I want people to follow their dreams, yes but I'm not interested in telling young black kids how to be rappers I want to show them that there's so many other paths you can take, besides a rapper or basketball player.

There's still value in a CD, even if it's just nostalgic. People are still willing to pay. But it can't compare to a digital-only release where you can control the exact time that it'll come out, you know what I mean? So whoever finds how to bridge that gap is gonna make a lot of money.

I had a lot of resistance, and not just to fame. I was always conscious of not changing.

I pay attention to lyrics and I know what rap fans care about. I try to write for the average listener and I'm conscious of the mainstream without selling out.

I never really told anybody that I'm a rapper. I wasn't walking around being like, "Yo, check out my mixtape!" It was more of a secret grind.

In hip-hop, there's not a lot of love. There's not a lot of love being spread. It's always like 'I'm stuntin' on you raps, or I'm better than you raps.' It's not a lot of 'Yo man, I idolize you raps.'

If I was to go to sleep before midnight, I would feel weird about myself, like I wasted a day. My most productive hours are between midnight and five.