I would not consider myself to be a quote unquote real New York rapper. I don't even like New York rappers.
I always say, 'Hip-hop takes me everywhere.' It's crazy when I step onstage, and people might not speak much English, but they know every word to your songs. It's kind of freaky, but it's really cool.
I always felt like the Academy was very late in acknowledging things. I've seen them do it with hip hop when it should have been acknowledged. It was already penetrating mass levels of culture and radio, and yet they wouldn't give it a proper category.
Personally, I just think rap music is the best thing out there, period. If you look at my deck in my car radio, you're always going to find a hip-hop tape; that's all I buy, that's all I live, that's all I listen to, that's all I love.
I felt like when I got with Kanye, and we discussed me being on G.O.O.D. Music, he just really took me to a place in regards to music that I love and music that I had made previously. We had a clear understanding of what I wanted to make, and he just seemed like he was an advocate for hardcore, uncompromising hip-hop.
I toured with Skrillex, did an HBO commercial with Diplo. In the hip hop movement, I was the first artist Travis Scott ever featured with before he blew up. I had the songs with Chris Brown and Tyga. I've worked with some of the biggest artists in the world.
Waka Flocka Flame, some of his lyrics are, like, common sentences. But just the way he is, and the way he delivers it, makes it this crazy metal hip-hop.
I feel like everybody that saw my videos was like, 'Oh this dude's about to rap.' They just played my videos, and I feel like I shocked a lot of people.
My first Grammy wasn't even in a jazz category, but of course I was really excited. 'Rockit' was the beginning of kind of a new era for the whole hip-hop movement.
A guy wrote a blog, way back when the Internet first started; the comments were so negative that it actually stopped me doing music for some time - about two, three years. It was after this one hip-hop project - Redfoo and Dr'Kroon. I wasn't used to it. I didn't like it. It lowered my self-esteem.
We have this really retro vibe and style of songwriting and, personally, I wasn't embracing the current state of music until I fell in love with hip-hop. It felt good to suddenly embrace where music was headed, and I think hip-hop is the best at that, because it feels so progressive and everybody wants to be the best.
As far as rap, I was more of a Mobb Deep guy rather than a Tribe guy.
My dream collaboration would be to work with Drake. Honestly, he's an amazing songwriter, and I feel like if we got the opportunity to do a song, it would be the most amazing thing to ever hit people's ears.
I started producing in California, and they called it mob music. When I moved to Atlanta, the sound was different. People in Atlanta didn't like to rap over West Coast beats. So I had to make adjustments to what was going on in the South.
I'm a musician. I play instruments. I dabble in the hip-hop field. That doesn't take vocal ability necessarily.
The thing is, Mac Miller wrote all of 'Divine Feminine.' That was a great album.
There are albums that I like because of specific songs, but then there are albums that I like as a complete body of work. 'Ghetto Fabolous' is an album I lived with daily.
For a while, the genre seemed to be just about sex and crime. Rappers are storytellers; the stories don't need to be true!
I get upset when people knock hip-hop, because I can absolutely see the musicality in it. These days, when I'm listening to records by hip-hop artists, I hear the production. It's just astounding how great the productions have become.
Man, I feel like hip-hop is - first of all, not even only with just GOOD Music, I gotta say - I think hip-hop is still alive in a strong way, man. I feel really enthused about hip-hop.
I can't control what people think. I'm not trying to manipulate people's thoughts or sentiments. I write all the time. You have to experience life, make observations, and ask questions. It's machine-like how things are run now in hip-hop, and my ambitions are different.
A lot of rap music can get repetitive.
I feel somewhere in 2016 every Bollywood movie was starting to have at least one hip-hop track which got it the mainstream vibe.
I was late to the game on D.R.A.M.; I knew of 'Cha Cha,' but then I saw his Tiny Desk Concert, and I was hooked. I love how happy he is.
I did a couple songs with this hip-hop guy named Tim Dark. He was working in the same studio I've been working in, he heard my music and he said, aw man, I've got to do something with you.
