More than half of all the hip hop record sales are white people, and I think that might be a result of my record helping people to accept hip hop.

I think when people say 'real hip-hop,' they want it more buried in the streets. They want it more connected to the streets and the grime and the roughness of the streets. They don't want the fluff.

I think hip hop is a dance music that's rebellious by nature.

No one can identify the uninformed until they voice their ignorance about a topic. Silence is a fool’s best friend. Sadly, he is often too foolish to realize it.

For so-called conscious rappers, it is an opportunity to rap about ways to educate others about African American history, politics and even relationships: all of which would be missed if society merely focused on the “hook” and ignored the influence.

The business of hip hop is probably the most tangible example of the genre’s dramatic maturation.