In my hood, I was always with the older guys.

I don't know rap. I can't tell you a Tupac song. But you put on some go-go, and I'll know it word-for-word. That's why I feel like I got my own sound - or a D.C. sound.

I'm worried about myself. Glizzy gang, that's it. I'm not worried about no other rappers.

No one shows love. There's no unity between the artists and the streets. There's none of that in D.C. You're never gonna get love in D.C. If you get love in D.C., then you're a special person.

My music is genuine, and I'm talking about stuff that no one else - no one my age, anyway, in the game - is talking about. Nobody. I'm the only one really stating facts and speaking with real street knowledge.

I've never lived in the 'hood, I've never lived in squalor and I'm not black. But I have an older brother and I know what it's like to share a home with a brother, to share your clothes and sporting equipment, all the fights and disagreements you have as brothers. So that's the way I approached this play.