Hopefully, we learn to appreciate hip-hop here so that it doesn't go the way of jazz.

I like the fact that I can rep New York, but my style does not - I'm not trapped in a New York thing. I can do art songs with other artists and it's seamless.

There just needs to be a gay rapper who's better than everybody. That's when that question will no longer be able to be asked.

If I focus on being an activist and my job is to be a rapper, I'm not going to be as good of a rapper. I need to focus on hip-hop and focus on making the music, so that when the activists come to me and they need my voice to create a platform, then I've got enough people listening to me. Not because I'm conscious, but because I'm dope.

But Rawkus is integral to what I do, because the cats who started Rawkus are the first ones who really saw my vision, and gave me a platform to get it out there, so I'm definitely totally grateful for that.

I'm at a loss for words. But even my loss is amplified.

Even an independent label is looking for a hit, they're not looking for a record that's not gonna do well.