My first record wasn't even with the Fugees. I was signed to Big Beat Records, so I was signed back in 1989 to the label that the Knocks are on now. You can always tell which generation had the pulse based on how they see things.
It was kind of easier for me to do records that didn't take a year or two years of my life to write and to make.
Surfers were the ones who named all my songs. They'd yell out the names, and we just kept 'em.
Being on United Artists was almost as bad as not being on any label at all. They were the crappiest in the business. All they did was movie soundtracks. Now, they were making an effort to become much hipper - signing people like Bobby Womack and what have you.
I did a song in eight minutes. I thought everybody could write songs that fast. But working with a lot of them, they don't.
When I'm doing a set as an artist I'm right in front of the stage the entire time, interacting with the crowd. The DJ set's a little different but they both are great and high energy for the crowd.
The actual making of a record is the most exciting part of this business.
Nothing beats performing live. For me, there's nothing better.
The first album is a special one for most bands or most artists in general. The first record is your whole life, and then after that you have a couple of months to write stuff and get it for the next record.
I played at Room 5 a lot, which is probably the smallest capacity venue in Los Angeles. I begged my friends to come see me.
I was totally ignored for a while... that's a hazard of signing with a small company who say how small they are and how close to the artists they are. Suddenly they don't have any time for you.
I've never understood musicians who don't enjoy doing promotional interviews. I just can't believe it. I always think, 'Your life must have been so brilliant before you were in a band.'
My connection with Basquiat was really in Los Angeles, which really was a whole different world to what he was experiencing in New York.
I don't think my story is an unusual story for a lot of music performers. But I think that since 1982, worldwide, I have probably seen less than 3,000 American dollars in royalties.
I feel like Nashville has really embraced me with open arms. I was a little worried at first; you know, everybody knows about my immediate past, which is rock music. But everyone is coming to find out that I've been singing country music my whole life.
When I got my first check from 'Rack City,' I was like, 'Damn, I can make this much money making beats?'
I have spent probably years of time waiting in studio lounges - waiting on a mix, waiting on my time to sing, waiting on, waiting on, waiting on. That's just the nature of life.
For the first 12 years of recording I would finish the album, then on the day it came out I'd never hear the songs again.
I've been making music for a while. And I could read about myself on the Internet for a while.
If you were to ask me about a mistake I have made, it's calling my fourth album, 'New Jersey', because for the first time in my life, we were compared to the E Street Band.
It has been an honor to paint on stage and have my art grace the albums and stage sets of renowned musicians.
I think when I first started out making music here in Los Angeles, a lot of people were really curious about my ethnicity, and you know, whatever questions they had, I'd be more than happy to answer them.
I stopped writing lyrics down on paper after me and Jay-Z did 'Money In the Bank.' They're something I just hold in my mind.
I just feel really lucky to have had some hits because we had a lot of time where we didn't have them. It's better to have a hit. You can ask anyone - U2, Green Day - and they'll tell you the same thing.
When 'Kaanta Laga' was offered to me, I was in college, doing my engineering course. I did the shooting of the song for some pocket money. I never imagined it to become such a huge hit.
