The 'Day Shift' songs are things that would unfold during the daytime. 'Night Shift' is what would unfold during the nighttime. So, that's how I put that whole thing together. I did both all on one album budget.

Sometimes it's hard to open up about your personal life, your relationship because you always want the music to be in the forefront. You want the music to be the biggest carrier of everything that you represent.

Anybody can have a great album in themselves but it's not until you bring it out and put it into tangible form and creating it and working on it in the studio that all of that comes to life you know what I mean?

When you're from the Bay Area, there's this chip on your shoulder that you inherently come up with, because us, as a region, we've been overlooked in the grand scheme of the history of the genre and the culture.

What I'm trying to tell people is that police brutality in the 'hood is nothing new. And the thing is that whether this guy, the cop killer in my song, is real or not, believe it, there are people at that point.

I try to take people at face value and then beyond, taking them out of face value and out of the category of being Black, Latino, Asian, White, Jewish, Muslim or Christian or Atheist, none of that matters to me.

My whole family's gonna be set for life and I'm not stopping rappin until that happens. I already know I got a five year plan. I'm 26 now and I'm gonna bow out on my 31st birthday. Peace, later, holla, I'm gone.

You called me on the phone, saying you were alone, But that's a lie because I heard your moms breathing on the phone. And if you really like me, let your moms know She should mind her business...before I let go.

A lot of times, when you don't have to deal with some of the circumstances that affect minority culture, you just don't think they exist. This is a conversation I have with lots of my white friends all the time.

Thank God, I'm actually infatuated and in love with what I do, therefore I am what I do. So I never have to forget [any of my ideas] because I never have to remember, I just am. I don't need to write stuff down.

I don't believe in hopping from one social issue to the next to be a part of the movement for a moment. Anything I'm involved in is something that I would die for. I can't support things that don't feel genuine.

The idea that God's mercy is connected to whether or not I shave is ludicrous and I need to just trust myself, and that, you know, if I'm deserving of God's mercy, I'll get it, regardless of, you know, my beard.

I think most albums deserve a documentary because [an album] is a visual book. You don't have to read up on it because you can listen and watch the whole story. I would love to see lots of albums [become films.]

Call it stubborn, call it ignorant, call it what you want, but I don't think I have to join a particular faith or culture or creed or religion just to fit in, since I was part of the clique since it's inception.

After I get dolled up and lay down some records and my voice is out, I want to get away and get my back blown out for like a week. Mess up the hair and make-up that I got done. I have been in prison for a while.

It's only five rappers out of Atlanta who bussin and I'm one of 'em; the other four you know who you are; but if you gotta think twice (well) shawty ya ain't nice; regardless of ya publishin' deal ya can't write

I believe that everything that you do bad comes back to you. So everything that I do that's bad, I'm going to suffer from it. But in my mind, I believe what I'm doing is right. So I feel like I'm going to heaven

I think whenever you're around Kanye, you gotta take notes. The advice is taking notes, because everything he does and everything he says is very detailed and very up front. He's always one hundred what he says.

I always knew I could rap, and in a sense I always rapped. And I've always behaved like a rapper. But I started to take it seriously when I recorded with the people of Brick when I started to receive some money.

Not only I am an adoptee, but I also want to prove to everyone that being legally blind with a rare eye disease called Nystagmus that you can do and be anything if you put your mind to it and believe in yourself.

That's my life. But I don't glorify violence, and I hate jail. The rap game saved me, man: I've got three children, and I wouldn't even think of putting my hand in somebody's pocket or doing something stupid now.

Being positive is like going up a mountain. Being negative is like sliding down a hill. A lot of times, people want to take the easy way out, because it's basically what they've understood throughout their lives.

I think that revolution means change. And if somebody feels like there's nothing wrong, everything's great even when it ain't, why would they ask for a revolution? Just stick the tubes into me and just pump away.

The concept of Who Am I is following me around from 2001 to 2005, I filmed high quality videos but never really serviced them to the television so I saved those and I knew that would be an incentive for the fans.

It isn't me making money as much as it is me spending my money in a way that I feel is effective. My methodology is to say I'm not just going to throw money at a problem but rather personally invest myself in it.

