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It's not just music. To me, it's songwriting more than anything. A lot of people say it's expression, but to me, it's more than that.

If you break down most rock songs and look at the lyrics on a piece of paper, it's all about melody. It's all about presentation. And a lot of bands are really great, but you can't understand a word of what they say.

Lyrics can be important, but ultimately, what pulls people in on a song is melody and the tracks and the way music feels.

When you do have songs where you're going to say something, some kind of statement about cultural or social stuff, that in general people love it. People love to be challenged in that way.

When there are no lyrics, people can picture what they want. It's a reflection of where they are in their lives. Music becomes a mirror.

Music is a lens through which to see who we are. Every phrase of every piece of music is trying to tell a story.

I pay attention to lyrics and I know what rap fans care about. I try to write for the average listener and I'm conscious of the mainstream without selling out.

I'd rather not get into what I'm talking about lyrically. I think it's impossible not to demystify a song when saying what it's about. Music and art can be damaged severely by too much information; I say that as somebody that has participated in that.

I'm fascinated by rap and by hip-hop. I think there's a lot of poetry in it. There's a lot of anger, a lot of social energy in it. And I think you'd better listen to it pretty carefully, 'cause it's important.

I don't like to get too specific about lyrics. It places limitations on them, and spoils the listeners' interpretation.