I was blessed with the talent. God gave me the gift to put words together and make popular songs.

I'm a real dude from a real place and I never express myself through social sites. I don't feed into it, man. That's not real life.

I'm a business man and the reason I linked up with a major was because I understand they have that reach that I can't get no matter how hot I get in the streets. It's not always about money because I been had money. I want to be on TV and win awards. I want to be number one. You need a label to get through barriers.

I think the I Am album allowed me to show fans that I'm more than just a mixtape artist, who can make music on a different platform, a bigger platform, and I think more people respect what I'm doing now.

Like LeBron James, we already know how good the man is. We know he can play. He's rich. But he still want a ring. N!ggas know my music hot. That's proven. Now its time to get the ring.

It was special with me being from Memphis and knowing the history of the venue, knowing all of the artists who performed in the Orpheum before me. Even having the idea to approach it was ambitious on my part, but I thought they would turn me down at first.

Just the responsibility of wanting to see my mother have a better life; making sure my sister had a better life. I went ahead and accepted that responsibility when I was young and it paid off. That was really the only goal.