Logic is the new big kid on the block. The 24 year old emcee has done somthing seemingly remarkable: break through the cacophony of music and emcees to become noticed. A lot of that has to do with his latest album Under Pressure, which has earned almost univeral praise and sold 70K in it’s first week. A remarkalbe feat in todays era where streaming companies like Spotify and Pandora rule the day.
He’s come a long way. His last mixtape Young Sinatra: Welcome To Forever was, while intoxicating and gripping, not nearly as technically, skillfully or emotionally sound as this LP would come to be. And, with his new record in the mouths of hundreds of thosuands, if not millions of people, the young Maryland artist is prime to set the world on fire.
Some are calling Under Pressure this years GKMC, and some are calling him the next big thing in Hip Hop, but whatever you think of him, you cannot deny his honesty. He’s been very open about his past and his tumultuous childhood so we thought we’d take another route. Here’s stories behind the making of most of the records on the album, with a few life lessons finding their way into the conversation. And if you listen close, you may just hear the next big Rap superstar angling to come out.
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Logic Explains “Under Pressure,” The “Intro,” and “Soul Food”
HipHopDX: The big quote out there is that Under Pressure is a cross between GKMC and Kanye West’s Graduation. How do you feel about that kind of comparison?
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Logic: I think that when you make great music they compare you to great artists, and I think that for the most part they’re probably just talking about maybe the storytelling and the live instrumentation and stuff like that. But, at the end of the day, I truly believe that this is a Logic album and it’s my sound and that I really found myself. You know, Miles Davis says you have to play for a long time before you can play like yourself and I think this album is me playing like myself.
DX: Your abilities grow leaps and bounds between projects and now on the album you’ve improved in a huge way from the mixtapes up unto this LP. What accounts for that huge leap in skill level?
Logic: I think it’s finding myself. Like, on the mixtapes, I would talk about my family or just kind of what I’d been through. [I] definitely talked about race a lot, being black and white. But on this album I don’t talk about race at all, I talk about culture. So, for me, I think more-so when diving into this album… When I first created the song “Under Pressure,” the nine minute Hip Hop “Bohemian Rhapsody” like Queen [Laughs], I think that’s the first song I went, “That is who I am. That is me.” And it set the tone for the rest album when creating all the other records.
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DX: You know, “Under Pressure” is nine minutes and twenty seconds and you did that in 2014 where everybody is worried about snippets. What was the idea behind that?
Logic: I was on tour with Kid Cudi at the time, which is so cool. Shout out to that guy. I was getting a lot of voicemails on my phone because I was so busy and at the time I just didn’t have the opportunity to call certain people back, even my own family. [But] only because I was so busy. And I had these honest real voicemails from my sisters or my father, my brother and all these different people, which you hear on the second half of the record. I just remember being in hotel rooms and I finally had the chance to call some of them back. But what I did was I transcribed those voicemails damn near word for word and just turned them into rhyme for the record. You know, I produced the beat and I just wrote. And, I was always so used to… I was always like the Fab, Big L, punch line braggadocios-ness on the mixtapes, but it was something about this record where when I wrote this first verse from my sisters perspective I was very like, “I don’t know… I don’t think this is that good.” ‘Cause I’m just thinking about the braggadocios-ness because I just want to impress people. I let all that shit go. All trying to impress anybody, and I was just like, “Man, I’m just gonna vent. This beat is my therapist right now.”
And then that’s how it all came about. But the crazy thing is the first part of the song didn’t exist. So technically, the second half was the entire song. And then I went home, and I went to the studio and we put the session in Pro-Tools and for whatever reason the only thing you could hear was that Eazy – E sample that I looped up. So it’s that, and then the crazy drums that’s really knocking. So that’s what turned into the first half. So then I heard that, and I was like, “This is a totally different song, this is crazy.” And then I went in and started producing other melodies with it. And then we brought in the live guitar and the cellists and all this stuff and it turned into something completely different. And for me it was about the duality of man. So it was about being “Under Pressure” as Logic and being “Under Pressure” as Bobby, and I knew it was going to go from this to that even though I already created this. So I was thinking how could I have a seamless transition to this second half, and that’s when I created the hook or the bridge. You know, “Work so fuckin’ much I’m scared that I’m gonna die alone / Every diamond in my chain, yeah, that’s a milestone / All these muthafucka’s asking me for money, man, the only thing I’m a give you motherfuckers is the dial tone.” And then that goes into the second half of voicemails. That’s weird. I’ve never told anybody that.
