My childhood is streets upon streets upon streets upon streets. Streets to define you and streets to confine you, with no sign of motorway, freeway or highway.
Buckley and Vidal were both stand-ins for what was happening on the streets of Chicago and the streets of America. I mean, they're representing these two different camps that are at war in the streets. And they're at war with their words. And each was looking for a knockout.
Paris, the City of Light, never fails to enchant. With its jazz clubs, music in the streets, outdoor restaurants. The clatter of knives and forks at street-side cafes. Chic and trendy students embracing in the streets.
I wasn't from the streets, but I was in the streets. I had a good family, nice home - you know, I can't say I grew up with nothing... but I chose to hang in the streets.
My ideal city would be one long main street with no cross streets or side streets to jam up traffic. Just a long one-way street.
I wanted to be an actor from a young age, but actually becoming one and seen the ugly side of the world does feel different and sometimes unwelcome. There are shallow, vapid, untalented people zombieing the streets of Hollywood, adding decadence and immorality to an already extravagant business.
The streets and the industry are two different things. You could be one super-hot artist in the streets, and you could walk into a corporate building, and people would be like, "Who are you?"
The two cultures of East and West are very different, and the priorities are very different. So when you understand that - if you are from this side or this side - when you understand that the other is different than you, and you respect these differences, you can build communication.
I think I present a different side of a male character: a side that is not John Wayne-like, a side that is, in fact, destructible. To some people, that is refreshing, and to other people, especially if they don't know me, it may be disturbing.
Jazz came from the streets, hip-hop came from the streets. It's just a different language. It's all borne out of hard times, struggle, and the fight to have equality and things be better.
The chances are you've never seen the other side of me. You've seen the event side of me when I'm on stage. But there is another side of me. If you evoke that side, you won't like it. It's a nasty side. You don't want to see that side. You're not missing anything by not seeing it.
My mom and dad are from the streets. My mom's from Chicago. My dad's from Memphis. My dad got out of school and got with my mom. They were hustlers. They were from the streets. They were doing their thing. The streets ain't got no love for the streets. You can light up the streets, or be a victim of the streets.
For me, it's good to have those dissimilar modes of songwriting sit side-by-side on a record, because they yield such different results.
I think when people say 'real hip-hop,' they want it more buried in the streets. They want it more connected to the streets and the grime and the roughness of the streets. They don't want the fluff.
A good guide will take you through the more important streets more often than he takes you down side streets; a bad guide will do the opposite. In philosophy I'm a rather bad guide.
The images of war inspired me to create, to go to different situations and communities, to document the human side of people, to show a side that we don't see.