I'd like to think that all the old Beatle fans have grown up and they've got married and they've all got kids and they're all more responsible, but they still have a space in their hearts for us.

I'd like to think that when I sing a song, I can let you know all about the heartbreak, struggle, lies and kicks in the ass I've gotten over the years for being black and everything else, without actually saying a word about it.

Radio stations have constructed a narrow door[way], and that's because they don't understand how complex and paradoxical our snap judgments are. It's hard to measure new songs.

It's always beautiful to sing with other great voices. I like voices in general. It's a big privilege to have great singers next to me.

This is the thing about hip-hop music and where people get it most misconstrued: It's all hip-hop. You can't say that just what I do is hip-hop, because hip-hop is all energies. James Brown can get on the track and mumble all day. But guess what? You felt his soul on those records.

I'm one of a dying breed who goes out and tours all the time. Labels don't spend the money to send people out to play before they become famous, but we did do that so the fans we have are word of mouth fans who have been travelling around with us for years, and they buy the albums, but they are also the ones who go out and get the bootlegs. I don't discourage bootlegging, I like playing live, I don't think it hurts my album sales at all if there are bootlegs out there. Who cares?