I've won; I've lost. I'm at the point where I do what I believe in and, win or lose, believe in what I do.
Pillow talk is the strongest conversation on the planet.
When I do music, I have a hard time experiencing it like everyone else, because there's so much thought that goes into it. You can sometimes fool yourself into thinking it's better than what it is, which stops me from being creative on the next thing I do.
I come from a very specific love of hip-hop. I'm saying hip-hop, not rap. That's what saved my life. I carry that badge with a lot of pride and honor, and I really enjoy trying to raise the perception and the bar of what we do.
When people get to see me interact with the creative giants, they see the perspective and the respect. A lot of times, people don't have that respect, from a music perspective, with the music people.
When you really make things that really challenge the status quo or challenge issues, and you do it artistically, and you do it with no fear, people are listening.
There's so many things that Kanye does that I agree with and disagree with at times. I just say, 'You're in a different place, and what you're doing is experimental. Nobody's been there in hip-hop.'
'I Used To Love H.E.R.,' from a production standpoint, was a brainchild of the style I developed on 'Soul By The Pound.'
I've never been a mega-star. I'm more of a tastemaker of hip-hop. I try to be more of an ambassador for the era of hip-hop that I came in.
There's this concept in urban music and lifestyle that money is everything, and I'm just not with it. If it makes money, it doesn't make it good. If it's good, it's good.
Wine gets better with time. So does art.
Trophies or no trophies, we are all just striving to do some really good art and help people's lives with it.
Hit records create slang, and if you create slang, you get into a broader conversation level.
For me, the '80s was great because you had Boy George, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Prince, and Cyndi Lauper. No one put boxes saying this is urban, this is popular, this is underground. It was just good or bad.
There's not too many one-producer rap albums. There are lot of one-producer rock albums... and country albums.
I'm not going to put my music up on some little corner of the Internet or give it away for free. What does that do? That's just giving up. I'm not giving up, ever.
I was a rapper. The reason I stopped rapping was because I realized that people wanted guys like Puff Daddy. That's not what I do. I quit. That was it. I had to sacrifice for my choice. I said, 'Forget it. I'll be a producer.' Nobody was going to make me do anything.
I take a lot of pride in helping people become great. I think that's an element of being a producer that people don't always take in: They want to be great for themselves, whereas I'd like to be recognized as having helped the most people get over the hump.
I have a Chicago personality, which means that just because I'm friends with one person, I don't assume I'm friends with his friends.
You make some good music, people are gonna find you.
