I already had three strikes against me. One, I have light skin. Two, I'm from Miami, which wasn't getting looked at at the time. Three, I'm Cuban. But now, I've made everything that stacked against me into a virtue.

Music to me is something I did as a hobby.

If you look at any movement Hip Hop would be the most influential in the last maybe 15, 20 years.

I think that the reason my records are able to live forever in the club is because I actually like to be in the club. I don't go to the club to do VIP or get bottles or nothin' - I go to the club, I enjoy the people, I see what the people are vibin' off, and I see what makes me go crazy in the club also, and that has a lot of influence on what I bring to the table when I'm thinking of making a big club record.

I always wanna be able to fight, I always wanna be able to go left when they tell me to go right, not because I'm being hard-headed, it's just me taking a creative stance. I have no problem with constructive criticism, but, at the same time, I have a problem with doin' the same thing that everybody's doin'. And that's the way I've found a way to survive in the music game.

You cant get much whiter than me.

I already had three strikes against me. One, I have light skin. Two, I'm from Miami, which wasn't getting looked at at the time. Three, I'm Cuban. But now, I've made everything that stacked against me into a virtue.