I always had pressure on myself through my life. I put pressure on myself and not from other people. I always wanted to be one of the hottest rappers. So the pressure comes from myself.
I've never wanted to be the hottest star. I always wanted to do good movies.
When I was working with Reebok, Paul Fineman sent me to see David Stern to try to explain to him, basically, the tanning of America: That all rappers wanted to be basketball players and basketball players wanted to be rappers.
Our talent and skill as rappers is clearly the first thing you notice. I don't know what we were thinking. We just really love rap and wanted to be rappers. Is that weird?
To be considered for the hottest breakthrough MC of 2011, it's obviously an honor, but I want to be the hottest.
The hottest trash-disco star in the world: Ke$ha! She has a lot in common with Kiss, actually, even spelling her name with a dollar sign the way Gene Simmons probably always wanted to.
We can be in the studio with the hottest producer, but we might not be able to create any magic! It's not about the hottest. It's about who we feel we have that connection with, and that's who we're going to be working with.
I try to run on the hottest days, at the hottest time, because that's the most difficult time. And sometimes I worry about drying out, and dying.
I've always used Southern rappers in epigraphs for my novels. For 'Sing, Unburied, Sing,' I wanted to use Big K.R.I.T. - because I have so much respect for the lyrical depth of their music.
I want to shine a spotlight on a new generation of women, who are creating, funding and managing some of the hottest companies in tech today. But I wanted to do more than share their professional stories. I wanted to share their personal journeys, too.
I started in '07, and I remember, at that point, nobody was trying to hear from me because I was a young rapper. I'd be saying stuff better than some of what the hottest rappers were saying back then, but nobody was trying to hear from me.
When I was young, I wanted to be like the rappers. I remember being in junior high and wanting a fisherman hat and a link because EPMD had one. I wanted to wear Adidas because Run-DMC wore Adidas. As I came into my own, I just wanted to do me.
All the rappers in rave music are like the sloppy seconds of rappers who couldn't make it.
None of my dudes I chill with are rappers. I don't put us as rappers. We're all artists.
I didn't want to do the whole, get the hottest person thing. I wanted to make sure every record felt right.
I actually think some of the rappers can help our image, because the thing I'm concerned about is the NBA's image. I always want our image to be on the rise, and if the rappers can help young players get business-minded, then I'm all for it.