I bring people on stage with me. It's a good time, and people love to join in on the party. Show me a smile, and I'll show you one back.

I'm to trying to say I'm something I'm not. Black people understand that. I'm just doing my raps, my way. Rap is black. I recognize that and respect that. I'm just a white guy trying to rap, and I got lucky.

A lot of people think I was an overnight success, but I was an opening act for three or four years, and then I signed my contract with EMI. Then it kind of blew up overnight.

I use the music to vent, and a lot of the stuff that I am writing about or was writing about contained a lot of anger and anxiety, stress and depression, so that's how the album came out so dark.

We are who we are because of who we were

For three years between 16 and 19 I was the opening-act-for-the-opening-act-for-the-opening-act, you know? And then I was on tour with Ice-T, Stetsasonic, EPMD, Sir Mix-a-Lot--legends--and went on to sell 160 million records. It still baffles me.

All my friends were black and Mexican. I was the only white kid in our group and had to work hard to be accepted. Year after year, we'd breakdance and we all became close and they labeled me "Vanilla" - like "Hey, Vanilla" and they knew I hated it, so of course they kept calling me it.