I got big dreams, I always have.
Even when I was at a point
where my ability really didn't line up
with the things I wanted, realistically looking back,
I had this blind confidence.
Like when I was 12 or 13, I wanted
to be the best rapper alive, so I got high hopes.
I know for me, the point I'm at
isn't even as big as a bunch of other artists
but it already feels normal to me.
It's just my reality.
I don't feel special, I don't feel molded
differently by God, I don't feel chosen.
And I think even if I double what I'm doing now
it's gonna feel like this.
It's just reality for me.
Everyone that heard it for the first week
after it was finished, it was special.
That's why we chose to drop it.
Because it was just a feeling thing.
And whatever it is, everyone that came in the studio
Drama, Cannon, Lake, anyone that we brought in there
when we played that song the drums didn't even have to drop
for everyone to do the same thing.
By the second bar it's like "ooh!"
Every time.
You know it's just special when you hear something
that's like, this is exciting.
Other than that, I don't know if you can spell it out.
Because it ain't a technical thing.
It's like a feeling.
And that's what we're always chasing.
Is to get outside of the thoughts and just make something
that makes somebody get butterflies.
John Stockton.
Pretty sure he's a leader all-time in assists.
And we both share a similar skin tone
so it's just a fly thing to say, you know?
Pass that shit like Stockton.
On this last tour I didn't drink.
I think about eight or nine shows in
I just gave up liquor.
And I was trying not to have my voice sound bad.
I just was feeling really loose and healthy.
By the time I recorded this song I still hadn't drank.
I mean, you know, I dab one.
Got a few toxins back in there.
That's the most effective way to get a girl.
Like they're your buddy.
I really shouldn't have gave that up, but facts.
No funny shit.
I was already aware that, you know,
there's a certain tempo he works at.
Because I heard a lot of Da Baby songs.
And so the first thing I was trying to get him do
was encourage him to speed his tempo up a little bit.
And go in the space that I'm in.
But coincidentally, when this beat came on
this ain't even really the tempo I was trying to put him in.
This is usually his space.
And I couldn't argue with it.
It was just so crazy, soon as those pianos come in
it felt like there was no choice but to rap on this song,
you know what I mean?
It's an Italian restaurant downtown Lousiville.
I think I went there once as a kid.
But, it was fly.
Vincenzo himself heard the song.
He wants me to come in, we 'bout to bring the art to life.
This is we have a lot of influence within the city.
Don-esque, get somebody whacked.
She's bad, she's fine as hell.
I had a lot of cartoon characters
that used to get me sexually aroused as a kid.
She was one of them.
The female reindeer from the Rudolph claymation series?
I was in preschool, I used to be bricked up
watching that shit.
And then that fine ass fish from Shark Tales.
But Shego's up there with her fine ass.
The way a girl bends your dick sometimes
when she's trying to shove it into her throat
it's like, damn!
And me, I'm sensitive about my shit.
So I think for me it's a bigger thing,
because a lot of my homeboys,
they're weirded out when I tell them
I don't like the deep throat.
Really it's too much for me.
A lot of girls have a very thin throat,
it's narrow, there's not a lot of room
to operate in there and they want to shove it back there.
And it's like, this is one of the most
sensitive parts of my body.
And they just wanna shove that shit.
I've never liked intense head.
I'd rather you just massage it.
Louisville has their own lingo.
We say things like on butt, that means like wild out.
I'll meet somebody from another city,
a girl from another city, she starts kicking with me
she'll start saying "oh he's on butt."
But you know, we sprinkle so much of it around
that it just naturally gets picked up.
Girls, they like rappers.
So once you get poppin' they want you more
than they might have before you were just a classmate.
A little metaphorical, you know?
You wasn't with me shooting in the gym
it's like when I was trying to get all this right
I couldn't get you.
I've always treated it like a craft, rapping.
Just from being in the booth repeatedly
you get better at this.
So it's similar to shooting free throws in the gym.
Let's talk about it, 'cause that line got slept on.
I think the first person to recognize that line
was Tay Money.
She came up to me, I think at Cole's show,
and she was like "spending money at the club like Sam's"
and nobody had acknowledged.
People come in saying all these lines
and I'm just waiting for the Sam's club line to get love
and when she did it, I was like (claps)
I have a lot thicker skin than I used to have.
I don't never really reply.
Really what made me not want to respond
is when I'd watch other artists respond.
And I'll be like "damn, that's what gets you."
I know it bothers fans
when they're showing you all this love,
you might have 500 comments of love
and then one person shows some hate
and you give them attention,
and everyone that's appreciating you is like "damn."
That's something that I've been experiencing
since I was young.
I would have friends in my life
that I felt like were more jealous than encouraging.
And so, since I was young,
especially with the career path I've chosen,
if you're a friend that can't deal
with another friend getting a lot of attention,
it's kind of hard to have them around.
I have a lot of people around me
that are really secure in themselves.
And can deal with me having most of the attention,
especially in situations like
going to interviews or whatever.
That's kind of what that's about,
'cause not everybody can deal with that.
I don't know, there's a saying that goes around about
when you tell somebody good news,
watch what kind of face they make.
I just take note of, you know,
some people don't be as happy for you
when they oughta be.
I can't stand having a conversation with somebody
that is constantly telling me what I need to do,
but have things that they aren't handling on their end.
And never show any sense of self-awareness
or reflection of "this is what I could do better."
It's easy to point fingers.
One thing I've taken pride in throughout my career
and as a person, is that I'm all about self-improvement.
Not because I think it's the right thing,
that's just in me.
If you ain't evolving, you're in a stagnant place
of being right here.
Hard to be around that, you know what I'm saying?
Now stagnant people, they gang up.
And they, you know, kick it together.
But I don't want to be stagnant,
it's hard for me to relate
and be inspired by stagnant people.
Cardinals are having a hell of a season.
Every loss that's happened, and there's only been a few,
has been partially blamed on me and my guys.
Because we are having a good time in the city right now.
I've always been a big water consumer.
I go to restaurants and the waiters,
they're never up to par for me
because I'm just going through that motherfucker.
For years I've been complimented on my soft hands.
I have no idea why my hands are soft
until more recently I started to realize
I've been hydrating the hell out of myself my whole life.
And I think that's the reason.
And I'm very disciplined about wearing condoms.
It's a life or death situation in my opinion.
So, throw that thing on.
I mean, they ain't wrong
when they call it a scary obsession.
I'm obsessed with this.
People always ask "what would you do
"if you weren't doing this?"
I have no idea, I didn't go in with a plan B.
I didn't even go to college,
so I knew I was not going to do nothing but this.
I like the accents up here, where we're at, man.
Those New York accents?
Nothing like being cussed out up there.
It's just what I'm into.
Well, you know they say that satin
and textures like that are easier on your hair,
and I really want my curls to have longevity.
I think cotton, when you wear it, messes it up.
The shit I'm on, no one else is on.
Just the sound, the way I'm doing things.
Originality is just a priority to me
more than other artists.
People are inspired when they listen to my music.
Other artists feel like "oh, I should make some music
"when I hear this."
You know, you can't say that for a lot of artists
out right now.
There's a lot of popular artists,
there's a lot of people that are having success.
But I don't have a long list of people
that I listed to and I'm inspired by.
There's a few other artists that are a breath of fresh air.
I think I'm one of them.