I think my first album opened a lot of doors for me to push the freedom of speech to the limit.

Trust is hard to come by. That's why my circle is small and tight. I'm kind of funny about making new friends.

You know, fame is a funny thing, man, especially, you know, actors, musicians, rappers, rock singers, it's kind of a lifestyle and it's easy to get caught up in it - you go to bars, you go to clubs, everyone's doing a certain thing... It's tough.

Honestly, I'd love to be remembered as one of the best to ever pick up a mic, but if I'm doing my part to lessen some racial tension I feel good about what I'm doing.

It feels good to have your work respected again.

Say there's a white kid who lives in a nice home, goes to an all-white school, and is pretty much having everything handed to him on a platter - for him to pick up a rap tape is incredible to me, because what that's saying is that he's living a fantasy life of rebellion.

I didn't have nothin' going for me... school, home... until I found something I loved, which was music, and that changed everything.

Anybody with a sense of humor is going to put on my album and laugh from beginning to end.

A lot of the problems I had with fame I was bringing on myself. A lot of self-loathing, a lot of woe-is-me. Now I'm learning to see the positive side of things, instead of, like, 'I can't go to Kmart. I can't take my kids to the haunted house.'

The truth is you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed.