You Can Have Your Own Opinion, But

I Don’t Think That Early Hip Hop Stood Out To Be A Social Critique. A Lot Of Fans Of Mine Think That Hip Hop’s Ultimate Responsibility Is To Critique Social Structures.

Life Without Knowledge Is Death In Disguise.

My Parents Are My Biggest Influences. My Parents And My City. Brooklyn, New York, New York City, The Community I Grew Up. I Don't Feel Like I'm Special In That. I Feel Like That's Everybody.

My Musical Influence Is Really From My Father. He Was A Dj In College. My Parents Met At New York University. So He Listened To, You Know, Motown, And He Listened To Bob Dylan. He Listened To Grateful Dead And Rolling Stones, But He Also Listened To Reggae Music. And He Collected Vinyl.

I See That Happening With Hip Hop Purists Now. Where You Have An Artist Like A Kendrick [lamar] Or A Drake, Who Are Really Trying Different Things Emotionally, Different Things Musically, And On A Mainstream Level. And You Have Underground Hip Hop Fans Dissing It, For The Simple Fact That It's Mainstream - Not Because What They're Doing Is Whack, Or What They're Doing Is Not Sincere.