The Black Eyed Peas star was forced to leave home early every day because he went to a school in a better area of Los Angeles than where his family lived and he often missed meals, reported Femalefirst.
"Sometimes I would miss breakfast and when you're on food stamps and lunch tickets, missing breakfast is not good for a kid," he said.
The 'I Gotta Feeling' hitmaker said that he can understand why people trapped in poverty find it hard to get out because of the psychological influences around them.
"There's a family of influences that dictate behavior. In the ghetto, there's a liquor store, a cheque-cashing place and a motel. What that tells you psychologically is, get a cheque, cash it. Take a couple of steps. Buy some liquor and get drunk, go home and get kicked out of your house. And here's a place to sleep along the way."