I have been in Atlanta, just working on getting my insides rich, so I can be rich on the inside, as well as on the outside.

Q: Why, didn't you feel rich on the inside?

I had to take time away from music, to make sure that I was doing the right thing and that my life was going the way I wanted it to go and not the way other people wanted it to go.

Q: Were you tired of the routine? Was it the industry, was it personal issues -- what was it specifically that made you take this break?

For some reason, I didn't have any purpose in what I was doing. I was doing a lot of things, but I had no purpose. Whenever you are doing things for no purpose, it's easy to get burnt out, tired and frustrated.

Q: What compelled you to return to the industry?

I felt like I could be a huge asset to the hip-hop community. It is a genre where everybody is expressing themselves. I felt like I had something else to express that hasn't already been expressed.

Q: What has changed in the industry since you left?

I don't know; you tell me.

Q: What did you miss most when you weren't in the limelight?

Just the opportunities you can make for people. In this business, you can become a millionaire overnight, and you can do so many great things with a million dollars for people. You can give people chances that they would never otherwise have.

Q: You became a minister when you were away; is that something you always wanted to do?

That was something that came upon me. As I began to talk to people and found people curious about things, the more they would have me expand on it, the more interested they became in it, and it just grew from there. It wasn't something I was seeking.

Q: How do you reconcile being a minister and now doing music?

What makes it so powerful is that I may not be the first one, but I am the first one doing it the way I am doing it. My situation is different than the ones previously. Most people go to God because they have to. Everything I have ever done is because I wanted to and not because I have to.