Punk is all about doing what you want and being yourself. And that's what rap is too.
When I released 'Veteran' and the reception was good, it was the first time I ever worked really hard on something and had that hard work reciprocated back to me.
Veteran' is an exercise in editing because there is a lot of moments I took out and some that almost didn't make it.
I am used to experiencing so much trauma, that when I see it, I have to speak out. I don't think rappers have a responsibility, but if you don't say something or be silent or avoid it, I believe it shows your true real character to the world. It's like, if no one wants to rap about gentrification then I am going to fill that void!
I'd never been to a festival till I played one.
There are so many odd things that happened that are centered around Britney Spears it's kind of amazing. There's just so many cultural moments centered around her existence and nothing else.
If you listen to my music, you know who I'm talking to, what I'm talking about, and exactly what my message is.
A lot of these dudes in metal, they're just mad at the world because, like... who even knows?
I think it's important for black people in general to be aware of what's going on and do what you got to work around it. Not bow down to it publicly.
Rules limit you, and once you start thinking about what the audience wants or expects, it becomes a trap that a lot of artists fall into.
Now that I have a little platform, and there are more eyes on me to release something, all that does is challenge me and put me under pressure, and I love being under pressure, especially musically. I might fail, but I'm excited about the possibilities.
I'd rather be dead than work in a warehouse.
Everything I say is true and from the heart. I exaggerate some things, but the core base of it is just facts.
It just seems like Baltimore, talent-wise, nothing can touch it.
I used to get stop-and-frisked every time I walked out of my house.
When I first heard 'Pearly Gates' by Mobb Deep and 50 Cent growing up, the rapper Prodigy had a line about wanting to beat Jesus up. I wasn't religious, but I'd never been introduced to something like that. I was scared and mad, but then I asked why I felt like that.
I'm always just gonna do whatever I want. I don't feel any pressure to appeal to anyone in particular.
The way I make music, I know what I'm doing, because I been doing this for so long. This is the only thing I'm good at.
I grew up in Flatbush, Queens, Laurelton. These are places where it's mostly black and there was a lot of diversity.
Back in the early 1980s when rappers couldn't perform in the fancy venues because the police were too racist and scared, it was the punk venues letting them in to perform.
