Rap music came along and saved my life. I started to tell the stories of the streets and that was my way out.

It's just that when you heard hip-hop, no matter where you were, it was a culture that kind of made you want to try to be part of it. Whether you thought you were an artist, whether you thought you could be a DJ, whether you thought you could breakdance, or whether you thought you could rap. It was the kind of culture that had a lot of open doors.

Before rap came along, I was, actually, actively in the streets; getting in trouble, doing the wrong thing.

Rapping is a vocal delivery, so you can do it without being part of hip-hop and not knowing what hip-hop is about.