N.W.A were the audio-documentarians of their time. They were trying to shock people with the violence of their language and the subjects they were talking about. The fact that they dressed in guerilla outfits like the Black Panthers made them shocking by their appearance as well.
The only thing intimidating about Cube is that he's the father of gangsta' rap. You just worry about getting your lines right, or he might shoot you.
'Going Back to Cali' is one of my favorite songs because of all the East Coast - West Coast rivalry.
When I started making music, I was so heavy into the hyphy movement. That's something you only know so much about if you were right there living in it, submerged in the culture.
I'm a West Coast ratchet L.A. artist.
I did my version of g-funk and I made it into a genre, I made it huge, I made it worldwide. That's what I created, and the rest of the guys I worked with like Snoop Dogg, like Dr. Dre. We created that.
I've been writing since I was 10 or 11. I started with poetry because that was the easiest thing. It just kind of came naturally. I think at that time West Coast hip hop was huge; all these kids around me were like, 'I want to be a rapper.' But I'm a white girl, not going to be a rapper.
Everybody say I give them Pac vibes. I ain't gonna lie: I ain't really grow up on Pac, but I kinda see it - just off everything I do, though.
I ain't a thug - how much Tupac in you you got?
My default is e-40 because there's no one else in the world who raps like him. I've always loved e-40.
Tupac is huge; he's an inspiration. Arguably, he's probably the biggest, most analyzed and loved artist of all time.
A lot of people don't know I'm from the West Coast. My swag is different. Me being from Young Money, affiliated with them, some people think I'm from down South. They think maybe I'm from New Orleans like them. It's just good to show people and build outside of Young Money, build my brand outside of that.
In the early '90s, my cousin gave me a Snoop Dogg cassette tape, and the rawness of the lyrics were something new to me.
Oh, my dad listens to a lot of 2Pac, Ice Cube and WC. That's what he was listening to a lot when we were growing up. He's always been a fan of hip-hop.
I love 2Pac, the cadences of 2Pac.
I was at Stanford University up in the West Coast Bay Area, so the biggest song of my freshman year was 'I Got 5 on It' by Luniz, and the 'I Got 5 on It' remix was the joint that everybody was jamming constantly. And then it was also at that particular time that I became a fan of the Wu-Tang Clan.
Dr. Dre is the most influential artist and producer in hip-hop history.
Everybody in the West Coast always like to hear YG, RJ, and Mustard together.
The Chronic represented everything that I hated about hip-hop as a fan, but then later represented everything that I stood for as a musician and engineer.
Snoop Doggy Dogg paged, that must mean more hoes.
I listened to Tupac and a lot of Biggie Smalls.
I'm definitely a West Coast artist, so much so that I'm gonna get 'Thug Life' tatted on my stomach one day.
I feel like me and YG are the closest to Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg that people are gonna get.
Growing up, I heard as much E-40 and Mac Dre on the radio as I did 50 Cent. It's in our culture to support our own.
With 2Pac you can't go wrong.
