If I'm not around, not only do I fail my sons, I fail myself. Becoming a father changed my outlook and gave me a whole other reason to be around.
— Nate Dogg
A lot of black men get in desperate situations because they don't see any other avenues to make it. You make a couple of mistakes today, that's all she wrote. You're not going to get a good job; nobody's gonna hire a felon. You can't even vote. They just want to silence you.
I love old R&B records.
People don't know how deep, loving, and caring 'Pac was. He was more than a rapper or an actor: he was a real friend.
The South Side loves me - I've got a song with Jermaine Dupri - and I've got songs on the East Coast and songs on the West Coast. Now, if I could just find me a rapper from up North.
I'm trying to make a big statement - that I'm not just a hook singer.
It makes it a lot easier when you can make your own decisions.
The first song I wrote was called 'Baby Darling Darling Girl,' and you know what's funny? It went, 'Baby darling darling girl, I really love your Jheri Curl.' I thought it was tight as hell.
Sometimes I have some stuff in my head, man, you wouldn't believe. But I can go to the studio and talk about it. That's my way of releasing.
Boys need fathers, and you can't do that in jail.
I literally grew up in the church.
It looks different seeing yourself on the big screen.
There are certain rules: If you know somebody did something, you don't just say, 'Ay, po-leece, I know who did it!' it's more like, 'Okay, I'll take care of it.'
A lot of people just send me beats, and I pick the ones I like. See, once I said I was doing my album - because I know everybody and they mama - everybody just got in touch with me.
I don't know how to do nothing else. I started out doing what I do, and I try to stick to what I'm doing.
My family don't listen to R&B - never have, never will. They only listen to gospel. That's where I get my voice from. I got a gospel voice.
I met Snoop through church when we was, like, 13 or 14. You know, they had them little church picnics and basketball games, and that's where I got to know him.
Wherever I go with my life, even the good times and the bad parts, only two people are with me: God and my music.
Death Row is a bridge out of that ghetto world, giving voices to those people society thinks shouldn't be heard.
When I do get married, I'm gonna sing to my wife. If a woman makes me fall in love, I've got to sing to her.
I was a Dr. Dre fan.
Long Beach is fast. Every day, you hear something bad; somebody gets hurt.
I really didn't even pick producers. I just picked beats, except for Dre - he's the only producer I knew I wanted to work with.
You can be more creative when you're not feeling like a slave. When you're on a record label, they have you like that.
Thirty days after high-school graduation, I went straight into the Marines.
I see myself as the ambassador of hip-hop. I do songs with people from everywhere. We ain't got nothing but love.
That's all I know how to do, just make music.
