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When I started, I was 23 years old directing my own music videos; I'm co-producing on my album; I'm hands-on with everything. I'm more than just a pretty boy: I'm an artist. I'm not saying I'm a hip-hop music artist, I'm an artiste.
I'm in a 'I can do whatever' phase. I'm taking this '106 & Park' opportunity into full force. I'm really focused on doing my best with it. This is my 'Fresh Prince' moment. I want to be the black Ryan Seacrest of film, TV, and more.
I knew that Sylvester Stallone's involvement would outweigh everything else from the film. I think people went into Creed expecting a boxing movie and something that superficially ties Stallone in, but Creed was really well written.
I was inspired by the classic rock radio of the Seventies. They separated Chuck Berry and the Beatles from the Led Zeppelins and Bostons and Peter Framptons of the time. In many ways, classic rock became bigger than mainstream rock.
In a sense, touring is crazy. You go city to city playing the show over and over again. But there's something magic about being in front of people, so it's not like going through the motions every night. It's a different experience.
As we've added players to the team, like a videographer, a drummer, or a sound guy, we're trying to keep a bus full of A players and keep a culture where everybody is comfortable enough to push each other in their areas to be great.
I do all of marketing and promotion - it's the most exhaustive and rewarding part of the process and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The artist should be the person representing their brand because theyre the best person to do so.
Using some economic issues to make one group of people, regardless of race or religion, the scapegoat for all the problems of the country is just the stupidest, and yet, the most creative propaganda scheme that you can come up with.
I honestly now know that I'm the physical embodiment of hip-hop on earth. That's my only purpose here on earth is to keep the culture together long enough for it to remain everything that we thought it could be when I was coming up.
It's depressing a little when you don't see outside the tour bus and underground in a stadium. If you go outside near the venue there are lots of fans everywhere so you can't just have a minute to enjoy the sunshine alone and think.
I don't mind payin' for the police and for streets and sanitation, or road work, bridges, trains, food subsidies and welfare. But I don't wanna pay for bombs to fight proxy wars in the middle of nowhere against enemies in the night.
Sometimes I would ride with my daughter in the car to go make transactions. A couple of times me, her and my baby mother would be in the car and you know we would kind of be riding dirty. So like I said, again man, I was very naïve.
I remember really bonding with the first generation kids, the Chinese Canadian kids, and in high school bonding with the Latin kids and the East Indian kids. It was very interesting because it made me open to lots of musical sounds.
When you win an award from the Grammys, it means a lot 'cause it's voted on by 100% by the people. It's not like some old guy sitting at a desk picking. It's doesn't work like that. It's voted on by your peers in the music industry.
I have a lot of money, but I still feel broke. When I say I feel broke, I don't mean broke in a financial sense, but I still feel like that kid from the gutter who's still trying to get it, even though I'm at the place I want to be.
The Cross Movement was a group that was a huge encouragement to me. The music was good. The content was good. It really spoke to my soul. It was good to have them around as someone I could learn from and really pattern myself after.
Building virtual classrooms was the brainchild of Charity Dreams. So many people play games online, it's a huge business - and so harnessing the power of the Charity Dreams community to help build classrooms just made a lot of sense.
I know Busta Rhymes for about a year now and we did a song together and we got an album together which is called "Godzilla vs. King Kong", which is going to be me and Busta. That was really the first time we rocked together on stage.
Whether you're a DJ, whether you a rapper, whether you a producer, take it seriously. This is an occupation - you can get paid - don't expect to blow up overnight, and appreciate when you do get paid any type of money, appreciate it.
Hip hop, this is church. Church, this is hip-hop. Y'all need to meet. I know you have some misconceptions about them, I know you have some misconceptions about them. Let's work through this because there's a lot of false perspective.
I love writing literary stuff. My favorite writer is definitely Edgar Allan Poe - so imaginative and prolific. My second favorite writer would have to be Shakespeare - I love the emotion and human truths he touches on so beautifully.
When I first started out in the music industry and went to Elektra Records, I didn't go to be an artist, I went to get a record label started. And they said in order to have a label deal, I had to be an artist - so that's what I did.
I'm inspired by people like Nelson Mandela. Can you imagine - you know how racist America was back then - imagine how racism was in South Africa when he had to stand up and say what he had to say. That's bravery beyond comprehension.
Unfortunately, man, a lot of places in America have to deal with unnecessary violence. Somebody like me who knows it firsthand and could relate... I had a best friend killed, plenty other friends killed. I been through it. I seen it.
I emcee how I feel for the moment. I'll always be influenced by Tribe, but my EP and LP have a lot of different flavors! I'll keep it vintage Tribe if Tribe decides to do another LP... which, in my heart, I'd love to do for the fans.
