I hate eating vegetables. The only vegetables I eat are lettuce on a burger.
— Chance The Rapper
There is a multitude of experiences that make up the black experience.
I've come to understand that art is awesome and beautiful because it's a reflection of life - but it's just a reflection, and the real thing is my daughter.
There are cases where you can say a lot more in a hook than you can by making things more complex in a verse.
God and my dad gave me the gift of gab. I know how to finagle.
I would never run for any office or government position. I'm not into it.
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.
Colorism and racism don't stop when you're a musician or when you have wealth or when you're in any given position.
I love theater, and I've always been a huge movie buff.
I want to travel overseas and help out people all over the world.
I didn't know love until I had my daughter. I didn't know its bounds.
I just get sick very easily.
I remember sitting on the back of the bus on the first day of the Social Experiment tour with my face in my hands. I emptied out my bank account, and before I did that tour, that was the number one thing I said I'd never do. I'll never empty out my savings.
I've always been able to defend Kanye.
My parents are super cheap.
My daughter, when she was still in utero, she had, they call it atrial flutters. It's kind of like an irregular heartbeat. But when you're in utero, it's real hard to detect and also to treat.
There's nothing like doing a show at home. When you do a show in Chicago, there's just a certain love that you don't feel anywhere else; it's like home base.
I used to always rock a cap when I was in high school and get them taken away. It was an excessive amount. Like, so often that, at the end of each school year, there would be a box of all the confiscated caps. After they gave back a few caps to other kids, they would just give me the box because the rest were all my hats.
I don't have to carry myself as anybody that I'm not, and people picked up on it.
People don't want rap to be anything other than it is. But genres expand. My contributions, no matter how they sound, will always be rap, because they'll always be black.
That's what I've always wanted to do - work with my favorite writers and make something from scratch with them that we can feel like didn't exist before we came in the room.
I think when you're in my position as an artist, I can say what I want and talk about the issues that matter.
There's a larger conversation we need to have about the role of police officers, their relationship to the people as enemy or executioner, when they're not supposed to be either.
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'm a big Rick Ross fan, and I think everybody knows I'm a big Kanye fan.
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.
I want to be more involved outside just my community of Chicago.
I still think that God means everything to everyone, whether they understand it or not or can see for themselves.
I just need to take better care of myself. I try to push it as far as I can.
I go broke a lot... I go broke a lot because I have this understanding that whatever I put out there, if I really am doing what's right, it's going to be rewarding, you know?
I had already been making music for my whole high school life, and '10 Day,' which took me a whole year to finish, was about working with a lot of different producers and learning all of the aspects about being a rapper, from shows to recording to studio etiquette to marketing.
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 don't see myself ever being in a position where I need to sign to a label.
I think it's so dope that I'm here in Chicago and contributing to the music scene that's thriving. People are so happy Chicago's shining that everyone is willing to say 'I represent Chicago.' That wasn't always the case.
I hate that when you introduce yourself, and you're a rapper, sometimes you gotta say, 'I'm a musician.' Or, 'I'm an artist.' 'I'm a recording artist.' 'I'm a vocalist.'
Mixtapes have always been a guerrilla-style means of moving music.
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 like the fact that some of your favorite Broadway musicals are not made into movies.
I think politics is a reason why a lot of stuff doesn't get done. There's a lot of favors, and a lot of people are held back by their intentions of being re-elected or the things that they owe their party or constituents.
There's always been a quiet conversation and joke that if you're not hard, if you're not from impoverished neighborhoods, if you're not certain constructs of a black stereotype, then you not black.
I can't really speak on her policies, but I feel a certain connection to Hillary Clinton that's just not there with Donald Trump.
I'm a big R&B guy. I'm a huge R. Kelly fan.
I would largely attribute my identity - as it relates to music labels and corporate music giants - to Dave Chappelle and his relationship to and firm standing in Hollywood.
You can love somebody through anything when they're your child, and now that I understand that, it makes me work better with people; it makes me more understanding of how much dedication and love I can put into each line. There's no throwaway lines.
I know for a fact that we're not pushed or promoted to speak about God with fervor.
I don't think I ever wanted to be like Kanye in personality. I think I definitely want to, have always wanted to, have his boldness or assurance in myself.
I always wanted to be more of a person that people enjoy. Somebody that will make you laugh. I'm talking about just my personality, not necessarily how my music sounds.
My parents always wanted me to go to college.
I would say almost 60 percent of working with Kanye - let's say 53 percent of working with Kanye - is speeches.
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.
