I look at old performers like James Brown: back in the day when you actually had to work hard to get poppin'. I look at all those types of performers. Even like Kid n' Play and the Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff and Salt-N-Pepa. That era where they had to perform. You couldn't just rap. It had to be an entire performance.

Randomly enough, all of my favorite rappers growing up were East Coast rappers. I don't know. I just related to them a little more at first - because if you're born in L.A., and you lived there your whole life, Snoop Dogg literally sounds like cars driving by. You feel me? You hear Snoop Dogg so much.

I'll always have my fan base. I know my actual fans are rockin' with me even when my haircut was messed up. They're never gonna leave.

There's nobody taller and cooler than Will Smith. He's the coolest tall person, so I'm trying to be like that.

When you're the cool guy, you don't know how to take people not liking you. I've already been there, done that.

I feel like I'm a good listener.

I don't feel pressure to act like other people or rap like other people, because I just can't.

That was everything to me as a kid. When I'd see someone on MTV, it was like, 'Wow, they're the real deal.'

Big Sean could get on a verse with anybody and probably annihilate them.

I like being funny; I like laughing with people.

I feel like what's important is to interact with your fans online. Touring is really important to stay connected with your fans.

I played baseball. I kind of sucked at that. They used to call me 'The Buntmaster' because my coach never wanted me to swing.

Music fills peoples with life. It doesn't have to be a 'happy song.' If you have that one song that relates to you, whether it's a sad song or a gangster song, whatever relates to you the most in that moment, it can literally get you through the day.

What's important is that people never give up that fight to be happy, because when you do that, that's when things really start to go wrong.

You just don't know how uncool it is to be Kyle until you're Kyle.

The most powerful, most insightful, and most important part of my music is honesty and inclusiveness with my fans - giving them as deep a story as I can give them.

Incubus is fire.

When I hear a beat that makes me want to tell a story, then that's what I'm going to say.

I've always wanted to do acting.

My favorite rapper of all time is Jadakiss - hands down, no question.

Nobody can deliver a line better than Jadakiss. That's where I learned my technique. He can deliver punchlines so perfectly wrapped up for you to enjoy. If I had a different favorite rapper, I wouldn't be able to make some of the music I do.

You never know how many people are compassionate about something, especially when it's not happening to you. You just hope somebody's out there helping.

I try to make things as versatile as possible. Usually, you have to listen to one artist for a certain vibe and another artist to catch the next vibe. I want to make an album that has all of that in there.

I'm not ever going to - ever going to be able to put on chains and become the Migos.

I ran track, and I was really good at it. I was really fast.

Most people have perceived my brand and my personality as this guy that just is so happy, he has no cares in the world.

I did have a speech impediment.

As I grew up and really - 22, 23, 24 - I was faced with new problems that were bigger. A lot of them were issues that pertained to people that were super close to me.

I have a really diverse family and have a diverse background in music.

Yachty is a genius.

Big Sean is one of the dopest rappers, of my lifetime for sure. Like, Big Sean is one of the best rappers. Period.

I just want to reach a point where I have an opportunity to impact the entire world with one song.

I always tried to pride myself on my versatility - I can't just be the 'iSpy' guy.

Even if I told my mom I wanted to be a clown or live in the forest, she would be down.

I played football. I was pretty bad at that.

I felt like I related to East Coast lyricism a little more. Because I couldn't be super gangsta.

I knew that 'Nothing to Lose' wasn't gonna probably go off the same way numbers-wise like 'iSpy,' but 'Nothing to Lose' was more like a statement record for me.

Kodak is hard. 'No Flockin' is an amazing song.

I've always been such an album-driven artist that I never really stopped to think about how cool it would be to just have one really big song.

I want to make a lot of people smile.

It's important to reassure people that everything is going to be all right.

What is a hit? Who can tell? Who decides what a hit sounds like? I needed to remind myself that a hit is whatever people decide is a hit. I don't make hits; I make music. People make hits.

Shooting a music video sometimes can be a job.

People should listen to my music if they are into a lot of different genres and kind of want to get it all at once, if they want to listen to a story, an interesting story about somebody else.

Growing up a good person, it's a lot harder than you'd think.

Kid Cudi has saved lives. He saved my life.

I think about love being so important because, to me, that's the reason we were put on Earth. Love, in a sense, is God to me.

I am a pretty bad driver, so when I drive, I need to be calm. I can't be vibing to DMX, all hype, in the car.

I just want to be an artist that makes exactly what he feels.