I try to stay far away from all of them. I was tempted to go to my snotty high school reunion, but luckily I resisted the urge--when I received the hand-out that described what everyone is doing now, I fell asleep reading it. Boring!
I didn't understand that you could go to jail for the rest of your life for selling cocaine. I thought life sentences were for murderers. I didn't know that you could get it for supplying something to someone that they asked you for.
When you face obstacles or go through different phases, I always relied on my music. I depend on my music, my teammates. So at the end of the day, having incredible music, for me, would keep me in the space I want to be as an artist.
I walked around Soho's street for over an hour, running into familiar faces but never once stopping to chat. It was then that I felt something discomforting and comforting all at once. I didn't want to be here, in this city, anymore.
When I say 'rare,' it's my own term. It's like you're doing something with a photo that is dominant that no one has ever seen before. #Rare means that it can only be seen here. It's just a rare moment that I'm sharing with the world.
My mother was a woman. A black woman. A single mother. Raising two kids on her own. So she was dark skinned. Had short hair. Got no love from nobody except for a group called the Black Panthers. So that's why she was a Black Panther.
At the end of the day, people have the right to have opinions. I have the right to have an opinion. And I have the right to say what I want on my music 'cause it's my music. If you don't like it, don't click on it, don't download it.
I am an artist who's just tryin' to do something different, and basically not caring about everybody's opinions and wanting to follow what everybody else is doing. At the same time, I know when to be serious, but I know when to joke.
There's not a lot of pretty, young female artists that's out. It's a lot of talent out there, but they don't know how to go about it. I feel like there should be way more sexier women in hip-hop and R&B then it is - more originality.
As much as I don't want to admit it, my fans are the only ones that can hurt my feelings when they're not pleased with what I'm presenting. I want it to be perfect for them. I want them to have a different sense of pride in my music.
A rap dude has his rap persona, his hyper version of himself. Do you know Method Man's real name? Or Elton John, Marylin Monroe? You make up this character. That's kind of what we have done with Die Antwoord, playing with characters.
When the music industry started collapsing, the logical people understood that the only place to go for shelter was the underground. If the world on the surface is burning up, and you know people that have bunkers, go to the bunkers.
When I rap, I get to express myself in a way where putting words together is like poetry, and sometimes it's better to talk in certain expressions than sing, you know? So I love, I love to rhyme when I want to express certain things.
I've seen my family watch TV every day, and they develop a liking for various characters more and more with time. So, I think TV does bring a celeb closer to his fans. I feel I have come closer to people without losing my raw appeal.
Atlanta is the number one place to live. You live better, you eat better, the rides are better, vehicles is better deals. It's better people. More mean people, but at my level you want it to be about business, so it's perfect for me.
My childhood was great, honestly. I have all these incredible memories of my childhood. I was an only child. I always had all my cousins around. I had my grandparents around. I had my parents around. I had my uncles around - whatever.
Ksubi' - the Australian jean brand, they're one of my favourite brands of just clothes and stuff, and the Swedish brand 'Acne', but other than that, not at this point in time designing. I wouldn't mind collab'n with those guys though.
I'm from the building where the wave was invented. Downstairs, under me. Ask Bigavel. Y'all call him Bigavel, Max B. I know him as Charlie Rambo. I'm from the building where the wave was invented, and it was invented after I was born.
I might tell a story about somebody else, but I don't sit there and do a story about somebody snitching on me selling coke because people know I didn't sell coke. So I just try to keep it real but still try to do it in a creative way.
We all know he was talented but he was also a very smart, kind, funny individual and his personality and presence will be deeply missed. There will never be another person like him but his legacy will live forever. R.I.P. Chad Butler.
I want 'Flesh Of My Flesh' to be like my connection to the community, I want to say what's on my peoples' minds, soak up all their pain. I've learned that when I take it all in, I can make one brotha's pain be understood by the world.
And I just hope that I'm forgiven for carin bout how they livin and loanin a little money and keepin em outta prison I aint lyin in my verses, I'm just tellin you the basics of growin up wit ya friends and becomin the one that made it
I stuck with my education, you know, I really did that for my grandma. It meant a lot to her that I finished school and in the grand scheme of things it was her who had saved and helped provide for me this opportunity to go to school.
You open up a lot of tours making nothing just for the fact that you need to start somewhere and get some exposure. When you start to headline your tours, all the money is in headlining, but there's no money in headlining small rooms.
I worked at car washes - two or three different car washes. I worked at McDonald's and Wendy's, I worked as a dishwasher and as a telemarketer in two or three different places. I sold windows door-to-door and never once sold a window.