Although the butterfly and the caterpillar are completely different, they are one and the same.

There are so many people pulling at me at one time - some want the business, some want my love, some just want my support, just to be there or to acknowledge them the same way I used to. To be able to figure that out is an ongoing process, because there's always another show, another album, another moment that I don't want to miss. But I'm pacing myself. I hope the powers that be keep me on a straight course.

I don't talk about these things if I haven't lived them, and I've hurt people in my life. It's something I still have to think about when I sleep at night.

Music was just played all around me, and I couldn't run from it. My pops, he never learned to sing, but he'd have his little drink on the side, and he'd put on the best of his hits - gangster rap or oldies - and he'd sing all day on his mic plugged up to the wall set-up. It's a trip. I've just seen that my whole life, so I've always just had a love for music. By the time I was 13, I really just jumped in it. And it's something I took on to have as a hobby.

[Drizzy] ,it was dope. A great experience, especially with the topic he was talking about and to be... organic.I'm glad that it worked out the way it did where I got to tell my story, tell his story at the same time... and actually have it make sense as far as the whole concept of the album.

It's a long time coming as far as the work that I put in. Now I know that I got the stamp but what counts is what comes behind. That's what's really important. Upholding that stamp and not only keeping the energy my way but also spreading that energy out to other artists that are coming up on the West Coast.

If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?