That's the thing with social media: it's a gift and a curse. It's cool on one level, but it's also bad.
— DJ Premier
The ghetto music of my era is hip-hop. And Parliament, and Curtis Mayfield, and Marvin Gaye, that was all the ghetto stuff when I was a baby, and then when I was a teenager it was hip-hop and we were taking all those old '70s sounds and recreating them and putting them into a hip-hop format.
I came out with sounds that didn't sound like the usual hip-hop beat. I took that chance because no one would identify with me if I sound like somebody who's already out.
I'm cool with Dr. Dre, I have his phone number, and he picks up when I call.
I've never sampled just one artist, I'm known for my reputation and my creativity.
I can't make the new generation like me, because they didn't grow up on me. So I stick to what I know.
I think the fact that Gang Starr kept getting more and more successful was the reason we never thought about our age.
Guru always titled the Gang Starr albums. But once it came to 'Hard to Earn,' he wanted me to title it.
Me and Tupac were long-time friends.
I'm known for taking a long time getting music out, partially, my schedule is bananas, I'm only human, and then on top of that, I'm a one-man-producer.
If I gotta do a Jay-Z beat I want to stop everything. Tell everybody hold my calls, everything.
From Jay-Z to Nas to Kanye to whoever, I'm just not the type to say, 'Hey, let me get on your album.' If they want me, they're going to reach out and say, 'I need a joint from you.'
I'm a bass player and I'm a drummer - I'm a big fan of bass players.
Anyone from our era knows that Guru was in every club and every bar and every spot. He could go all night, all day. And he would never be tired!
I'm not really a comparison dude. Even when people say 'Big or Pac?,' because they're two totally different types of lyricists.
I'm a big rock 'n' roll head, I love country music, I love yodeling music. But I'm still black and funky.
Travis Scott's dad was one of my OGs when I was a kid in Texas. Obviously Travis was nonexistent yet because his father wasn't even married back then.
I've always wanted to work with Klashnekoff. He's been around for years! He's sorta my age but he is dope. The flow, the lyrics, it's just dope music.
All my idols have been in the studio with me, because they wanted to be there.
I like when people don't think I can pull things off.
I use whatever it takes to make the tracks identify what me and Guru are all about.
I'm real particular about delivery. You can write the illest rhymes in the world, but can you deliver it right?
You have to know who you're making music for.
Black men, we're known for getting into some drama with other black men, specifically black-on-black crime. We're used to the confrontational attitude.
I'm a very humble guy, but of course I think I'm dope.
Dre is someone I've looked up to since 1985 when he came to my college and performed with The Wrecking Crew.
Everybody knows with rap artists, if you can't go to the hood, it's almost like you're not authentic, even if you're a dope artist that's respected.
God knows I'm a good guy, I'm known in the industry as a good guy. I'm not known to be a foul, evil dude that you've got to watch out for and my name is not muddy in the industry.
The main thing is we never dissolved our Gang Starr contract. We are still signed to each other. We never disbanded the group. If Guru really wanted to super-dead it he would have said, 'Yo, I want out.' And I still would have tried to convince him to stay. We are still Gang Starr.
I've been listening to Herbie Hancock forever. He's gone through so many transitions, even before bringing hip-hop to the forefront with ‘Rockit' and everything.
Well, I've always held down Guru… His spirit knows this.
I get up early all the time.
Prince, Bootsy Collins, Earth Wind & Fire and Parliament all had albums that sound different. I wanted to show, as a hip-hop producer, I'm one of those that can do anything, because I was raised on so much music aside from rap and hip-hop.
When I hold a gun, I know how to be sensible about it. I'm not holding it to wild out or just to shoot somebody because I'm mad at him. There's responsibility in buying that gun, and part of it is dealing with it like a man, and not dealing with it like an idiot, and getting behind iron bars for unnecessary reasons.
I like soul, I like rock, I like new wave, I like punk music, I like blues, I like jazz, and I was brought up on all of them from a young boy all the way to my teenage years, when I was wild and crazy, in college.
And hip-hop is about style and finesse and being creative and different, and to do that you have to be ballsy enough to not do what everybody else does.
I'm super cool with Kanye.
Jazzmatazz' was Guru's thing, but Gang Starr was his baby. I don't care what anybody says. That dude loved Gang Starr.
I'm from the pre-Pro Tools era where you had to meet up with the artist and go over things if you wanted to record a track.
I used to lie about my age at first because you always want to be 18, but then you start looking at it and you're 40, and the money's still coming. And you're like, 'Man, who cares about that?'
All of our other albums were consecutive year after year: 'No More Mr. Nice Guy,' 'Step in the Arena,' 'Daily Operation,' 'Hard to Earn.' After 'Hard to Earn,' a four-year gap is a lot of not having Gang Starr music, as far as an album is concerned.
I don't usually collab with producers, because I don't need to. I never have, because I don't want to break my style of how I do things.
I don't have session players come in and guitars, I'm doing the drums, I'm doing the scratching, I'm doing every sound you hear and that's always been my way. And not only that, I'm very meticulous about it just sounding right.
I don't shop beats. That was never my method coming up. I think it's very strange to have a CD of 30 or 40 beats and then just pick one.
I always followed my heart and if my heart said I gotta pack up and go, I'm gone.
If you don't have any Coltrane, 'A Love Supreme' will do it for you. It will explain everything. Even if you don't get it, it will still explain everything. That's how deep it is.
Jazz came from the streets, hip-hop came from the streets. It's just a different language. It's all borne out of hard times, struggle, and the fight to have equality and things be better.
I say if you don't write your lyrics, then you can't be the best rapper alive. Not at all. You can be one of the best artists, especially in rap, you gotta write everything yourself.
I like showing versatility.
DWYCK' was only intended to be a B-side of 'Take It Personal,' because we had done a record with Nice & Smooth for their album, Ain't a Damn Thing Changed, called 'Down The Line.' They were returning the favor with 'DWYCK,' being that we let them borrow the 'Manifest' instrumental.
