Hip hop is from the underground. It's from the underbelly [of America]. The poetry [music] is an expression from people from the trailers to the projects whose stories are not told.

[Hip-Hop icon Russell Simmons has joined the Honorary Committee for Daniel Pearl Music Days 2005 , a 10-day network of performances named for the late journalist.] I am very pleased to be involved with the Daniel Pearl Music Days committee because its message resonates with me on a very personal level, ... My own career is an example of the universal power of music, especially the power of Hip Hop, to bring people of different backgrounds together for a common purpose. I hope that my commitment to the Daniel Pearl Music Days committee will encourage all music lovers - both amateurs and professionals - to get involved with the Music Days performance network and contribute to the 'Harmony For Humanity' e-Stage.

I want to promote poetry to the point where you got all the baldhead kids running around doing poetry, getting the music out of the way and having only words, the spoken word, and then see what happens.

Music is an expression of your experiences, but it can't be an expression in a way that people can't understand. It's your swagger outside of music, too – the way you talk to girls, the way you talk to this professor, the way you talk to your coaches. You have to know what to say depending on who your audience is. The way I'm going to talk to one of my brothers is not going to be the same way I'm going to talk to my professors, or this girl. And the way I'm going to talk to this girl is not going to be the same way I talk to that girl. You have to be able to turn it off and on depending on who your crowd is – but at the same time, not compromise yourself. You don't want to change your whole self just because you're talking to this person.

Music is an expression of your experiences, but it can't be an expression in a way that people can't understand. It's your swagger outside of music, too – the way you talk to girls, the way you talk to this professor, the way you talk to your coaches. You have to know what to say depending on who your audience is. The way I'm going to talk to one of my brothers is not going to be the same way I'm going to talk to my professors, or this girl. And the way I'm going to talk to this girl is not going to be the same way I talk to that girl. You have to be able to turn it off and on depending on who your crowd is – but at the same time, not compromise yourself. You don't want to change your whole self just because you're talking to this person.

I gave up on new poetry myself 30 years ago when most of it began to read like coded messages passing between lonely aliens in a hostile world.