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What brought about that change? Is it just a part of getting older?

Of course. The more you go through as a person, you grow and you deal with more things and those things you deal with definitely affect your music. I know it does for me. Everything has changed: the topics, the way I elaborate more, my ability to change up situations.

What sort of producers are you working with on the project?

I have tracks from Jake One, who's an amazing producer who has done things with 50 Cent, Jay-Z and T.I. I have two tracks from Grammy award-winning producers Tha Bizness. And I'm showcasing my production team, these guys named Poker Beats and Rob E; these are young guys who are extremely talented. They get the job done.

Through your Twitter account, you recently asked, "I wonder how many people would still show love and support if I leak it [the album] -- would you still hit iTunes?" Do you have an answer for that?

No, I don't have an answer. I wonder. At the end of the day, we live in the days when everybody wants something for free. I'm willing to see if the people are gonna go out and buy it. I'm probably still gonna leak it -- I think that raises awareness, and they can still go out and buy it. At the end of the day, people like free music. No one wants to work for anything anymore, but whatever. I just want the world to hear it. I'll feed off the feedback and I'll continue making music.

Do you get a lot of feedback from fans?

Yeah, I get a lot of feedback. And a lot of time it's personal. You see the positivity when you go out to shows, and social networking allows you to get your music places you didn't know.

What's the harshest feedback you've received?

At times, some people can be a little harsh not realizing that we make this music from our soul. It's not made to be broken down, and certain people are so negative at times because the nature of man is to like what it is that they like, and they don't open up their minds and see other things. Sometimes we want our favorite artists to say the same things, but life is about growing and life is about changing. If you critique me for growing, whatever, I'll accept that. But we have to have an open mind about what artists go through in life.

What's the most frequent criticism you hear about your music?

That I only make one particular type of music. I ride myself very hard to be different and diverse, and it's unfortunate that a lot of people don't get to see that -- they only see what the radio plays and what the media popularizes. They pigeonhole you like that's the only music you can make. The hilarity to it is I'm actually one of the most diverse artists in the industry. If you take my body of work and analyze it, you'll see it's constantly changing. But certain people are so stuck on the norm that they don't want you to change. I think sometimes they critique things unjustly. But it is what it is, and it's beautiful to put yourself in front of people and take the praise with the backlash.

Do you sometimes feel that hip-hop fans are more closed-minded than fans of other genres?

Very much so. Fans of every other genre are able to change and accept an artist saying, "For this song I'm going to switch it up and do this." But in hip-hop, if you're not doing the things that are the "in" thing, you get bashed. It's just like, "Wow, I'm getting bashed for making an attempt to do something different?!" But I make the music I want to make. I don't go after what's hot, what's in, the fad. If they accept it, I'm proud of it. If they don't, I'm gonna keep making it. Music is my salvation, my outlet to rant and rave and see the world how I see it.

What's the latest with the Da Yellow Bus Rydah project, the album originally intended for release through Atlantic Records?

That album is actually scratched. It's no longer called Da Yellow Bus Rydah. It's now called Liberty Forever -- that's my daughter's name. The name Liberty Forever is my change, my growth, my liberated mind frame. I feel I've been liberated through my music to do the things I find free and interesting and exciting. I'm no longer tied to appease everyone -- that's impossible anyway and you'll only stress yourself out by doing so.

I mean, a lot of people are going through what I'm going through and they need music to let them help channel that emotion. They need music to let people know you're not the only one going through these things. A lot of mainstream artists that are out forget about the regular people. Everyone can't have lots of money and cars and everyone isn't physically attractive like that, so they have an array of women all over them. It's the return of music for regular people -- the average nine-to-five, going to school, regular people. And that's the majority of the people buying music. They can't relate to always talking about diamonds and partying -- believe it or not, but there are people who've never been to a nightclub and they don't know what the nightlife is about. They know about working hard to pay the bills and taking care of their kids. And some people don't have the ability to deal with death like I have with my mom. So music can be the salvation for them, and that's the music that's been missing over the past few years.

Are there any mainstream artists you feel do make music for regular people?

I would be remiss to say no there isn't, cause I'm pretty sure there is. Do I feel like they get the credit that they deserve for doing it? Not really. Like the Talib Kwelis and -- it might sound crazy, but I even think that Drake speaks for regular people. He speaks for the young people who've had a chance to experience a quick success and it's very overwhelming. He speaks about the indecisiveness that you make with your decisions once you reach that certain success. To me, he's a very talented artist. I think Kanye does it, but it's just from a fancy point of view, some would say. He's a very passionate artist, I love everything he does. But overall, those artists, they don't see the light of day as much as the rest of mainstream artists do.

Finally, bringing things back to your birthday party, why should people come out and help you celebrate?

To see the smiling faces and feel that love. Sometimes in life we're so surrounded by hatred and negativity that we don't get to experience positive events, and when you come around a positive event you feel out of place. I think that's a big change in my life. I went from feeding into the negativity, actually promoting the negativity, to being a more mild-minded person, saying, "Let's just be positive." Over the past three years I've had a daughter, I've had my biggest fan and best friend pass, which is my mother, and I've had my oldest brother receive a hundred years in the penitentiary system. I'm tired of dealing with negativity. The only way to escape things is to promote positivity. That's my mentality. Celebrate that.

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