If you goin' to work, you gonna put my album on. If you happen to be makin' an hour-and-a-half drive, you gonna put my album on, because people spend more time in their car then they do in clubs.
On 'Krit Wuz Here,' I had a record called 'Return Of 4eva' on it. And then that launched me into doing the actual 'Return Of 4eva' project, and 'Return Of 4eva' had a song called '4eva And A Day.' So it's like, all of my music has somehow tied into the entire story.
I have to feel like my grandmother was my first mix engineer.
When you say, 'Man, what kind of music does Outkast make?' You be like, 'They make Outkast music.' What kind of music does N.E.R.D. make? They make N.E.R.D. music. I want to be one of those people, because there's so many layers to the music I create that I don't want people to expect me to do one thing.
I'm in competition with myself, and I'm always going to challenge myself.
I'm used to producing all of my projects, doing all the beats, and writing all the hooks.
My music's gonna evolve as I get older.
In my house, I don't just always listen to rap.
My grandmother introduced me to B.B. King. She wasn't someone who had a lot of posters, but there was a big poster of B.B. King on the wall as soon as you walked into her house in Meridian, Mississippi.
I think doing a record with B.B. King allowed me the opportunity to blend two different generations across the board and make a song that I hope is extremely impactful.
Where I'm from is humble, and people are mad appreciative of what they have.
I think if I wanted to get to a point where I could actually grow in my music, I had to almost step away from sampling so much and start making the kind of music that people wanted to sample.
I'm thankful for all the support I've received over the years.
Favorite cereal is Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Get to the point where the songs sum it all up, and creatively, I'm just like, 'This is it.' I've also learned how to be patient and not really try to overproduce anymore. I used to add instruments, keep adding instruments, but nowadays - I know better now. I know how to let the track breathe.
With some of the samples that I chose to use, tracking down the person that owns the publishing has become a task.
People will reach out because they know I'm trying to put my best forward when it comes to subject matter and creation of song.
Adele was introduced to me by a guitarist named Mike Hartnett that plays for a band called Rehab. We was just riding around, and he was like, 'Man have you heard this soul singer Adele?' and I was like 'Nah!' and we just rode to the whole CD, and it got to 'Hometown Glory,' and I was like, 'Man I have to sample that!'
People don't necessarily expect singles from me. They expect full bodies of work.
I never lost my faith.
