artist, I think I am steadily getting better at expanding my lyrical content and defining who I am as an artist.

Humans are such creatures of habit that once they get us in all this debt that we accumulate from going college that we have to work it off for the rest of our lives.

One thing I have throughout my career, it felt like I did my best to align myself with quality artists, quality work, and it is a situation of steel sharpening steel.

I never cared, I was careless, Fear bein afraid or maybe I'm afraid to be fearless. Or fear bein' fearless but fearful, So even in my carelessness...gotta be careful.

That's one of the most bold smacks in the face in this country. It's a way to say, "Look, we just don't even care about you," the price of healthcare in this country.

I'm a real stubborn person. I'm still humble, not too cocky, but I'm big headed. I know what I wanna do and I know how I wanna do it and I know what needs to be done.

We're living or dying. We're already dead, the living dead. So do what you gotta do. Take care of your family, of yourself as a whole, and everything will be alright.

I'm really just tryna bring it home for my city, I'm trying so hard to be the best I can be on every record I do, every feature I do and every different city I go to.

I think my music has a big message, and I think when people really get into it, it does help their life sometimes. It inspires me; it's my favorite part about my job.

You had to look at it as sales, as costumer service. Costumer's alwasy right, you know? Service with a smile. Those type of things so it's just kinda in me. In my DNA.

I'm a firm believer in everything going digital, in a matter of years. I wanted to kind of be one of the pioneers, one of the people that jump on that bandwagon early.

[he brend] gotta be with my fashion I gotta be comfortable with it and want to wear it more than anyone else. So that's really my main objective when it comes to that.

I think it's way harder when you have success, 'cause people tend to not treat you the same or look at you the same because they see the success or the money you make.

Oh, I'm up at 6:00 A.M. every morning because I have a lot to do. Plenty. I work out probably at, like, 8:00. I gotta eat at 6:00 so, therefore, I can workout at 8:00.

Our visual and musical artists have no incentive to be educated. So what we get is a bunch of uneducated artists inspiring misinformation, miseducation and illiteracy.

I know a lot of people who make records, and when you meet them, it's not their personality or they're not what you're expecting. But El-P is exactly what you'd expect.

I guess, for me, the idea of finding an identity through creative means has always been a way to deal with otherwise feeling awkward and uncomfortable out in the world.

The moment artists can just do what they love to do then music will go right back to where it used to be. I mean back in the '60s and '70s and '80s, that's what it was.

I think the hip hop world and the rock world still have a lot in common, but it certainly seems like things happen and break at a much faster pace in the hip hop world.

The emergence of the independent hip-hop scene has replaced what we called the "underground scene". It's what the underground scene has evolved into: actual businesses.

'Meow The Jewels' was a nightmare of a promise I had to fulfill. We made a joke that if the fans gave us $40,000, we would remix our album using nothing but cat sounds.

When you become an artist you're working away from home for so much time. You really see what the use of time means to you once you're an artist and you travel so much.

I'm not anti single. I'm not one of them niggas that say "Aww record sales ain't everything." No. I wanna sell good. I would love a platinum record on radio and charts.

God gave us creation to enjoy it. I believe this is the reason we fight against injustice so that all of creation can experience the beauty of God's goodness and grace.

I don't even really understand that concept of someone being 'smart' or someone else being 'smarter.' I think that except for the obvious special cases, we're all equal.

My brothers each reacted differently to 'Blood Sandwich.' It's a very specific type of odd feeling when there's a song written about you. People react to it differently.

Yeah, we try to get the best musicians possible, and Justin [Robinson] is a great musician, man, a great player. You must have been surprised to see him out there, then.

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