My London is racy. Hyper. Unpredictable. Uncontrollable. Er. Intense.

I like staying in. I'm that kind of guy.

I was making grime before anyone else.

I think there's loads of undiagnosed depression where I came from. Post-traumatic stress disorder as well. Some of the things you see as a kid are like the things you'd expect to see in a war zone, but there's no one to talk to about it because running to a psychiatrist ain't the thing.

Grime 4 Corbyn? I just don't know what I'm supposed to feel about that - does he even listen to grime?

I don't like to be picked on. Growing up where I did you learn to fight.

I'm not really going to defend anyone's lyrics.

As a kid, I felt I had it bad - and people where I came from did - but if I'd been in a similar position in America, it could've been 10 times worse. We have the NHS. We don't have slums like I've seen in the Deep south, or shocking intolerance.

Some people will never let the grime thing go, but my fifth album is not meant to sound like my first album.

There's a real gun culture in the U.K., for those who don't know. It's very real.

I'm not afraid to embrace different music and different culture and put it in the music.

There's things that I say that people wouldn't say. And just putting across my vulnerability as a person in my music as well. A lot of people wouldn't do that, everyone wants to be hard.

Everything kind of happened like: 'Bam!' for me. One minute I was living on a council estate somewhere, then I won the Mercurys, then all of a sudden press and people were in my face.

I take risks.

When you're doing things like Glastonbury main stage, and there's 80,000 people and your hits are going off, it's at those moments you sit back and breathe and take it in, man, cos it might never happen again.

I'd done plenty of dark stuff and edgy stuff and hardcore stuff, and I kind of found that stuff easy.

No one can establish what selling out is.

I see all that celebrity stuff now as whatever, man. What's more important is that everyday people are liking my music, it's got to that stage. I've worked really hard for a long time for it to come to this point, where I'm putting smiles on people's faces, and I'm loving it.

My first school is gone - turned into flats.

In Miami, there's a buzz there, everyone out there's partying - it's crazy.

There's a lot going on music-wise in L.A. It's a wicked place to wake up, there's sunshine, you go to the studio, see all these really talented producers.

When I was growing up, it was 'All Eyes On Me' by Tupac and 'Doggy Style' by Snoop Dogg. I've met Snoop and he's the best. They say you shouldn't meet your idol - that definitely doesn't apply to him.

Sometimes you might get inspired by something, write about it, then later that lyrics sounds better on another beat. That's happened a few times. Like 'Dance Wiv Me' - those lyrics didn't start on that beat.

My fans are lunatics. I encourage mosh pits, I encourage lunacy, I make music to let go to.

In each genre, I've been around the biggest. In pop I toured with Justin Timberlake, with reggae it was Sean Paul; I toured with Jay-Z and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It's all an education for me, to see how they do it.

People who criticise me are just jealous.

London's where I grew up and had most of my experiences.

Seeing different sides of life, seeing different sides of society, that's what London's all about. When I was young my mum always tried to make me do that.

There's so much to London, so many different kinds of people and people are the key to life, but my favourite part? It's got to be Bow, where I come from.

All that really moves me is music.

I got an A for music and it was at school that I learned to build a beat.

I believe in karma; what you do will come back.

Guru's family gave me a piece of his ashes. I saw the gold box of ashes that his father had when we had the memorial service. He had a nice giant gold box that had his name on it. It was really nice. I know all the family members had ashes that they all spread and took on their own. So I said lemme ask is it cool if I have some.

I came out with sounds that didn't sound like the usual hip-hop beat. I took that chance because no one would identify with me if I sound like somebody who's already out.

The radio stations strayed away from the raw hip-hop that they were playing in the early 1990s. We were like, 'All this watered down stuff is dominating the airwaves. We should make a record to make fun of that' and Guru's like, 'Let's call it ‘Mass Appeal.''

When I miss Guru, I bump one of our records. Then I shed a tear and get back to work.

Guru always titled the Gang Starr albums. But once it came to 'Hard to Earn,' he wanted me to title it.

I'm all about competition; still am to this day. That's how you should be, but not with any malice. From Mike Will Made It to Boi-1da to Mike Zombie, I'm out to get 'em all and it's that friendly competition that keeps us all on our toes.

I use whatever it takes to make the tracks identify what me and Guru are all about.

I'm not really a crying type.

When I got my knee replacement and I opened my eyes straight outta surgery, the first person standing there was Guru's son.

I don't have session players come in and guitars, I'm doing the drums, I'm doing the scratching, I'm doing every sound you hear and that's always been my way. And not only that, I'm very meticulous about it just sounding right.

I'm a very humble guy, but of course I think I'm dope.

Guru's like Tupac. He just records and records and records.

The main thing is we never dissolved our Gang Starr contract. We are still signed to each other. We never disbanded the group. If Guru really wanted to super-dead it he would have said, 'Yo, I want out.' And I still would have tried to convince him to stay. We are still Gang Starr.

Jazzmatazz' was Guru's thing, but Gang Starr was his baby. I don't care what anybody says. That dude loved Gang Starr.

Guru had such a different voice from most people. Plus he had a Boston accent! So, I always made sure the beats were tailored to him.

I remember Bumpy Knuckles came in wearing all mink everything and said, 'Yo, when I spit my verse, I gotta pull my guns out and aim them.' He was serious! I told him that I was going to duck in the event that those guns accidentally went off. He pulled out the twin glocks, spit his verse in one take and said, 'I've got a meeting to go to' and left!

If you don't have any Coltrane, 'A Love Supreme' will do it for you. It will explain everything. Even if you don't get it, it will still explain everything. That's how deep it is.

When you have a deep focus, you can't go wrong at all. Not when you're an expert at what you do.