You don't need a band to do hip-hop; you only need a DJ.
At the end of the day, I'm a songwriter.
My gears that I have to go through... One minute in my mind to be Beyonce and one minute to be Rihanna and one second to do a hook for Kanye and then have to write records for myself. I'm so many people, I'm never just one person. So I don't have to reinvent because artists around me reinvent for me.
What I want to do is to create a conversation piece and something people remember. I want to make it repetitive enough but not use what I call 'thin thinking' - the kind of thing anyone can do. A hook tells me what you are talking about and it doesn't have to be a lot of words.
I'm just not Mr. Joe that goes to work nine-to-five. I never will be.
Most of the time, men don't really express ourselves.
Every time you hear an 808 drum machine beat on one of my songs, it comes from Freaknik.
When the Atlanta Braves were owned by Ted Turner, he was very passionate and did whatever it took to do something good - and eventually he made money. Labels used to be the same way. Now they're corporations, and it's only about their stock.
People aren't really honest with themselves about anything. That's one of the reasons why we ended up with Trump in the White House.
What I look forward to the most is influencing an individual to go out into the world and make the world a better place.
I am pretty frank of a guy. That used to be appreciated, back in the day.
The world gets better as soon as people start doing exactly what they're great at.
If I do five, six records that sound great, I want it to come out as fast as it can. I don't care how many copies it sells. It's about musically moving the needle.
Whether I'm working with a Top 40 artist or crafting my own music, it goes back to one thing: telling a powerful story and having that story resonate with people.
I love Kanye. He's literally the only person that challenges me. He has an overwhelming love for music also, and that's why he's misunderstood. The boy is a genius. You can be mad all you want, but he loves what you listen to more than you love it. When he lost his mom I cried.
I'm an artist because of how I do things, not because I'm trying to be one.
I don't believe in cards. I believe in cash. I'd carry gold if it wasn't so heavy.
I'm a vulnerable guy, which is always been there, you know? Like, most of the time I put myself in positions where I am vulnerable, because I don't think you're living unless you do.
One thing is relationships: Don't get in a relationship if you're going to leave a man if he cheats on you. Because 99% of the time he's going to cheat.
My uncle used to say, 'You'll go on and become the dream of the family.' That's how I got my name.
