I grew up in a neighborhood that had a lot of things to offer, good and bad.
Coming from the projects, we used to sneak into the United Center, watch some games; they chased us out and everything.
I grew up in East Flatbush in Brooklyn which was an intense neighbourhood filled with different West Indian cultures.
Then a neighbor, Mr Smith, had a dairy cow and an couple bulls. He showed me how to bluff a bull.
I do admit that black men love me. I always forget that, and then I come to a black neighborhood and I remember.
Whatever happened in the neighborhood. That's what I was rapping about. And that sparked people's interest. And that's what kind of put me on that path.
We started writing songs like 'Shook Ones' and 'Survival of the Fittest' explaining our neighborhood, but more our personal lives.
I went down and spoke to some of the people who lived in the neighborhood in Miami. At the end of the day I think my connection with Tarell [Alvin McCraney] is what helped me the most.
To grow up in the neighborhood of handicapped people was an important experience for me. I learned back then to treat them in a very normal way.
