I don’t think that early hip hop stood out to be a social critique. A lot of fans of mine think that hip hop’s ultimate responsibility is to critique social structures.

A flower that grow in the ghetto know more about survival than the one from fresh meadows.

Skip the religion and politics, head straight to the compassion. Everything else is a distraction.

I ignored your aura but it grabbed me by the hand, like the moon pulled the tide, and the tide pulled the sand.

Do the math: You never settle for less than the whole if you knew the half.

You gotta get back to your essence, Use your gifts and share your presence, Don't count your dollars 'til you count your blessings.

Life without knowledge is death in disguise.

The beautiful thing about hip-hop is it's like an audio collage. You can take any form of music and do it in a hip-hop way and it'll be a hip-hop song. That's the only music you can do that with.

If lyrics sold then truth be told/I'd probably be just as rich and famous as Jay-Z.

I'm at a loss for words. But even my loss is amplified.

You know, there's a lot of activism that doesn't deal with empowerment, and you have to empower yourself in order to be relevant to any type of struggle.

An active civil position makes a Christian strong as the image of God

Thirty-five things have to go wrong for the best thing to happen in your career

Have we become so defensive that we cannot even tolerate a kind act?

Success is not measured by who you are, only by the perception of what others think you are

The oil industry has outpaced the building of a public consensus of the implications of climate science.

We do not have elections. But the great majority of the Cuban people supports its government.

I have faith that my life is in good hands. I honestly try to see how I can grow from uncomfortable circumstances.

I don't believe for one second that the eye surgery has helped me on the mound

I always get what I want. If I didn't get it, I didn't want it enough.

I find comedy to be one of the highest of the art forms.