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.

I'm the type of person where, A., I look at things as challenges, I like challenges and, B., I truly believe that you determine your own destiny.

As much as it might look like, to someone else, that I'm successful, I never feel like I'm anywhere. The further I go, I still feel equally further from my eventual goal. Because as I grow, I get more goals. I'm never content.

Anything I do, I want to do it well.

I begged my mom for a beat machine, she spent a crazy amount of money - so there were no more Christmases, no more basketball camps, no more birthday gifts. I always knew that's what I wanted to do.

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.

Producing all my own songs and refusing to go to the hot producer. That's the biggest risk I've taken so far.