When you're a rapper, just a rapper, you have to kind of settle for whatever comes your way - if a beat is hot, you wanna rap on it, period.
When you're a producer on top of that, just havin' a beat that's hot is not enough. Now you know your sound, 'cause you've been workin' on your sound for so long, and now you're extra picky. You might do a beat that's ill, that the average rapper would pay big money to get on, but you don't wanna do it because you're like, "Ehhh... it's not what I'm looking for, it's not what I'm goin' for." So you're extra picky.
I don't like to think of it as being fired. Instead, I prefer to think of it as being on indefinite leave with a sabbatical flair.
I want to be like Bruce Springsteen or something, making songs that are relevant.
I met Will Smith twice. I didn't talk to him for too long but I was trying to let him know that my age group grew up watching him - he was the coolest guy on television and the coolest guy in movies.
Touring is very routine. You get to the city, you go to the hotel, you got to be at the hotel by a certain time - it's very routine. I'm not a very structured person, so when I get some structure, it's cool; it's good for me.
I've got two Rolexes that I'm very proud of - a gold Presidential that was a gift and a white gold one I gifted myself. I'm trying to step my game up and get a few more of those.
I still wanna rap better than everybody else, and I wanna say important things.
I don't live for the accolades. I'm more so about the music. Making it, and putting it out. Those are the two best feelings.
I'm the same kid who used to hop the trains with headphones and just go to downtown Manhattan, walk around and listen to music or walk through the city. The fame restricts that. It's a small complaint in comparison to the benefits I get from it, but the restrictive part is what I don't like - and the fact that it's not reversible.
I was a super-duper Tupac fan, and I realized later, when I became a huge Nas fan and a huge Eminem fan, I was drawn to the storytellers. They all told stories in different ways, but they were all like the best storytellers.
I do put a lot of God in my music, but not because I'm super religious. There are a lot of demons in my music, too. I acknowledge both.
I just feel like, with rappers, there's so much complacency. It's like, 'Oh, I'm a rapper. I'm successful. I make money. That's all that matters.' But there's a lot of stuff going on in the world. Whether or not you're aware of it, it's happening.
Usually I start with a beat, I start making a beat, and my producer side is making the beat. And on a good day, my rapper side will jump in and start the writing process - maybe come up with a hook or start a verse. Sometimes it just happens like that. A song like 'Lights Please' happens like that.
I don't wanna forget the fact that I wanna be one of the best rappers. I feel like some of the best rappers ever - 2Pac, namely, one of them - could take sub-par beats or average beats and turn them into incredible songs.
When composing music, I just start spilling things out and then wait until they take form, you know what I mean, until I see like a common thread or something.
You can't take yourself too seriously. Like, yeah, I'm doin' all that, but still I don't feel like I've done anything, really. I feel blessed 'cause I'm doin' all these things, but I'm not satisfied. I still have that feeling like, "Who am I? Who am I to have an ego? Who am I to change up and act like some Hollywood character?" Technically, in the grand scheme of things, I haven't done anything.
It's the way I enjoy making art - I like sitting down and making five beats; I enjoy that process. I can go two weeks without making a song and just making beats and I'll be OK.
I worked in ad sales. I would call up local businesses and try to get them to buy ads in the paper. The whole time, I felt like I was just scamming people.
When you're headlining, people are paying to come see you specifically. It's a different kind of pressure, because you've got to deliver. You've got to give these people what they paid for. It's a different mind state, a different type of mentality, but it's honestly a pretty good problem to have, you know?
I was a huge Mike Tyson fan growing up; his fights were always on in my house.
I never really told anybody that I'm a rapper. I wasn't walking around being like, "Yo, check out my mixtape!" It was more of a secret grind.
I didn't even have to be a big fan of someone to enjoy hearing them speak. I remember when Nikki Giovanni came - I wasn't really familiar with her. But she said some things I'll never forget. Like, okay, for example, she was talking about the amount of beef that's in the world. There are so many McDonald's, Burger Kings, Wendy's.
A lot of my music is just self-observation. Like telling you, "Oh man. What did I just do? How much did I just pay for this chain? Why did I do that? Wait a minute." Let me talk about that. Or like, the temptation. Let me talk about that. Let me observe myself.
