Half the time, my job is basically to talk people off the ledge. It's more psychological than just me picking up some sticks and counting, "1, 2, 3, 4."

It's easy for me to say, "Oh yeah, that's the self-saboteur move that most artists pull whenever they're afraid."

I don't have friends, and it's hard for me to make new friends. Right now, the people that are in my life are the people that I work with.

I think all of this—The Roots and DJing included—was meant to prepare me for The Tonight Show.

Classical music requires an immense amount of concentration, and I don't know if I would've been that committed to that particular life.

In the 2000s, I became an artist. I started preserving and educating. I became more obsessed with making iPod playlists for people.

The only mofos in my circle are people that I can learn from.