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" A lot of my favorite artists didn't sell much out the gate. I didn't with Common at first. Neither did first albums from Outkast, Nas, or Jay Z. It doesn't scare me. "

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" I'm not going to put my music up on some little corner of the Internet or give it away for free. What does that do? That's just giving up. I'm not giving up, ever. "

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Music

Giving Up

Giving

" There's so many things that Kanye does that I agree with and disagree with at times. I just say, 'You're in a different place, and what you're doing is experimental. Nobody's been there in hip-hop.' "

" As much as you act like everything is programmed or calculated or researched or numbers, spins, radio, and clubs, it's still human beings out here you can reach with music. "

" Trophies or no trophies, we are all just striving to do some really good art and help people's lives with it. "

" Ghostface, when it comes to hip-hop, was one of my favorite rappers and definitely one of my favorites in the Wu-Tang. He's also a really cool dude. "

" If you want to make money, that's great, but if you make great music, you're going to make money anyway. Keep your eyes on making a great product. You don't even have to promote it. "

" The effect that 'Illmatic' had on us at that moment was serious. "

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Moment

Effect

" I'm not interested in anything besides making some good music, helping some artists, being an executive. I'm pretty happy with that. "

" 'I Used To Love H.E.R.,' from a production standpoint, was a brainchild of the style I developed on 'Soul By The Pound.' "

" When you do your art, and you may think people don't recognize it or appreciate it, you actually go and try to get better. "

" Most of the greatest albums in the history of music are one producer. It's just a fact. Or one collective. "

" Nas' longevity comes from him having strong lyrical value in his songs, him being more like a poet and improving over time. "

" When I do music, I have a hard time experiencing it like everyone else, because there's so much thought that goes into it. You can sometimes fool yourself into thinking it's better than what it is, which stops me from being creative on the next thing I do. "

" There's the way modern music is produced, which is, 'Here's a piece of music, and I'm the producer, so pay me and make sure my credit is right and get me my splits.' But I'm trying to go backward. Now, it's more like 'What's the texture? What's the over-arching story?' There are more things to pay attention to than 'Is this the right snare?' "

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Trying

Attention

" My entire approach is built on the idea that things can be commercial and artistic. "

" Honesty, vulnerability, pain - these are things that always supersede the trends of the day. "

" Hit records create slang, and if you create slang, you get into a broader conversation level. "

" When you really make things that really challenge the status quo or challenge issues, and you do it artistically, and you do it with no fear, people are listening. "

" I don't speak out of place, but if you ask me, I will definitely speak the truth. Also, my opinion is my opinion. I don't feel the need to force anybody to agree or disagree with me. But if you ask me, I do feel it's important to speak with confidence about my feelings about whatever the questions are. "

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Truth

Confidence

" Part of my growth as a producer was not just about making beats but also helping in the process of inspiring the song and making the song the center. "

" When people get to see me interact with the creative giants, they see the perspective and the respect. A lot of times, people don't have that respect, from a music perspective, with the music people. "

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Music

People

" I tried to embrace the concept of the sampler as an instrument, looking at how to take it artistically to another place where it can be appreciated, more than just taking someone's song and doing a 4-bar loop. "

" There's not too many one-producer rap albums. There are lot of one-producer rock albums... and country albums. "

" I have a Chicago personality, which means that just because I'm friends with one person, I don't assume I'm friends with his friends. "

" I've got a philosophy I call 'no dancing in the end zone.' You score, get back, and run another play. "

" I come from a very specific love of hip-hop. I'm saying hip-hop, not rap. That's what saved my life. I carry that badge with a lot of pride and honor, and I really enjoy trying to raise the perception and the bar of what we do. "

" If you look before the '90s, you might not find many - if any - albums with multiple producers. It just didn't exist in the history of music. That would have been like Michael Jackson telling Quincy Jones, 'Look man, I know we did well on 'Off The Wall,' but I'm hot now, and I need to see some other producers for 'Thriller.'' "

" If you think about 2Pac, Biggie, and Nas, all of those guys were teenagers or in their early 20s when they got started. Everybody acts like young people have to be silly and lack perspective. Those guys had incredible perspective, and everything that they said was before 25 years old. "

" I've never been a mega-star. I'm more of a tastemaker of hip-hop. I try to be more of an ambassador for the era of hip-hop that I came in. "

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Ambassador

Try

" I really like G-Herbo. "

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Really