Electing a black man named Barack Obama President in the same country that elected George W. Bush - twice! - is as far-fetched as a hustler from Marcy performing at that President's inauguration. But it happened.

The energy in the daytime is so different because everyone is so unhappy and depressed and you can pick up on that energy psychokinetically. So I like to come out at night. Everything's settled, you can see more.

The person that made me want to make movies, and the reason I do films, is Bruce Lee. He was an incredible actor, and he had a lot of charisma. Handsome, action, you know, everything was there. I loved Bruce Lee.

It's been so long since I've really truly felt what it's like to live life without substances to help. Massive struggle that's natural to one's health, but with addiction in my blood I play the cards I was dealt.

The idea that God's mercy is connected to whether or not I shave is ludicrous, and I need to just trust myself, and that, you know, if I'm deserving of God's mercy, I'll get it, regardless of, you know, my beard.

I still believe there is a lot of truth in Orthodox Judaism, but not the whole truth. Each person has his truth that he has to discover. You don't necessarily have to mold yourself to another idea of who you are.

Whether chocolate or vanilla, or you're somewhere in between, A cappuccino mocha or a caramel queen, Rejected by the black, not accepted by the white world, And this is dedicated to them dark-skinned white girls.

People have stopped battling in hip hop, in the primitive sense, and the focus of the competitive element has shifted to the music. It's less about bragging and more about being the best lyrically and poetically.

I never was the battle rapper. That was never my thing. I always felt like it's enough room for everybody to do their thing. I like bringing new energy, re-inventing the wheel, so to speak, every time I come out.

I respect Snoop even aside from the music, just as a man, and especially the way he still represents who he is, after being a pop star and an icon. He's done it successfully and has still been able to balance it.

I was about 11 when my mother brought me this karaoke machine and I was really into it back then, but about 4 or 5 years ago is when I started printing up my own music, going to the studio and doing my own thing.

If you gonna challenge my ways, know my history. Don't put nobody in my face that don't know about me, or they here to write an article on someone they thought was hot when they was hot. Come on, man. I been hot.

I don't want to put nobody on blast but in the beginning it's like somebody telling you somebody looks like you and you've been looking in the mirror your whole life and nobody looks like you. Same thing with me.

I told the truth about the Miami life. It's a nice place to visit, but you don't want to live here. I lived through two major riots and three Category 5 hurricanes, I don't know if a lot of people could say that.

I wanted to write a book specifically aimed toward young people. I wanted to write a book that anybody can read and enjoy, but I did want to aim it at young people and, even more specifically, urban young people.

Lil Wayne would probably be a big musical inspiration for me, because growing up I was just the biggest Wayne fan and being able to be signed to him and watch his whole journey to the peak of his career is great.

It's about enjoying your life. If you have no family, no friends to enjoy it with, it don't matter how much you have, how much success you have, how much fame you have, how much money you have, it doesn't matter.

Did I collect baseball cards? I've got 10 books full of plastic in my mother's house. All the Upper Decks, the Fleers, the Fleer Ultras. My grandfather brought me to the trade shows. I collected Marvel cards, too.

[Music] business can drive you to do that if you don't have it here. If you're not strong-minded here, it could steer you the wrong way and when it steers you the wrong way, then it might take forever to get back.

It's been three years since I last performed here so I'm dying to tear the roof off Wembley Arena with some old school joints and brand new bangers. When I'm done, you're gonna remember it for a long time to come.

I'm a city boy by nature - that's a big-ass oxymoron - but I do appreciate nature to the fullest because they say if you wanna see God just look around. We can't make this, it's all creation, so I appreciate that.

A lot of people got something to prove. If I had something to prove, I proved it already, so why do I have to go showboat? Like, I don't say I got the hottest song in the world. And, personally, I think otherwise.

I am usually positive and optimistic. If I get stressed or some results are not so good, I let it go by thinking, 'Oh well, it can be better next time.' I don't worry a lot, and I'm not too serious about anything.

I'm funny with food, even if it's vegan. I like it well well, well, well done. I don't want anything there that reminds me of blood. I get mine extra well done. That way, when I look at it, I'm like, 'Okay, cool.'

I was a full-blown street cat. I was trying to hustle my way. I thought I was going to hustle my way to a mansion or something. I was doing pretty good, but I didn't realize that there was no way to win that game.

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