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DX: [Laughs] So can you talk about the “Intro” and how that came together?
Logic: So the thing that I love about this is [that] you can give one artists ten different songs or instrumentals and you get ten different records. So for example, “N*ggas In Paris” was given to various emcees. Pusha T was one person who had it and passed on it, but it landed with Kanye and Kanye turned it into this incredible record with Jay Z. And so for me, that record was “Bound 2,” which actually No I.D. made, which is so funny, and then 6ix, my producer who did a large majority of the album… Sometimes we’ll look at some of our favorite songs and producers and some of their flips and say, “Oh, let’s flip that and do it different, though. You know, make it our own.” And he did that with “Bound 2” and the sample was “Aeroplane (Reprise),” and the crazy thing about this (I haven’t said this either) is that after he flipped that song and then I went in and I laid all my vocals, if you go and you listen to the end of the original sample there’s a bunch of children. But the BPM rides over the beat so when I tried to slow it down and put the break beat over it, it sounded like shit. So we literally replayed all the instrumentation ourselves. So we didn’t actually use the sample, we used the publishing, the writing, not the master sample. We didn’t just take it and put drums on it, we actually went back in and replayed it. And then at the end, I wanted that feeling of those children saying “You can ride on my aeroplane.” So, I thought then, since I can’t use it I’ll have to try my best to recreate it. So I took the melody and changed it from “Aeroplane” to me. So it sounds like children, but that’s voice manipulation. That’s me going in and using things like the voice touch, which Timbaland uses and I turn that into, “You, can really do anything.”
DX: So I just wanted to get into “Soul Food.” Could you give us the story behind that?
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Logic: “Soul Food.” Okay. Well, first, shout out to Kebu (Alkebulan) from Atlanta. So, I was on Soundcloud and long story short I came across this dude who rapped on this beat. So he is a producer and a rapper. And it was called “1970s” and it was this beautiful sample and crazy drums that he did. And I ended up hitting him up and saying, “Hey, man. I’d really like to use this for my album..” So, he gave it to me. We reproduced it even more. Me and Steve Wireman, whose all over the album doing guitar and things like that. You know, we made the drums a lot fatter. And then the sample didn’t get cleared. So the opera singer… the original didn’t get cleared. And we had it chopped up so technically we had a new melody. So once we got rid of the master the publishing was completely different. But, I didn’t know what to do. Because there was a moment in time when I thought I was going to have to scrap the record, and I was like… Because the sample was so incredible that I truly feared I wasn’t going to be able to recreate it. Then, I contacted DJ Khalil. Who is a phenomenal, legendary producer and I was like, “Yo, can you help me? Can you do this?” He was the only person that I thought in my mind like, “Of all the people I know, who would be able to do this?” And he recreated it, and it was amazing. So, he had this opera singer come in, and some other people laid some more strings and all kinds of stuff and we just went through it. But the second half was produced by 6ix. And he did that on his own. We did that like a year before I did “Soul Food.” And, I don’t know, I had hung on to that for so long because I loved it, because that was actually a second part of a different song that was a two part song. So I just took it, and it fit, and I put it on there. Because after that intro, I mean, it’s a very Hip Hop album, right? It’s a very Hip Hop, a very musical album, but it’s Hip Hop. It’s raw. And the intro is not that. It is very beautiful and musical and melodic. So I wanted to fuck people up so when they hear it for the first time and they’re like, “Ah?” People are going to be like, “What? Why does everyone say this album is incredible? This motherfucker’s singin’ and shit.” And then after that, I hit you with six minutes of raw lyricism. And, people ask me… They say, “Do you think this album is gonna change Hip Hop?” No. I don’t think my album is gonna change Hip Hop, but I think it’s gonna change how my fans view Hip Hop. And that’s why I made those songs in that order.
Logic Tells The Stories Behind “Never Enough” & “Metropolis”
DX: We saw that you interpolated Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit Of Happiness” on “Never Enough” along with a “So Fresh So Clean” sample. Can you talk about that?
