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You have kids growing up in some of the worst circumstances financially, living in some of the worst ghettos, and they succeed. They succeed because an adult figure, typically a mother, maybe a grandmother, nourishes the kid, supports the kid, protects the kid, encourages the kid to succeed. It's as if the environment never happened.

I didn't say I wouldn't go into ghetto areas. I've been in many of them and to some extent I would say this; if you've seen one city slum, you've seen them all.

Growing up in the ghetto is pretty hard. It's poverty; it's frustration.

No matter where you from, there's ghettos all over the place.

I think my thing is I grew up in the ghetto, and I was able to get a second chance. That's what I'm trying to tell kids.

You're either ghetto or you're not.

You see, I was born in the slums, that was before the ghetto. The ghetto was kind of refined; the slums was right there on the ground.

I stayed in the ghetto. Then I stayed in condos, then I stayed in penthouses, and then I stayed in mansions.

I think there's an element where people get very comfortable in their ghetto. Which is fair enough.

I was born and raised in the ghetto, on welfare, two minutes from homeless.