I wanted to be part of changing the world. I don't want to just stand by and watch it be however it is..

I just make music based on what I believe..

I always write knowing that people will hear it, but also hoping they'll see it. So a lot of times I make lyrical decisions based on what looks bette….

It's usually important to me to get my idea out first because a lot of times my ideas will seem weird to musicians..

I have tried to write songs quickly that get scrapped. I've also taken a long time on songs that get scrapped because you can over-think something, a….

Rappers are usually rapping about knowledge they think people need to get by in the world. If there's no movement that gives the idea that the knowle….

A lot of people heard about gin and juice for the first time from Snoop Dogg, but it was nothing new in rap music, and it was nothing new in the blac….

I was an avowed professional revolutionary by the time I was 15..

In reality, I know I'm not hurt directly by sexism; however, my life is made less because of it, so I started thinking about the fallout from relatio….

When my daughter was born, that was the first time I cried from happiness..

Becoming a father made me a lot more sentimental than I ever was before. I never cried at movies before I became a parent. I feel music more intensel….

All of a sudden it became that hip hop didn't used to be about partying; hip hop used to be about putting out a message..

I am a person who always feels like I am not doing the right thing because there's always so many things that need to get done..

What I'm trying to do is make music that people relate to, that talks about ideas that are personal but also make that connection to trying to make r….

I've been involved in a lot of different kinds of projects. I've been on straight hip hop tours. I've been on underground rock tours. I've been on mu….

I lived in Detroit until I was six. My older sister was living with us, and she listened to the Ohio Players and Stevie Wonder, so I grew up listenin….

I wanted to write a song about sexism, but I didn't want to do it in a mechanical way and be like, "Don't be sexist!" because that's not how I talk i….

Sometimes it takes time to get into what ideas actually mean to you. Even when you're not writing a song, it's like that..

In high school, everybody rapped. You just pounded on the table..

Death to the pigs is my basic statement..

What first got me involved in politics was being 14, and a youth organizer comes to my house with a van full of 14 year old girls. "Hey, you want to ….