We focus on money, getting money and winning. We let the rest of them chase the women. We focus on winning cuz getting women is slight work. That's all the time with us.

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.

The first CD said exactly what it was. I was just in the streets hustling. I come from a family of hustlers.

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.

I heard Russell Simmons say that, 'people have million dollar dreams with a minimum wage work ethic.' Basically, everybody wanna be rich but don't nobody wanna work for it.

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.

Being independent is more of a mind state more than anything else. A lot of people don't understand that being an independent artist means being hands on with your career in every aspect - not being afraid to spend your own money and invest time in yourself. Although I'm affiliated with a major label, I still wake up every day with an independent mindset.