THEOPHILUS LONDON

The Gap has always been an iconic, go-to brand that reminds me of my childhood.

I'm listening to early Cash Money, I'm listening to Juvenile, I'm listening to Waka Flocka, I'm listening to Lil B, I'm listening to Brandy, Kanye - that's my home playlist.

Twitter is essential to me because I wake up and check it religiously. It's a way I communicate with my fan base.

I find it soothing, the thought of a movie theater.

People are always looking at their phones and computer. It's the first place people turn in the morning and where everyone's keeping in touch and getting their news.

I love fashion week. It has great energy and vibe.

On my early trips to London and Paris, in 2009, I started to shift to more wide-brimmed felt hats similar to Borsalinos and Stetsons.

I want to wear something that's not perfectly matching; there has to be something unorthodox about it. I want to create this mystery.

I might want to open a hotel and design all the rooms. Or maybe a museum that lets me curate all the events.

While my cousins were gang-banging, I was trying to learn what the Internet was about.

If I walk into a store, I'm going to buy the best jacket or the best item in the store, hands down.

I collect a lot of clothes when I travel around the world.

The second album is the hardest to write. It's nothing like the first album.

I take references from the past and flip them.

New York feels vibrant... It feels electric to walk the streets at night.

I can't really change for a climate. I've got to be Theophilus London in any weather.

I'll buy an old jacket and attach gold buttons and a couple royal patches. Or I'll find an old busted sweatshirt, tear out the zipper, and replace it with a $700 zipper. I make things my own.

Whatever I receive from a higher power gets me pumped, which gets the crowd pumped, which gets me more pumped, and then we're just pumped up.

Image plays a huge part in my music and in my lifestyle.

I think it's more interesting to play a place where no one really knows you, but I think touring is also great.

I love to hear a cool ambient sound at runway shows. It creates a good energy.

DMX wasn't checking what his fans were saying to him on Twitter or Facebook. Jay-Z is on a boat in Saint-Tropez. I'm hands-on. Girls write to me like I'm their diary. That's a huge responsibility. I don't take it for granted.

My favorite brand I have ever artistically collaborated, entertained, and supported over the years is the huge house that Coco Chanel built: Chanel.

It leaves a good legacy to have five records.

Brooklyn for twenty years, I've learned that there is always someone better than you at what you do.