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Hip Hop has become real constrained. The creative juices and creative flows have been diminished.

Rap is rhythm and poetry. Hip-hop is storytelling and poetry as well.

So I think hip-hop is moving and is going to continue to move in the direction of rappers just being honest with themselves, whether you're talking about Common and Mos Def or Nas and 50 cent.

I don't feel that rap has been respected as an art form. Because people have seen rappers rap off the top of their heads, they don't think it is difficult.

The thing about hip-hop today is it's smart, it's insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable.

Rappers should just be able to perform what they create and satisfy the people that like and love them.

A lot of rap songs don't usually have a lot of melody per se.

I think rap music is rap music. I mean, are there heavy writing aspects of it? Absolutely. In a sense, is it poetry? Yeah. I've heard that so much, growing up in a house with poetry. But I think people like to use that as a shortcut for who's good and who's not. It's like the word 'lyrical' - 'lyrical' is the worst word in the entire world.

Rap is just somebody getting something off his chest. That's all it is.