I met Mos Def around that time but I didn't hook up with him until I was about 17 or 18.

I have a luxury of people coming to see me whether I play for the crowd or not. I don't take that lightly.

Love is blind, you just see bright light

I like collaboration because, first of all, I'm good at writing lyrics. I don't know how to make beats. I don't play instruments. I'm not a good singer. So even when you see a solo album of mine, it's still a collaboration.

Truthfully I wanna rhyme like common senseNext best thing I do a record with common sense

I feel like I have way more resources, way more experience. I'm better. But my fans romanticize the earlier stuff, and I don't think it's just like a nostalgia thing of "He's not as good" - I think it's because that earlier stuff was aggressively marketed as a lifestyle to them.

As far as my New York influence, one thing I'm proud of in my career is, I rep Brooklyn, New York all day. But people don't look at my music as New York music. People consider my music underground music.