Poverty brings people to drastic measures and that's what the hardcore gangsta rap scene is about. It's called freedom of expression. People should be allowed to express what they've been through, what they've been able to familiarize themselves with.
I've been called everything. Gangsta rap. I've been called conscious rap. You know, everything. Whoever feels like calling it whatever they want to call it, that's on them.
I don't consider myself a gangsta rapper. But I'm probably more qualified to be a gangsta rapper than people who call themselves that. I've been through that life.
Gangsta rap was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. Gangsta rap didnt exist.
There's a lot of guys in the league that make music and it's hardcore gangsta rap. None of us really live that life and you can't talk about being a thug.
The news that comes out of Pakistan is always geared toward terrorism and fundamentalism. But when you give people freedom of expression and the freedom to go out and be social and to express themselves, you will see a change. I see that coming about in my country.
I don't look so closely at women's fashion, but from the 20th century on, people have had the freedom to express themselves and their individualities, and fashion is one of the most fundamental ways in which they do this, men and women are equally able to express themselves.
I think arts should be liberal, people should be allowed to express themselves. It happens in most democratic countries in the world, and I don't see why it should be different in India.
At times when people fear death, they go along with measures that they believe, rightly or wrongly, will save them - even if that means a loss of freedom. Such measures have been popular in the past.
Freedom is the thing that has attracted me most to jazz. Within improvisation, you're really able to express something that maybe I'm not so adept at expressing via language. So I develop a language through the instrument to tell stories. So it's kind of this freedom of thought and freedom of expression that kind happens.
The Internet is a blessing and a curse. I mean, it's a place where lots of people can express themselves, which is amazing, but it's a place where a lot of people can express themselves that probably should keep those expressions to themselves.
There's a lot of pressure that comes from the mainstream stuff, and already people who have been saying - people who don't know any better - have been saying things to me like, 'You should really think about neosoul. You'd definitely be more successful in that.' But that's not my expression.
90% of the people that rap are just rappers, they rap what they see, a lot of them exploit other peoples lives, I've been through it all, I don't glorify it cos when I was in jail, I wasn't like YES I'm in jail now I can say that in my rap.
Documentary film is the one place that our people can speak for themselves. I feel that the documentaries that I've been working on have been very valuable for the people, for our people to look at ourselves, at the situations, really facing it, and through that being able to make changes that really count for the future of our children to come.
I've always been someone who really watches other people, human behavior. To watch it and be able to express it through your version has always been really exciting to me
I've always been someone who really watches other people, human behavior. To watch it and be able to express it through your version has always been really exciting to me.
I just think people should be able to express themselves.