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You can't speak for the people unless you're able to walk amongst the people. And how many of these rappers out here actually hang out with regular people?

Finding a good bus driver can be as important as finding a good musician.

Rappers aren't the really rich ones. We all have nice houses with studios and cars, but you need a piece of someone's business to be super wealthy.

The more I got into my artistry, I got a bigger responsibility: the kids in Chicago, they look up to the rappers. We influence them.

The first rappers I ever got into were Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, and Nas. Those are the guys. Those are the dudes that flipped my wig.

The rappers have gone in and created a lot of hit music based upon my influence. And they'll tell you if you ask.

As with all the other rappers I've worked with, Biggie and I shared common ground. Even though Biggie grew up in Brooklyn and I grew up in Chicago, we came from the same 'hood.

Few rappers realize the genre sprang from West African griots through Delta slave songs to jazz poetry and the comedic trash talk of 'the dozens.'

I just feel like, with rappers, there's so much complacency. It's like, 'Oh, I'm a rapper. I'm successful. I make money. That's all that matters.' But there's a lot of stuff going on in the world. Whether or not you're aware of it, it's happening.