I loved the hood and still love the hood but I had to realize like Ra you a rapper now you're in the public eye.

Take 7 emcees put em in a line And add 7 more brothers who think they can rhyme It'll take 7 more before I go for mine And that's 21 emcees ate up at the same time.

I start to think, and then I sink Into the paper like I was ink When I'm writing, I'm trapped in between the lines I escape when I finish the rhyme.

It ain't where you're from, it's where you're at.

Stay wise and the mind is untouchable.

Teach the youth to speak the truth, show them what peace can do

I'm just an addict, addicted to music Maybe it's a habit...I gotta use it.

Timeless, so age don't count in the booth When your flow stay submerged in the fountain of youth

Thinkin' of a master plan Cause ain't nothin' but sweat inside my hand.

So I start my mission- leave my residence Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents

I'm everlastin, I can go on for days and days With rhyme displays that engrave deep as X-rays I can take a phrase that's rarely heard, FLIP IT Now it's a daily word

Treasure the people who are willing and able to help you reach your goals.

I remember thinking as a child that diamonds were stars that fell from the sky as shooting stars. You can only imagine my disappointment at learning the truth of them. I still prefer the stars.

It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls

I'm healthy, have a loving and adorable family, great hunting dogs, a gravity defying musical career and most importantly, fuzzy-headed idiots hate me.

Pain is an interesting and off-putting thing. Few if any things in life concentrate our attention so completely and terribly, and few things are more boring to listen to or read about.

I'm a big guy so I have to keep my muscles loose. So I do a lot of stretching before the game. I'll do about 10-15 minutes of yoga just to loosen up my body, get warm and get ready to play.

Every morning I am a beginner.

Hypocrisy is folly. It is much easier, safer, and pleasanter to be the thing which a man aims to appear, than to keep up the appearance of being what he is not.

Be ready at all times for the gifts of God, and always for new ones.

I think you can photograph a certain sliver of human presence in its absence... images taken in the empty rooms, the marks left on the walls, disappearing shadows, etc.