I'm 23 years old. I might just be my mother's child, but in all reality, I'm everybody's child. Nobody raised me; I was raised in this society.

I am society's child. This is how they made me and now I'm sayin' what's on my mind and they don't want that. This is what you made me, America.

My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.

Of course I'm going to say 'I'm a thug,' that's because I came from the gutter and I'm still here!

One day I'm gonna bust, blow up on this society. Why did you lie to me? I couldn't find a trace of equality.

I have not brought violence to you. I have not brought 'thug life' to America. I didn't create 'thug life;' I diagnosed it.