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Logic: So, everything is extremely conceptual on the album, [and] this was done by DJ Dahi who did “Money Trees,”“Worst Behavior,” “My Type Of Party” by Dom Kennedy… So I was a huge fan of him and so when we got in to the studio I was like, “Man, let’s just feel it, bro!” And he just played me some crazy ass shit. I picked one. It was kind of a skeleton beat at the time. And he just went in and produced it to what you hear today. And I thought I wanted to do something different. So I thought, “How can I talk about money, bitches, drugs, partying…” So that the surface level, ignorant motherfuckers could be like, “This is crazy!” But it would have a true underlying meaning. Then it hit me! “As much liquor you drink, weed you smoke, bitches you fuck, money you get…” Even in the corporate world or whatever. Wherever you are in your job, in your career… Wherever you are, you want more. It’s never enough. That was the concept for me. It’s never enough. Being here right now, this is incredible. But I want a million interviews with you guys. I want you guys to invite me back. I was a freshman on the XXL cover. I got there and I was like, “Ah, this is great.” I want my own fucking cover on XXL. I was on the BET cypher. I want Hip Hop artist of the year next year, fuck that. I’m appreciative. I mean, people are giving this album nine-plus-ratings. That’s insane! [But] I want a fucking Grammy. It’s never enough. When I win a Grammy, I’m going to want ten. When I get ten, I’m going to want twenty. And then I when I’ve mastered this I want to be an actor. Then I’m going to want to be in movies. So it’s never enough, and that was the concept for that song, and I’m really glad I could be kind of ignorant on that record.
Anyway, so it starts off like [goes into song]. And you can really hear the L.A influence. It’s almost like Project Pat meets Los Angeles. Just the hangin’ around with Terrace Martin and all those guys. Because L.A’s a beautiful place, you know? So that’s why for me on the entire album it doesn’t sound like the east coast, it doesn’t sound like the west coast, it doesn’t sound like the south, it just sounds like music, a culmination. So I do that fun Project Pat flow and that goes into the OutKast sample. So I kind of took the melody, which is the publishing side of things. So I didn’t take the master, and I kind of re-did it. Andre 3000 thankfully cleared the sample, which is amazing that he, I don’t know, must know who I am now. Like, I remember being on the school bus and hearing that song on the radio as a kid in the 8th grade. Like, that’s weird, you know? So for that to come back full circle…
And then the Cudi thing… I didn’t realize I had to clear that shit. I wasn’t even trying to do that. And then Def Jam and my attorneys were just like, “Yeah, we should probably just clear this just in case.” But Cudi’s my homie. That’s my bro. He is such a great dude. So we just hit him up and they were so cool about it. Then we had to contact Ratatat, who Cudi’s worked with before because they were writers on the song. And everybody was just super cool, like, very last minute and it was great. So, thank you.
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DX: So I just wanted to talk about “Metropolis.” I’m a huge Bill Withers fan…
Logic: Bill Withers, that’s right. See, you do your homework. Thank you. Thank you, motherfuckers!
DX: And, you know, “Use Me.” How’d that happen?
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Logic: So it’s a funny thing. It’s not a direct sample, it’s a recreation. So that’s just me putting together really dope drums and making it sound like the break. I think that’s what a lot of Hip Hop is. A lot of Hip Hop is like these drums sound crazy so you take it and you redo it because “Metropolis”… It’s a different… I believe Kendrick used this on “Sing About Me/Dying Of Thirst” because Like… Now Like is Pac Div who actually produced “Sing About Me/Dying Of Thirst” for Kendrick and that song is incredible. And I remember sitting down with him and talking about these similar type of drums and how crazy they were. And I ended up my version on “Metropolis” and I loved it. And I love what Like did with those drums and just the kick and everything that he did. So I produced this record with Rob Knox. And, he’s worked with like JT, a million different people. He’s like the hitmaker. Which is funny because he came down to my level. Not like, in a bad way, but instead of giving me the cliche´ hit, he came down and we made music together. I did the drums on that. And we were in there and I’m hitting the hi-hat… So I was doing it in Ableton. And as I’m doing that he just starts hitting the rhodes. So that’s how that all came together. But it did start, obviously, with the inspiration from Withers. And just giving it that new thump, though, because if you actually listen to that song, the drums are different. And I don’t want to use this term in a bad way at all but they’re like weaker. I don’t mean that they’re not as impactful or they’re not as incredible, but I mean all-in-all Hip Hop drums gotta knock, you know? [Those] are just more about letting his vocals shine through. They’re just more relaxed. And, that pattern was definitely the inspiration behind it, but that’s when you hear the strings and that’s when you also hear Terrace Martin play. This is also where you hear my Bone Thugs inspiration! If you listen to the three stacks. You can hear that. You can hear my love for Quentin Tarantino. I love that.
