It's A Massive Undertaking Putting An Album

You Have Educate The Masses To Exactly What Their Tax Dollars Are Going To Pay For. I Think Once People Educate Themselves And Open Up Their Minds To Understand That On That Really Basic Level, Then You'll Have Some Type Of Change In The Way That Americans Associate Themselves And Participate In Their Own Political Process.

There's Already Been Black Presidents Who've Been Corrupt, So It Doesn't Strike Me That Having A Black Man In Office Means He's Going To Be The Messiah.

My Whole Team, It Wasn't About Putting The Album Out, It Was About Getting Off The Record Company And Going Independent Or Going To Another Label. To The Point We Were Like, 'listen, Just Take 'lasers.' You Can Have Whatever Percentage Off The Next Ten Records I Do For The Rest Of My Life. I Just Do Not Want To Be Here Anymore.'

People Have Their Morals, But Morals Aren't Concrete. People Think Because I'm A Muslim That I Pray Five Times A Day, But You're Never Going To See That On A Day-to-day Basis. People Fluctuate. To Me, That Was The Most Specific Way To Put It, The Best Way To Be Like, "i Listen To This Music, But It's The Most Violent Music On The Planet." But I Like It, And To Make Up For It, I Don't Say The Cuss Words. That's How I Get Away With It.

In Chicago, You Have An Absence Of Strong Family Units, And That Absence Gets Filled By Gangs. You Have A Failure In The School System, After-school Programs And Other Social Programs To Help Keep Kids Off The Streets. Amnesty International Speaks To That In Some Way, By Keeping These Issues In The Forefront.