Musician

I don't necessarily think, as a person of influence, that it's always my job to influence people regarding my opinion.

I've never met Eminem; you don't meet Eminem. He has his own secret service.

I think it's very important for America that we're represented as promoters of peace, love, and understanding.

There's so much positivity in the world and your day-to-day life that to go as far as to say that you hate something or you wish it didn't exist and all the bad things in the world happen to you and only you, it's a joke. It's not real to have that much hate in your heart.

Selling music doesn't make that much money.

I'm definitely tired of playing 'Acid Rap.' I'm definitely tired of playing 'Juice.'

Every song on '10 Day' is a completely different sound - the cadence, the flow, even the production - because I like so many different types of music and because my taste is so refined. 'Acid Rap' is another tape where every song sounds different.

I want to tell people to read 'The Prince' by Machiavelli - check that one out. It's just changed my attack so - I think so much more inwardly.

I love theater, and I've always been a huge movie buff.

I know for a fact that we're not pushed or promoted to speak about God with fervor.

Where he tells you exactly how he views the world - just very straight Kanye, honesty that definitely gets your creativity and strong opinions out on the floor. I think it helped me find myself.

I made the decision that I was going to make rap music in, like, fourth grade, so it's been something I was saying for a long time.

Being in the space that I am as a writer, and just as a black dude in America, there's this push to be cool or be what you're expected to be. There's a need for a song that puts that in perspective. I think that's an important thing for young children to hear growing up.

I make my money off of touring and merchandise. And I'm lucky I have really loyal fans that understand how it works and support.

When I was working on 'Coloring Book,' I knew that I wanted it to be a beacon for independent artists and music makers with their own agenda.

I'm a young dude from Chicago who grew up with Kanye as my image of hip-hop. Finding your voice in a room where you have to challenge Kanye is scary - but it's also life-affirming.

I don't want to say this in a lame way, but D. Rose is one of my heroes. His whole story and background and what he's done for communities in Chicago is super inspiring.

Kanye took me from a kid who listened to music to a kid who lived music.

We've been conditioned to understand music as a field where you get discovered, and you're always trying to find that end. So 'my shot' is speaking of a variety of shots. When you're a rapper, you look at every shot as the one you're supposed to take.

When I write, I work off of a theme, an emotion, a narrative - thinking of it and then expounding on it.