“Metropolis” for me was originally supposed to be called “Trains, Planes and Automobiles,” because I talk about my experiences traveling the world because of music, my fear of flying, and all these different things. The first time I went on tour and sold out my first venue in Chicago, and I take you over to Europe. I talk about eating Belgian waffles for the first time and shit. I was on the train and it might have been from Amsterdam… Anyway, I get off the train and there’s Belgian waffles right there and I’m like, “I gotta have this.” And I wrote about it [Laughs]. I think that’s the least Hip Hop thing to write about, I guess. But I did. And then I say something about bumping Mos Def (Yaasin Bey). So it’s this fun little word flip about the train, the track, on the record and then it goes *raps a line*. Because for me, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke… I just quit smoking cigarettes, which I’m sure is something you’re gonna want to get in to in a second. So right now I have no vice except awesome interviews like these.
Logic Breaks Down “Bounce,” “Till The End” & Struggling
DX: So I’d like to talk about “Till The End.” How did you bring the album together?
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Logic: So “Till The End” is actually the last song I wrote and recorded on the album. So the last two songs we recorded for the album were “Bounce” and “Till The End.” So for “Bounce” I just wanted something that I could perform. I just wanted something fun and a little bit of a break from such a dark album. And, we did that and had a great time.
So for [“Till The End”] I was like, “Yeah, let’s kill this. I want to make a statement.” So that’s why it opens up like, “This the type of shit that they read about like Chris..” I’m talking about my manager, my best friend, “Like Chris said, I gotta bleed it out.” Just going into that, the second verse, “Okay, last verse I gotta make it count / Won’t speak about my bank account / So many commas I’d have to pause, and I can’t afford to just waste the bars / I been schemin’ / I been dreamin’ / Went away a while but I…” Like just that, and, “Tell Def Jam if they don’t cut the check / I’ll send Chris to go cut they neck / I love the building, no disrespect…” It’s just like fuck everybody, man! Fuck everybody! Nobody wanted to give me a co-sign. And I think I talk about that a lot on “Buried Alive” as well and the internal struggle you can have like, “Why he got the co-signs? I got way more fans than him. I can tour the world. My music’s better than him… I know it is.” But not being mad rapper but just fuck, man! But the grass can be greener on the other side. Like, they got the co-sign and they got the tweet from so and so, but they’re like, “Fuck! How come I can’t tour? How come I ain’t got fans?” So that was kind of then ending. Like, as positive as a fuck you can get from any and everybody that was rocking with me, that’s what that was.
And then The Frontrunners came in. It’s a husband and wife. This beautiful beautiful black couple. Like, I don’t know how to explain it. They came in and we vibed out. She did the hook. And, S1 and M-Phazes went in and produced the beat out. We did the arrangements. And after that, S1 went back to Texas. M-Phazes went to Australia [and] then that’s when I brought in the live strings at the very end. And also, like I fake you out, like it fades out on you and you think it’s over. You start reflecting on it.. And then it comes back on you. There’s just this triumphantness and then it fades out and you hear those fucking Graduation type strings, the Kanye and then, um… I’m sorry, I’m really feelin’ myself right now. I’m sorry, man. I just love this album and I put so much into it…
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It was an incredible experience working with S1. It was an amazing [experience] working with everybody that’s on this entire album. Like Tae Beast from the TDE camp, everybody has been so nice and very gracious, and kind to me. And, I don’t know, man. It’s been weird. I haven’t cried yet. I cried when it got mastered. So it wasn’t out yet but when it got mastered I cried like a little bitch, for sure. I did. I hugged 6ix. I gave 6ix a big hug and I hugged him and I told him I loved him. Because you gotta imagine, man, like coming from nothing, man. Like it’s so cliche! “I came from nothing!” Like, from “rags to bitches!” But, we’re talking powdered milk, man. Bologne was a luxury. Like that shit is insane [and then] to this. It’s an incredible journey. It’s been amazing. It has been and is being received incredibly. And I am getting the fuck out of here because of that. Legit. I’m going to do awesome interviews with great people like yourselves but besides that, bro, I’m just putting everything over there. And just talking about my experiences since the album’s been finished. Since it’s been out. And just making music, and writing and doing my best not to let the negative or the positive effect my mind and who I am too much. I think a lot of people are like, “Don’t change, Logic. You got a good spirit, brother.” And, it’s like, “Yeah, I feel you, I don’t want to change.”
