Atlanta has had the biggest influence. I was born in Baltimore, but I've lived in ATL since I was probably about 4 years old.
It's dope to be an artist and to have that wall of separation, but also I feel like social media is there for what it's there for. I have a group chat with about 40 fans who I communicate with on the regular.
A lot of my favorite battle rappers didn't have that much commercial success, so I figured I might as well figure out how to make songs, because I don't want to have a short-lived career or a career that is confined in just that realm of music.
There's a difference between me recording in Atlanta, where I'm in the midst of all my problems, and recording in L.A. or being on the road, where I can look back at things and have a different perspective. I do most of my writing while I'm away.
I get so many different sounds that come within R&B and soul, so I just kinda pull from a little bit of everything.
I feel like there are only three ultimate things you can do while you're here: do what you love, love somebody, and create a life.
I've always known how patient I've been because I've been patient with pretty much everything from early life until now.
Atlanta and Zone 6 - they produce amazing artists: not just the club bangers but people who go on to become international. There's an extra sense of pride that comes with being from Atlanta and coming from the East Side.
I could have recorded music and hoarded it all because it's not good enough for me. Also, with dropping music, fans get what they want, and you get to learn from them and whatever you put out.
With everything that comes with music, obviously you lose privacy, personal relationships.
My rock bottom was somewhere in South Florida. I hadn't eaten for a while; I was super hungry. I remember being by a trash can and seeing someone throw food away. I thought about going over there, opening it up, and eating it.
There's this weird stigma of just being unattainable as an artist. I don't know where it came from or why it became the norm, but at the end of the day, I'm a person. I always want to be looked at as a person, so I try not to get that way.
I was looking everywhere, from horoscopes to just sitting, thinking, and writing, and I stumbled on life path numbers. And before I even knew anything about them, I just went straight to the number six.
I'm not a viral sensation or a megastar or anything like that.
