I think a lot of people feel like they still have something to prove, because when you get in and you're chasing success, you always feel like you have something to prove. But at this point, I feel like an underdog, and I actually like being in that position.

Most people hear me do all these freestyles and never hear me tell a story.

All the carbon copies, the stuff that the industry puts together, it's not selling if you pay attention and look at the charts. The stuff that they put together, these hits that just go out, it doesn't sell. It doesn't have a core fan base of fans that dedicatedly watch their life. It's just a song, another song, another hit song, a one-hit wonder. It doesn't sell. It doesn't last.

It would be crazy for me to come out now talking about selling drugs and doing all this stuff I never did for the sake of A&R or records or trying to keep the street buzz or whatever.

When I get home and turn on the radio, I hear songs that are new to me, but to everybody else they're old. I try to keep the music fresh in my head.

I kind of grew up and started maturing.

I try to keep the music fresh in my head. And I don't always listen to rap; I listen to a little bit of everything: R&B, rock.