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When I first got into the rap game, I had an early dream of unifying rappers.

It must surprise people that I'm such a rap fan, but it's true. Sometimes, just staying in, putting on some rap music, and letting loose is all I need to have a good time.

When you do rap albums, you got to train yourself. You got to constantly be in character.

Why shouldn't rap be esoteric, able to take in current events, history and criticism? I guess it's this old idea of containment - that rappers, because they're black, can't and shouldn't aspire to look outside the ghetto for influence.

I don't like rap that you can't understand. The youth is so quick and alert.

You can't compete with hip-hop. That doesn't mean I don't want to be as big as a rap star. I do - I'm always competitive. But there's this weird perception of me as someone who's sitting around plotting like a devil. It's not like that.

I think that's a weak excuse, to say because a rapper's getting older that he ain't got it no more. Nah. Don't go by that philosophy. Let's just recognize that talent is within.

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.

I'm not turning my back on music anytime soon, but it's just a blessing to have options open. A lot of artists just have rap, and that's it. But once rap stops, it's hard to get into that Hollywood circle; it really is. It's a whole 'nother beast that people think they're ready for, but they're really not.

I've been a hip hop head forever. So when it turned out that we were gonna start getting celebrity guests for every show, I wanted rap guys from the get-go.