“I started DJing, breakdancing and MCing in the '70s and I got my record deal in 1979 with 'Christmas Rap.'”

“They had killed themselves over our dying forests, over manatees maimed by propellers as they surfaced to drink from garden hoses; they had killed themselves at the sight of used tires stacked high...”

“The world seemed to shimmer a little at the edges.”

“If we cannot accept the importance of the world, which considers itself important, if in the midst of that world our laughter finds no echo, we have but one choice: to take the world as a whole and...”

“Only God can judge me so I'm gone, either love me or leave me alone.”

“You could name practically any problem in the hood and there'd be a rap song for you.”

“Rap has been a path between cultures in the best tradition of popular music.”

“In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two.”

“There are two theories on hitting the knuckleball. Unfortunately, neither of them works.”

“I'm fortunate to be famous for two rather imposing characters like Magneto and Gandalf.”