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" I come from an era where you just build something. Me and Common built what we built from Chicago from scratch. "

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" I was a rapper. The reason I stopped rapping was because I realized that people wanted guys like Puff Daddy. That's not what I do. I quit. That was it. I had to sacrifice for my choice. I said, 'Forget it. I'll be a producer.' Nobody was going to make me do anything. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I just want to work on music and make some new stars. I'm not interested in being a star. "

" There's this concept in urban music and lifestyle that money is everything, and I'm just not with it. If it makes money, it doesn't make it good. If it's good, it's good. "

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

" 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. "

" For me, the '80s was great because you had Boy George, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Prince, and Cyndi Lauper. No one put boxes saying this is urban, this is popular, this is underground. It was just good or bad. "

" 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. "

" After 'Resurrection,' I was getting calls for people to do work with me, and I was turning it down. "

" 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. "

" You make some good music, people are gonna find you. "

" 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.'' "

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

" I take a lot of pride in helping people become great. I think that's an element of being a producer that people don't always take in: They want to be great for themselves, whereas I'd like to be recognized as having helped the most people get over the hump. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I hate filming in the studio. "

" 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. "

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

" Sometimes I think albums are so ambitious, they don't stand as bodies of work because you try to achieve so much, and sometimes we need to do less. Say less. "

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

" 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.' "

" 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. "

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

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

" I don't care whether something makes one dollar or a trillion because guess what? I don't know many happy rich people. And I know a lot of rich people. "

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

" I believe that when you really make the best music you can make from your heart, it will transcend all of those stereotypes, color issues, everything, because music is really made for human beings. "