I definitely use 'smiling while rapping' as a tool in the booth. I want to have fun while recording.

You have major labels that are willing to take unconventional approaches because the old model is crumbling in front of us.

I definitely use 'smiling while rapping' as a tool in the booth. I want to have fun while recording.

Bullying is a national epidemic.

If I can be an example of getting sober, then I can be an example for starting over

I grew up in the spoken-word community. Before everybody had a home studio, or before we could get booked for shows, open mics were the only way to be heard by other people. It really gave me a chance to develop as a performer. Reading a piece of poetry with no beat in front of 20 people is way more challenging than rocking for 10,000 people.

I was always the type of person, and still am the type of person, that I cannot be creative and use substances. So from a very early age I knew that if I wanted to make music, successfully, in any capacity, I was going to have to get sober.