I think even before I knew I wanted to be a rapper, I wanted to be an entertainer. I was really into Michael Jackson as a kid.

The idea of 'talking white,' a lot of people grew up around that, just the idea that if you speak with proper diction and come off as educated that it's not black and that it's actually anti-black and should be considered only something that white people would do.

I don't really have control over my direct impression on people anymore. I used to be the person putting my CD in people's hands. But I'm kind of a mainstream artist now. Not by choice.

Everybody's somebody's everything

Music can kind of make you one-dimensional. People see what's on the surface and what you rap about, and they make their decision on who you are from there.

To me, I feel like basketball and hip-hop have always been kinda conjoined because they're very similar in their competitive nature, you know what I'm sayin'? It's about technical skill, and then there's just God-given talent.

My favorite artist in the world is Michael Jackson, and he revolutionized the music video aspect of music.