I Hear About People Getting Shot All

People Are Still Tied To Their Hoods, And It's Usually Not The Artist, It's Usually The Friends And Instigators Who Get It Popping.

We Used To Have Mtv And All These Ways We Can Show Our Videos, And It Was These Rap Shows, And It Was Everything. And Then It Became Not Cool To Be Conscious; It Became Cool To Just Hang Out. Escapism Rap Became The Norm. And, When I Say "escapism Rap", I Mean Getting High, Get Your Cars, Get Your Money, Get Your Jewelry, Go To The Club, Have Your Women, And It Just Became All About Escaping Your Reality And Not Making Your Reality Better On A Real Tip; Not Just On The Have Fun Tip.

I Know My Flavor's Going To Work Because I Just Know There's Not A Lot Of Guys Like Me Around. So You Got To Figure Out What's That About You.

Run Dmc Brought Us Out Of That Underground-only Feel. They Brought Rap Above Ground And Made It Respectable As An Art Form To Mainstream Music.

I'm Not Actually From Compton - I'm From South Central Los Angeles, And My Father Still Lives In The Same House I Grew Up In, So I'm There All The Time.