DX: You’re under pressure…
Logic: Yeah, I’m fuckin’ under pressure!
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Logic Tells The Stories Behind “Gang Related” & “Buried Alive”
DX: I want to talk “Gang Related” and that crazy Carrot Man sample
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Logic: Yes! That’s 6ix! I just got finished watching Boyz n the Hood, right, and I shed one gangster tear that turned into a tattoo on the side of my face [Laughs]. Nah, so I was watching Boyz n the Hood and I was like, “Dam.” Because I’m not from Compton or anything, but I’m from Maryland and everywhere you go in the world there are good places and there are bad places. And I’ve witnessed a lot of crazy shit in my life and it was just reminiscent of the things that i went through in my household. So after watching it, [it] just struck a chord with me and I go upstairs and hear the drums. And I’m just like, “Wow, this is perfect timing.” And 6ix is up there just being a little Indian dude making beats. And I walk up and in my head I’m just feelin’ it. Like, it just gives me this bounce because… It’s funny because “Gang Related” is a gangster record. But I’m not a gangster, that’s not my life. But I think in Hip Hop we glorify violence and crazy shit like that. I never understood that. Emcee Killa’ Murder Dog is revered or feared or respected for being an ignorant son of a bitch. I wanted to create something from the perspective of living in a household where these people are born but not choosing to go that way. So I wrote the first verse that night. I wrote it and recorded it… I wrote and recorded a lot of the album in my room. And, so, I wrote it that night and I laid it down and I played it for 6ix and he was like, “Whoa.” The first verse is from the perspective little Bobby, and all the things that I witnessed in my home. From narcotics, violence, domestic violence. Seeing my sisters, my mother get beat, like crazy shit, you know?
And, on the second verse I didn’t know what to do. So we’re talking 10 days and I’m sitting on one verse. We’re talking 40 seconds of a song so I didn’t know what to do. I was like, man, you know what, “This is a lot bigger than me. I don’t want to just rap about me on this album, I want to rap about other people as well.” And that’s when I got the idea to Rap from my brothers perspective. And so, I thought about it long and hard because I wanted to do it in the most respectful way possible. So called him for his blessing and off the break he said, “No problem.” And I said, “Well brother, I remember when we first met when I was like eight or nine years old. And I remember the gun you put in my hand and the drugs under your bed and you driving me around the block and showing me how it worked. And how you made your money. I remember that, but what happened when I wasn’t there?” And he told me, and he described it and he painted the picture. I wrote it, and nobody wants to be in the streets. Nobody wants to sell drugs. Nobody wants to do that. Let’s just be real. And, I wanted to paint the picture of someone who was in the streets who obviously did not want to be there and maybe at times were scared but you have to put up the front. Somebody that didn’t graduate from high school doesn’t have the opportunity to succeed in the coporate world. Doesn’t have the education or the plaques that he would need to support a family. And it’s like he can go work at McDonalds and make $4.75 an hour, or he can go make $5,000 a day to provide for his son that’s on the way and his girl.. Hence the title “Gang Related.” So it’s two people from the same place that went completely different ways. He’s doing great now, by the way. He’s 34. He’s got a kid, he’s got a job, he’s got a wife. So sometimes things do work out.
DX: You also had “Mac Crew” on there from KRS-One
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Logic: Yeah! This is tight. I’ve never done an interview like this where you point out all the samples. KRS-One. Originally, I heard it on “Keep Their Heads Ringin’” by Dr. Dre. And I always thought they were saying “westside!” I don’t know why. I’ve always known about KRS-One, but I heard that song before I studied KRS-One. I don’t know why I heard “westside!” I think sometimes we just perceive music how we want to. Like someone who heard “Gang Related” for the first time would be like, “Who the hell does this white boy think he is talking like he’s in the streets…” But, chill motherfucker. Actually listen to what I’m saying when I’m rapping from my brothers respective. But with the KRS-One thing, man. I just thought it took it to another level. Like, it just knocked with the drums and it would be respected and revered from everybody in the streets to everybody in the suburbs. People who lived the life and people who wanted to live the life [Laughs].
