How will that demeanor play out in a genre filled with braggadocio?
I don’t care about that shit. This is definitely a competitive sport. I got what it takes to compete, so I’m straight. I don’t gotta compete the way you want me to compete. I’m chill. I’m straight. My bills is paid.
I always think that quiet people are hiding something. Got any secrets?
We all hiding secrets. I’m not gonna tell you!
Fair enough. Your new single “Feelings” with French Montana is remarkably depressing. Where did this come from?
You asked me if I ever get stressed out? That song wasn’t just some shit I did to the beat because I thought it sounded cool. I really felt like that when I made that song. Honestly, I was going through some shit with music. I felt like there was a lot of things that wasn’t going in my favor and it was like eating me up. Then I snapped out of it like, what you kill you eat. I’m complaining to myself, like who gives a fuck how I’m feeling? It was a lot of personal shit. It’s not everybody’s turn at the same time.
You’ve been patient, pursuing music for over 10 years. Was there ever a time you wanted to throw in the towel?
Of course. I just stopped hustling last year. I would come back from fucking Europe, wherever, and go back to the projects and sit on the bench and answer my phone and get my money. That was last year. That’s why if you look at the “Feelings” video, French drops me off in the projects. Some little kid is worried about a “million-dollar rapper” and he doesn’t realize I live in the same projects. That’s real life. I don’t live in the projects now but for a while, that was the situation.
What kept you motivated in dire times?
I always knew I was well equipped to compete with anyone else doing this shit. I believe in me. If you can hustle one thing, you can hustle the next.
I recently interviewed Troy Ave and he drew the analogy between selling drugs in NYC and the music industry.
Definitely. You have to. When you’re selling drugs, in order to get to the “sale,” when this person is putting money in your hands and you’re giving them a product, it’s things you gotta go through. You gotta watch for the police. You gotta watch for the niggas trying to rob you. You gotta watch for the bitch in the window that’s working with the police. There’s so much shit. Same thing with music. You can’t get to the bag without dealing with the haters, the cum drinkers, the fucking devils. You gotta maneuver your way through the same shit to get to the prize. I honestly, think it’s easier to go to the NBA than be a successful rapper.