In the beginning it was definitely Drake, Kanye and Lil Wayne - those were my influences. But having worked with all those three individually, I'm now appreciating my own individuality.
I thought, 'Write a hit, you'll be rich and happy.' Meet one of the most beautiful girls in the world, one of the most talented and I'll be happy. All of that: I'm not happy.
I'll take a shot of vodka if I want it to be raspy... I tell whoever's in the studio to get boiling hot water, like super boiling, that they're afraid to give it to me. I put it exactly on the back of my tongue to shock my body. That cleans it up.
I make 99 percent of my music sitting down, in boxers, when I'm comfortable in my computer chair.
My first tape was 'Hey, I can do what y'all do.' It's new, flashy, and not through rap. It was a guy singing how cool he was. I'm here with big bro Drake; I'm his little gunner.
There's room for everybody. It's like crabs in the bucket - no pun intended, shout-out to k-os - but there's a lot of room for different types of Canadian music, cadences and influences.
I'm going to make the music I make regardless and it's always going to be driven by rhythm and blues and hopefully it becomes popular. But I don't cater to, like, 'OK, I want to make music that's going to fit in this pop world or go on the charts, etcetera, etcetera.' Hopefully, enough people like it so it becomes popular.
There should be more love in Toronto when it comes to the music and entertainment scenes instead of keeping that Screwface Capital name. There should be more artists eating together, more artists celebrating together and more artists making music together. That's how I feel.
I feel like my story could hopefully inspire others who've faced hard times.
I made my entire first tape using Beats headphones - the studio headphones and halfway through the second one, because I finally started making a home studio. But I record and make all my beats with the Beats headphones.
I competitively want to produce just as many records for Drake as Kanye West did for Jay Z.
The best advice Drake's given anybody is to know yourself. It's the most important thing to live by.
Everyone should know yourself. It can be an insult, but know yourself is just it. It's exactly what it sounds like.
I know myself, I'm learning myself. I'm growing, I'm maturing.
I know how to use computers. I was one of those guys on Myspace who had one of those fake hit counters.
I would call myself the Pharrell of OVO. There are no rules for me.
The difference between what people perceive and what's reality is that, like, I'm not actually shy. I'm just observant. I care a lot.
There's a difference wherever you go in Canada, Ontario and the GTA.
I'm grateful that really pretty girls like my music, and social media just happens to like really pretty girls.
You know what matters? Touching people. Being a real person. Because when you're in front of real people, they gon' give you a real reaction.
