Musician

I'm so hands-on and involved in my own music that I feel like if I put the same effort into another artist, then I can definitely cultivate something great.

I went to a Bulls game when it was still in Chicago Stadium before they built the United Center.

A lot of improvisation and freedom went into 'Pinata.'

You've got a lot of Tupac clones, but I don't think I'm one of them. I just think I give people a little piece of the feeling he gave them.

I'm cool with doing shows with 2,000 people. I don't have to rap in a stadium. As long as I can provide for my family and my art and live comfortably and live well, then I'm good.

I started hustling in early adolescence.

I feel like some artists need a record label, and some don't.

I just want to put my stamp on all kinds of music. Everything I do is going to be gangsta rap, street-based, street-oriented.

My father took me to a lot of sports events as a child, and our TV stayed on ESPN.

I like A$AP Rocky and his stuff - Kendrick too.

We have good, neighborly people in Gary.

I'm not trying to act like I'm Superman or better than anybody else in the game. I'm just telling my story, showing my strengths and weaknesses - as a human, as a person, as a man.

I still bump 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.' I used to listen to it before all my football games.

When everybody goes left, I'm gonna go right most of the time.

If you say your product is the best, back that up.

Ain't nothin' changed with me. I'm Eastside Gary til I die.

When I first came in the game, I had a bunch of homies that rapped that was hanging around me just because I was getting the rap attention, and they felt they could feed off of that.

Tupac is definitely an icon. There'll never be another Tupac, so I'm not gonna ever, ever try to fill those shoes. I'm just gonna stay in my lane and be the best me that I can be.

I wasn't fully aware of the things that Madlib did musically, but my manager put me up on game. I'm not gonna act like I was a Madlib head when I wasn't. I didn't understand a lot of it at first. But it opened my mind to some things, and it's me bringing that gangster element to things that he does. It's like a perfect marriage.

I'm from Gary, Indiana, and everybody's damn near at the poverty level. It's a rough city to grow up in, and it's a modern-day ghost town.