I'm a lot different in my career since that interview. To have someone like Diplo tweet "Cakes' album is really cool" is cool, but in the same breath I still like what I do without anyone's approval. It's still good music.

I was doing my music because it was fun, and I always was like, "If it becomes a business, or it becomes too demanding, or if people try to tell me what to do or control what I'm doing, I won't do it."

I started making music for fun maybe my senior year in college. I started rapping in high school, but it wasn't anything serious.

I don't know [whether] if I didn't get paid, or my career didn't keep going where it goes, if I would keep doing music.

I like to consider myself a student of hip hop. There's a certain level of certification and wit and craftsmanship that comes with rapping. As rap progresses - it's a young genre - it's becoming way more mainstream, crossing over to different lanes. I feel like it's losing its essence in a way, because it's getting commercialised. I want to keep it fresh and keep it progressive, but I also want to respect the foundation of what rap is about.

Now I'm in the business and I do have to have these awkward conversations about how I look, how I talk. But I'm still here.

I think what's keeping me making music - the money is great, but I make music for the visibility.