The Don

"You said you didn’t think you’d last this long in the business. Is there something in particular that made you think that?"

"One of the reasons is, man, how [messed up] the business was in the '80s when great acts like Public Enemy, De La Soul, NWA, and Tribe were around. The record business was a lot worse. My generation benefited from their losses or from their sacrifices ... and realize the torch they had in their hands was supposed to stay lit. For me that’s important. My ego is not as big as hip-hop is. Hip-hop comes before Nas. A lot of these guys have egos, and that’s a character flaw, it’s one of the ugliest character flaws ... an artist with ego."

(source: latimes.com)