I don't really engage much in the creative community. I just kind of keep to myself and do my work.
— Aesop Rock
I like to make stuff and I try to stay busy.
I used to do a lot of one-off collabs, features, stuff like that.
I think I'm always surprised at how much the musicians I meet put weight on things that aren't music.
We're all just cats trying to be original, which is what I think being a B-boy is about.
Performing is fine.
I've been writing for a long time.
When you're younger, you really care who your fans are.
It's a strange position to be in. Not only the fact that I'm trying to live off work that is personal, but how you get the money for that is racing around the country and smiling for people and selling the record, you know what I mean?
It's really rare in life that a situation is as black and white as we tend to paint it.
When I record in a studio. I know that on Tuesday at 3 o'clock I've got to go be creative.
After much inner debate, I can safely proclaim that Mungo Jerry's 'In the Summertime' may, in fact, be the best song ever recorded.
I always keep my phone on vibrate. Ringtones give me anxiety.
Honestly, I don't feel pressure to live up to anything I've done because I tend to not listen to my work once a year passes.
Having some decent musicians around you only expands what you can do production-wise, but I make rap - I can't really see myself doing much else.
I don't see any of my records as any more or less conceptual than the others, and I don't really plan some overall idea in advance. The songs all get written under the umbrella of a certain time in your life, and it's natural to find themes that repeat within these periods.
I had been using a 4-track and a digital 8-track in the '90s, and it was this huge complicated thing. But GarageBand is right there.
You have to write about what's inside you. If I have to get something out, I'll do it.
I like feeling warm inside a small home, knowing there's a set of glowing eyes out in the woods somewhere. It's just a vibe I enjoy writing about, and it deals simultaneously with safety and danger.
People will put me in whatever box they feel the most comfortable having me in, and nothing I can do will change that.
I love rap lyrics, I love hearing people rap, I love molding a thought or idea into the shape that fits on a rap beat.
I'm never really comfortable; I think it's kind of natural to feel uncomfortable, and I think if people say they are comfortable, they're just lying.
I don't like to do the same songs every night for a week. I just... it's boring and tiring and frustrating basically.
People can label me whatever they like. I don't really care any more.
I've performed in Japan before, as well as many other non-English speaking countries. I find you really just have to be a bit more animated than usual. Call-and-response routines work well, if they are simple. Otherwise, I just dance around like a circus monkey and hope the crowd feels it.
You think of, like, Justin Timberlake. He does a three-hour performance every night, and it's like, wow, I don't know how that guy does it.
Inserting my personal brand of humor is something I have at times had trouble doing - but I feel like I've been learning about it a little more, how to do it, and how it helps my songs.
The neighbors prefer I don't do vocals at night. It gets a little iffy when I'm screaming.
To be honest, I think Chris Ware is the only person whose books I've actively and consistently purchased for years.
I've been able to tour because of my music and I've learned a lot about myself while on the road. I think some of the imagery of my writing are snapshots of where I've been and my feelings about the world.
New York can be a tad stressful.
Ultimately, I really like to rap, and seeing what I can do to keep it fresh for myself has lent itself to tailoring over time.
I've never taken some weird musical risk where I did some odd time signature for a whole album or something. My career is like a big pussyfoot.
Really, my biggest risk was just the initial step to quit my day job to do music. I was packaging and shipping for an art gallery in Manhattan; I went to school for painting, so I always wanted to work around artwork, even though I wasn't really contributing anything to the scene.
My brothers each reacted differently to 'Blood Sandwich.' It's a very specific type of odd feeling when there's a song written about you. People react to it differently.
I feel like a lot of times, when making a one-song collab with someone, it's easy for one person to not be fully invested. I guess you'd call that 'mailing it in.' But when you say 'This is our album,' then all parties have a reason to make it as good as possible, and the goal becomes seeing what we can do together as a unit.
I guess, for me, the idea of finding an identity through creative means has always been a way to deal with otherwise feeling awkward and uncomfortable out in the world.
I just try to reflect the grittiness in New York. I try to protect the grit and the dirt that comes with it, which is a good thing.
Every record I do does a little better than the last, which in turn makes me more stressed out.
I don't like being away from home for a long period of time.
People's opinions outside of my direct group of friends means next to nothing.
I'm not a celebrity or anything.
I always find my emotions all over the map, not so much a single thing overriding the rest.
I guess all that I can hope for is that my songs affect the younger versions of me out there.
I avoided the computer generation for a very long time.
I love a cool cellphone as much as the next guy, but, god, I hate when it rings.
I know a lot of people who make records, and when you meet them, it's not their personality or they're not what you're expecting. But El-P is exactly what you'd expect.
I was a Kimya fan for a long time, a Moldy Peaches fan, so I got to work on her 'Thunder Thighs' record a little bit and we became friends and just started writing songs.
I have been inspired by countless artists over the years, but there's also times when you just gotta make your own inspiration.
My brother came home from college with a Mountain Goats cassette and I was like, 'What is this?' The lyrics were crazy to me. I'd never heard anything like it.
