Obviously from childhood to my teenage years, I really came into my own. I left the house early; I was on the streets when I was, like, 15. I've been holdin' my own since that age.

My thing is that I don't give no person that much power over my path that I'm walking. Not one person can make or break what I'm doing, except me or God.

On a mission your worst enemy is idle time.

I'm more focused on giving solutions and inspiration more than anything.

And it's possible to monetize your art without compromising the integrity of it for commerce.

Luck is just bein' prepared at all times, so when the door opens you're ready.

If you don't know your full-throttle history, the whole story of how you came to where you are, it's kind of hard to put things together.

I feel that luck is a product of hard work.

We're not the cause, we're the effect.

[In Eritrea] in key positions - president, government, police - everybody's the same [color]. It's a country run by its people. No racial class, everybody feels a part of it.

When I became a man, and I started to understand the difference between the truth and what your parents are supposed to tell you, there's a difference, know what I mean?

This paper, by its very length, defends itself from ever being read.

We both wanted to know each other's secrets, and we both wanted the other person to go first.

The things we are been fed with on the pulpit determines how our people behave.

I'm very positive - music-wise, production-wise and life-wise.

Many of the greatest tyrants on the records of history have begun their reigns in the fairest manner. But the truth is, this unnatural power corrupts both the heart and the understanding.

It is fun to think about your pet moonlighting as a water delivery man, or a bouncer at a bar. Thinking about your dog out in the world, instead of laying on your bed when you leave, is really fun.

Life and families and babies are all joyous gifts. But if we do not begin to truly account for our numbers, we will surely create an ecological crisis that will only lead to anguish and despair.

I couldn't bare the idea of not being in regular communication with the audience I love - young women of color.

It will be impossible to put these principles into practice unless the non-owning workers through industry and thrift advance to the state of possessing some little property.

I didn't have anybody, really, no foundation in life, so I had to make my own way. Always, from the start. I had to go out in the world and become strong, to discover my mission in life.