I would go to an aunt's house, and she would let me play music, and she had 'The Last Poets' album. At that time, albums didn't have explicit stickers on them, so some of the songs had profanity on them, and I was moved by that. I would listen to those songs, to the flow, and I'd balance it back and forth with the nursery stuff I had.

There were certain things that grabbed my interest, such as photosynthesis, such as us living off plants and plants living off us. You look at everything in that light - so if I'm looking at ice cubes, I might start thinking about absolute zero, or Fahrenheit and Celsius. There's so much that can make me think about science.

I don't knock material rappers, but let me hear it in a different way. How many songs do I have to hear about rims on a car? It's ridiculous. There's no substance. It's a hollow shell.

I wasn't raised a vegetarian. I wish I was, though. I mean, that's really the best way to go. I just learned at a young age and stopped eating some things.

Normally when I do an album, I have a concept behind it.

A lot of artists think that to be current, you have to follow what's out there and do something that's so unlike what you normally do. It can work, but it doesn't if you chase it.

Hip-hop became the voice of rebellion and the youth, as rock music did in the '60s.

If you take a song like 'We Will, We Will Rock You,' 'You got blood on your face... ' - he's rhyming on that! And if you take the lyrics out of that song, you get a hip-hop beat. It's a rock song, though. So it's not out of my element for me to get with Black Lips.

I used to make demo tapes with cats that rocked with Russell Simmons and people like that. The history goes so far back; I've always been really focused on writing dope rhymes.

When I was growing up, I never really ate vegetables. I was just a hot dog, hamburger, French fry person like most kids.

Education is the tool. Even if we haven't directly instructed a session, I think Wu-Tang has been an instructor of education to anyone who has been a fan, anyone who has supported our movement, whether its been from buying a Wu-Tang CD or coming to see a show.

My favorite subjects was science and math. But as I got older, I was hanging out cutting class, going to hooky parties.

Most people associate Wu Tang with Staten Island or Shaolin, but actually, I'm a native of Brooklyn. I was born in Crown Heights, raised in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and Bushwick.

Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? Why is metal a conductor of electricity, and wood is not, but you're more likely to be struck by lightning when standing under a tree? These are questions that require science to answer.

Chess is a game of stimulation.

Like MCs, each chess player has his own style: how he likes to open, when he likes to attack. Just like we face off with each other lyrically, we challenge each other's minds on the chessboard. Sharpen each other's swords.

I don't think people have ever really been in touch with science. They're drawn to it, but they don't know why they're drawn to it. For example, you may be blown away by the structure of something, like a soccer ball or a geodesic dome, with its hexagonal shapes.

Everything is always coming from something else. Even if you create something, it has to be inspired by something else. If you think of Apple and Steve Jobs, he had to be inspired by something that launched the ideas in his head.

A song is composed of music and lyrics: 50 percent is the producer, 50 percent is the artist. So, I'm responsible for 50 percent. All I know is that I have to do my job, and I have to do it well. And he has to do the same.

I've directed all my videos throughout my whole career, 'cause that's leeway. I was granted that opportunity to be able to do that.

I never really thought I had an extensive vocabulary like that, and I'm not an avid reader. I didn't read a lot growing up - at all.

When the Black Lips sent a track over to me, I thought it sounded like a Beastie Boys track, the way the singer was singing and flowing on it. He was right in the pocket.

I love physics.

I probably take about a month to write a song, depending on how much time I can dedicate to it, and it depends on how many hours a day there are and how many days in a week and weeks in a month.

I drink a lot of juice.

Every family argues and goes through things.

I don't like to just be simple. Even though some of my stuff can seem simple at times, I like to write in a way that, when you listen to it over and over again, you hear something new, and it requires you to think.

I'm just really, really laid-back-slash-lazy. Last minute with everything.

Snowboarding is skateboarding without the wheels, just on snow. It's the same thing, just that one is on hard ground with the wheels, the other is on snow. You just have to know how to maneuver your board and do things you want to do.

I like broccoli. I like rice. I like carrots. I like vegetable juices. Y'know? I mean, I'm with all that.

If you hear people talking about the Golden Era of rap, they're usually talking about the early Wu Tang Clan era and then Nas and Biggie and so on. But for me, it goes back to the '80s - 1986 to 1989.

Some MCs don't take the time to take a beat home or just vibe with it and just figure out, 'How do I attack this track?'

I'm not a sports person, but every now and then, I incorporate sports in my rhymes because I'm always grabbing from certain things and getting inspired by something whether I'm totally involved in it or not.

Writing, for me, really started in the '70s as a young child. I used to read a lot of nursery rhymes, and I learned a lot of those rhymes word for word.

I am honored that 'Liquid Swords,' the song and album, have been so widely embraced for so long.

Hip-hop is my vehicle for scientific enlightenment. It wasn't until my music career matured where I was exposed to science as an intellectual pursuit.

Some of us don't respect water. We waste it and pour it out. But a lot of disastrous stuff involves water. Tsunamis. Hurricanes.

I think all artists want that plaque, whether it's Gold or Platinum or multi-platinum. I think we all look forward to getting a plaque and hanging it on your wall and having something to show for the music that you've created.

I've studied rap in every borough.

I think, as an artist, the overall goal is to teach and educate no matter what the song is about. Somewhere where a listener can get something out of it, something that can give them help to move forward, help them learn something, analyze something in a different way, or think about something.

I think, for myself, as an artist, the progression is a lyrical progression and what I choose to target my lyrics at and how I construct the rhymes.

I was always interested in skateboarding, BMX bike riding, flipping, gymnastics. Anything with tumbling, turning, twisting, and extreme sports.

'Liquid Swords' just represents a sharp tongue, sharp words.

You are like a sponge when you are young.

Oh, hip hop is always changing.

Wu-Tang has opened many doors for hip hop.

When I was growing up, to be an emcee meant to write the most clever, intellectual, and wittiest rap. And that's what we did.

Rappers should sit down and construct quality lines.

Rap has always had a braggadocios flavour to it. That goes all the way back to 'Rapper's Delight.'

Music is forever changing.