I already had three strikes against me. One, I have light skin. Two, I'm from Miami, which wasn't getting looked at at the time. Three, I'm Cuban. But now, I've made everything that stacked against me into a virtue.
I'm no longer an artist, I'm a business partner.
Pretty soon I think you'll have Republicans, Democrats and Hip Hop as a party.
I think of fans like a barbershop. I want that debate.
I'm just here to open up doors for all these other cats out here that are trying to do the same thing really.
Any time I see anything moving onstage, I'm cautious about it.
Humor is everything. Everything. Usually the negatives turned out to be the most positive for me. In the music industry, any other artist would have looked at the situation I was in and thought, "Oh man, this is not for me." I looked at it more like Darwin exploring the Galápagos Islands. You know - survival of the fittest.
As far as the fans, I always say it because it's the truth: without them I'm absolutely nothing.
As Americans, which I suffer from myself, we have ADD.
I won't perform in Cuba until there's no more Castro and there's a free Cuba. To me, Cuba's the biggest prison in the world, and I would be very hypocritical were I to perform there.
In any country when you throw something in somebody's face, it's disrespectful.
I can be a part of everything. Every movement.
Every time I reach a new audience, that means I'm doing something right.
As far as my single selections, over the years it's been a very essential part of my survival tactic, but I have no problem being able to jump on records with whoever people think is the rawest rapper in the game or number one or King or whatever they wanna name themselves, to be honest with you. It doesn't affect me, 'cause that's what I come from; I'm comfortable in that zone. But I don't wanna make hood music, I don't wanna make street music, I want to make world music, global music, international music.
I'm so passionate about making good music.
I don't wanna make hood music, I don't wanna make street music, I want to make world music, global music, international music.
I started doing shows in places that I couldn't pronounce, didn't know existed, and I've seen people that didn't speak English or Spanish rapping to every lyric and singing to every hook. I said, "This is the type of music that I want to do."
I make music with no boundaries.
My motivational music is any music that helps me escape. There are certain records that take you to euphoria, when you're partying and havin' a good time, dancin' with a couple people.
I grew up around salsa, merengue, bachata, bass music, freestyle, hip-hop, techno, house, rave. Miami is special for that. It's a city where you don't know if it's more a part of the US, or of the Caribbean, or of Latin America, or of Europe.
It's all about music, because music is basically what's... been my avenue out of maybe being involved in things I shouldn't be.
I think that the reason my records are able to live forever in the club is because I actually like to be in the club. I don't go to the club to do VIP or get bottles or nothin' - I go to the club, I enjoy the people, I see what the people are vibin' off, and I see what makes me go crazy in the club also, and that has a lot of influence on what I bring to the table when I'm thinking of making a big club record.
Now, with the Internet, you're either five years ahead or you're five years behind, and the music game is catchin' up right now.
There's always something going on, and people need that 45-minute-to-an-hour-and-15-minute break, where they just escape and not worry about bills, health care and God knows what. That, to me, is when you're making great music: when people can just forget about what's going on.
My whole thing is just being a part of good music.