“Buried Alive”
Logic: Dun Deal, who did “Hannah Montana” came to my house. He’s a producer. And we just met and it’s funny because I didn’t know if we’d be able to work together because Migos… And Migos is cool! But that’s not the kind of music I make, [it’s] two totally different worlds. But he came over with his assistant. [He’s a very nice guy, a true gentleman] And he gave me 20 beats and left because I think he had to go to Trey Songz house. So I heard the one beat I thought was incredible, and the drums were dope but for me I wanted something more. So I asked him, “Do I have your blessing to make this song my song?” He was like, “Yeah, do whatever the fuck you want.” All the drums that you hear are mine except for the snare. But the rimshot and kick are mine. All the vocals, that’s my homie Big Lenny. I had him come and say those and I put it in pro-tools and chopped it up. This is when I discovered “you.” And what I mean by that is it’s one of those ad-libs I discovered. It sounds stupid right now, but when you do it over a beat it just gives it a bounce. For me that’s more so “Timbaland” with the sounds. But this is where I brought in the string players, man. At the end of the record, they come in and it’s very vibrant and grand and large. And it’s a very different tone, but I think that’s where Late Registration inspired all that live instrumentation and me. But, with that, that’s where I input the OutKast influence, with the voice manipulation and making it sound alien. Now that’s just from ATLiens and my love of Big Boi and OutKast. They’d be rapping and it sounds weird and all crazy.
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Logic Talks Authenticity & “Driving Miss Daisy”
Logic: Shout out to Gambino! Gambino’s just himself. He’s fucking weird and different and that’s awesome. He’s himself. If Gambino didn’t exist, Logic wouldn’t exist. I was a huge fan of Donald Glover before I was a friend [Laughs]. I think I play it cool in all situations because we’re all just human beings, but if I’m a fan of you, I’m a fan of you and I’ll just let you know. But how that came about… My DJ and his DJ know each other, and I think that’s how I got on his radar some how. And he reached out and followed me on Twitter and then one day he invited me to his crib. And this is where I met Fam’. Shout out, Fam! Fam is the homie. There are not many good people in this industry, and my circle is extremely small including Stephen. But there are very few people that I consider friends. That if for whatever reason I needed a place to say I could call them. It’s real. I want people to know it’s not a co-sign. They’re great people, and I’m honored. Gambino doesn’t just work with anybody so that he would give me a verse… All that aside, I was on the road and I produced the song and I sent it to Gambino on some homie shit. Not like, get on this or anything like that. So people will probably be like, “Then why did you send it to him? He’s a rapper.” It was more like, “This is weird and different and kind of in his lane and I wonder if he’ll have a pointer or two.” I sent it to him with my first verse, and he hits me back like, “Yo, I’m literally laughing out loud at how dope this is.” And I’m, “For real… You can get on it if you want! If you like it that much motherfucker, alright.” So it just worked out. Long story short, he did it. But I don’t like to go directly to him because I want to keep our relationship personal and not business. And that’s why it’s good to have someone like Fam’ there… That’s how that happened. Shout out to them.
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DX: Gambino has to deal with talk of “authenticity” a lot. What do you think authenticity is in 2014?
Logic: I think it’s being yourself, and I think you can’t win in this game. I’m focused on this album and this album right now, but I have material. So it’s like if later, when I come out with the next album, they’re gonna expect an album like this. But if I give them an album like this they’re gonna be like, “Man it’s the same shit! He’s always rapping the same shit. Same sound.” And if I change they’re gonna be like, “He fucking changed, man. He’s switching up.” So what the fuck am I gonna do? For me, I gotta be happy and make the music that I believe. Fuck everybody else, man. Look, I go on tours and sell a tour out, that’s incredible! And as long as I’m making the music that I want to perform live, I am happy as fuck. But when it comes to authenticity… This dude is so funny, he said, “Black dude in short shorts, that’s double suspect.” [Laughs] You make fun of yourself. Like, dude, I look like Squints from the sandlot. I think when you’re comfortable in your own skin you’re authentic. Like, I hesitated to tell my story on this album because when you look at me you think I’m lying about where I come from, and the things that he’s seen or gone through based on the way that I speak. I hate that. But I told my story on this because I was like, “Fuck it. People are either going to believe it or they’re not, but I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I’m not.” But, Gambino was a big help in me being me, for sure.
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