Interlude 3

I tell you, there are no big shots in reality, y'all

We're all in the same boat, dealing with the same issues, same problems, same stuff

Don't even buy it

All the perpetration, you know, all this... Well, you know, uh

"We don't have problems." That's a lie. That's a lie

I know that the enemy is doing the same thing to me that he's doing to everybody else

I just know now that the only way to get out is through confrontation, see

We always thought it was retreat, you know, run away

And I'm telling you, you got to confront it

Ah, let's see, how are we doin' as far as the tunin', okay

This, this is a strange song because this song, this is when everything sort of-

When this song was written, this is when everything sort of stopped

It was, it was written a long time ago, but it was right before God just snatched me out of everything

And because I didn't understand...

Initially it was written about ah, the who-

I'd written it about the whole Amadou Diallo situation

When it first happened, and I went to the studio, and I laid it down

And it was like, strong, for the first day

And then it just regressed every day after that

And I said, "What's going on? What's happening?"

And at the end of it there was a word that I used, "rebel"

And I guess I was afraid that it was such a hot time in the city at that point

I was afraid that if I put the record out, people would misunderstand what I meant by "rebel"

And they'd just take it to the streets

So I was very intimidated and afraid

And before I knew it a whole host of things happened

Everything stopped after that

And the creativity stopped

Everything stopped

That's when I realized I had to understand what I was talking about

Before I could tell somebody else what I was talking about

And I had to be, you know, a living example

It's real crazy because I don't know what the press is saying

Because I don't listen to the press too much

But I know the view is that I'm emotionally unstable, which is reality. Like you aren't?

I'm laughing because what I've realized

I've become is one of those meds scientists who does the tests on themselves first

You see, to make sure that they work

And that's when you know, OK look, I got something that works

You know what I'm saying? I'm not gonna give you something that I haven't tested for myself

And you go through, and you're learning by way of experience

And you're making mistakes, and you're getting up

A friend of mine once said to me, he said, look

If we weren't supposed to turn around, why does a car have a steering wheel?

You know, we just supposed to crash into the wall?

No, we're supposed to say, Listen, I was going the wrong way... Reverse

In this particular song, now I realize that this song is about freedom

You see? We could look at one human being

But it's about the spirit of freedom being taken out, and how it's taken out in all of us

The song is called "I Find It Hard to Say." Bear with me a little bit