“I think hip-hop could help rebuild America, once hip-hoppers own hip-hop... We are our own politicians, our own government, we have something to say. We're warriors. Soldiers.”
“'Stillmatic' is the rebirth of 'Illmatic,' my first debut album to come out in 1994. 'Stillmatic' is me coming full circle in my career and with everything, and just bringing pure hip-hop back.”
“Hip-hop artists, especially the older ones, are the ones who knew hip-hop was a worldwide phenomenon before the mainstream caught on, so hip-hop artists are forward thinkers. We want to stay with the new.”
“You know, rap is sort of like a form of talking, right? So it's like you can hear, you know, the slaves doing it. You can hear, like, you know, Africans and Jamaicans doing it just kind of as, like, a rhythmic, poetic conversation, you know, to a rhythm.”
“Anybody I'm dating, I don't want them to talk about my music. I don't talk about my music to them.”
“The sound of the '90s, to me, is a combination of soul and street - it's a feeling.”
“I had a pretty public divorce. They're not easy - divorces - and it took me a long time to really get through.”
“Let's not forget, art can sell. You ain't gotta front all the time on your records.”
“There was a side of me that knew I was gonna change the game, but I didn't know how many people would respect it.”
“I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still blessed with the opportunity to make music and pass out a message like, 'Life is good,' to the world.”