And You Know, Art As Commerce, Doesn't

Hip Hop Is At Its Essence A Folk Music, Because It Speaks The Language That People Are Still Speaking At Ground Zero, It Speaks The Language That People Speak On The Streets.

I Met Mos Def Around That Time But I Didn't Hook Up With Him Until I Was About 17 Or 18.

You Have To Know When To Be Arrogant. You Have To When To Be Humble. You Have To Know When To Be Hard And You Have To Know When To Be Soft.

What's More Condescending And Corny Than Someone Telling You How Much More Money They Have Than You And Telling You Basically, 'i Don't Care About Poor People,' Which Is A Large Part Of What You Hear Of Corporate Hip-hop On The Radio.

Being Called A Conscious Rapper Is Quite A Compliment. It's A Great Thing To Be. But As An Artist, My Nature Is To Not Be In A Box.