I don't really regret much of my music life.
— Aesop Rock
I like to just hear people talking and TV is a quick way to hear different periods and genres. It's just interesting to me. I'm pretty easily amused with that kind of stuff.
I went to college in '94 and started freestyling a lot more and hearing how others did it, hearing styles from other regions, all of it. Met Blockhead there.
I remember thinking that 'Earthworms' wasn't really an 'album' to me, only because it felt like a weird collection of songs more than an actual project.
I never really planned on being a rapper, I just kinda did it and then people started liking it.
I just think I want my work to represent me fully.
Pardon me if this all sounds corny, but when you put on a record, I'd like it to be an escape from everything you do.
To me, it seems more realistic to my thought process when things feel a little scattered in the lyrics. Being disjointed is not that abstract of a thing when I think about how my brain works - I feel like it's almost more realistic. That's how my brain works.
I think I learned very quickly after I started putting out music... you just learn that people are going to take what they want and make it fit their agenda or make it fit their interpretation. And you make peace with that or you suffer forever.
I don't want to hit a point where I feel there is nothing to improve upon - there always is.
Finding something new that I know I've never done before is the best feeling I know, and when I get there it's all worth it.
I would say the best toy for any cat is always some sort of dangling item on a string or fishing-rod-type structure.
I think in your 30s you can still pretend you're in your 20s, or at least maintain some semblance of youth. Forty is when you've got to stop denying the inevitable.
I don't claim to be a composer, and I realize my approach is pretty dopey in comparison to the true masters of score work. That said, if someone thinks what I do specifically would work for their film, then, of course, let's see what we can do.
Musicians are all about celebrity first and foremost, and I just can't do it. The second any sort of popularity contest comes into the picture, I have to walk in the other direction. These people are sociopaths.
The only way I'm comfortable with a new album is if I'm taking a new risk.
I don't want to be the next face of America.
I'm not interested in hearing yet another rapper tell me why he's the best. Why not tell a story set in a specific time and place? Create some characters, add a little bit of action and you're good to go.
I love 'Black Mirror.'
I had written rap songs in the early '90s and even did a couple homemade rap songs with my brother in like '88 or '89, but it was just like... I don't even know how to say it. Just plain rap. I was just rapping about whatever, there was no real style or direction, it was just semi-braggadocious rhymes that probably imitated 100 other rappers.
My collaborative albums are always way more enjoyable to make.
I remember when I was younger, I read that Jay-Z was 33 and I was just like, 'Damn! This dudes really still goin for it?' It's just so rare that you see any rapper over 30 doing anything interesting.
I would love for my existence as an artist to be completely about my art - not about my social media, or what I do vs what's cool right now, or even whether or not I sound okay in an interview.
People don't stress enough that when they're writing lyrics, they are writing.
I just write notes all day on my phone, and when I write songs it becomes a patchwork of these smaller notes that I had, mixed with stuff in the moment.
I think if the desire to improve what I do starts to plateau then what's the point.
I want to stay learning and hopefully allow my craft to evolve.
Sometimes comfort zones are the best. Sometimes discomfort is just what the doctor ordered.
Most artists - painters or writers - I think create out of stress or negative situations. Look at rock music. It's about getting things off of your chest, and it's a means of venting in many ways. That's what my work is about.
I'd love it if one of my songs became a hit.
Doing something like 'Bushwick,' a lot of people need to agree that the piece is working with what's going on on the screen. So it's a lot of tweaks and re-works, just kinda moving pieces around and getting things to hit right.
The people I feel inspired around draw pictures, they make paintings.
I got tired of everybody repeating the same phrases in the hip-hop world.
Rap music started because they were bored of other music so they created something really new.
I really like 'Game of Thrones.
When I do solo material I definitely tend to overthink it. I make a lot of rules for myself that are a little bit arbitrary and... it's just painful.
Rap lyrics are really the only thing I've ever written.
I went to college, got a job. Not a good job or anything but I was fully set to be an office employee for my life.
I love the playfulness and braggadocio that accompanies a ton of rap music - that's basically what makes up the foundation for most rappers. But there is nothing 'weirder' to me than someone who has never doubted themselves.
Drawing and visual arts was kinda my first passion going all the way back to when I was a kid. I always felt like it was what I was supposed to do - but in reality I don't know that I ever had the skill to make it a profession.
MCs are authors, and rock musicians who write lyrics are authors, to a degree.
I've always recorded at home. That's been part of what it's about to me. I've never been the kind of guy who rents a studio.
I am hoping to improve my writing and rapping, as well as get a better grasp on how to make beats and music that complements what I do vocally. It's a learning process that hopefully won't end.
If a song or group hits you at the right time in your life, it's everything. It's bigger than school or family or anything else.
I believe giving pets 'people food,' while tempting, is generally frowned upon. As a pet owner you want to prioritize your animal's health over the entertainment value in watching your little guy bat around a small piece of chicken.
I know so many people that were really able to lead 'perfect' lives. They meet the right person, they make the babies, they get the jobs, they get the house and it's essentially a smooth ride. That really didn't happen for me.
I've traveled a lot, I've rapped a lot. I like to think that's all in the toolbox to be tapped into when I need it.
Artwork, films, TV - it's always informed my work, no matter what I'm working on.
I am a failed visual artist.
Mark my words, even if I sell out a club of 15,000 with all girls, I'm not taking my shirt off. I'm sorry. I know y'all are waiting to see the pasty stomach and everything.
