The first CD said exactly what it was. I was just in the streets hustling. I come from a family of hustlers.

Rap was slowly becoming one of my hustles, but it wasn't my main hustle. But I come from a family of hustlers, so once I figured the hustle out and mastered it, I took it to my brothers like... we can flip this just like we flip anything else... and they were with it but also sort of slow to come all the way on board.

The kitchen is where you put all the ingredients together. The kitchen is where you prepare the plan and put your recipe together. No matter what you do in life, you have to have a plan and put it together.

I was blessed with the talent. God gave me the gift to put words together and make popular songs.

Speaking for myself, my first priority is to take care of my family. That's first and foremost.

Like LeBron James, we already know how good the man is. We know he can play. He's rich. But he still want a ring. N!ggas know my music hot. That's proven. Now its time to get the ring.

I heard Russell Simmons say that, 'people have million dollar dreams with a minimum wage work ethic.' Basically, everybody wanna be rich but don't nobody wanna work for it.

We focus on money, getting money and winning. We let the rest of them chase the women. We focus on winning cuz getting women is slight work. That's all the time with us.

It was special with me being from Memphis and knowing the history of the venue, knowing all of the artists who performed in the Orpheum before me. Even having the idea to approach it was ambitious on my part, but I thought they would turn me down at first.

Keeping my family out of prison best I can. That is success to me. I created that without selling records.

I'm a business man and the reason I linked up with a major was because I understand they have that reach that I can't get no matter how hot I get in the streets. It's not always about money because I been had money. I want to be on TV and win awards. I want to be number one. You need a label to get through barriers.

Just the responsibility of wanting to see my mother have a better life making sure my sister had a better life. I went ahead and accepted that responsibility when I was young and it paid off. That was really the only goal.

I think the I Am album allowed me to show fans that I'm more than just a mixtape artist, who can make music on a different platform, a bigger platform, and I think more people respect what I'm doing now.

I really wanna work with Kanye West. He's one of the few people I haven't got to work with yet that I really wanted to.

With each project, whether it's an album or a mixtape, I try to learn more in the process.

I'm a real dude from a real place and I never express myself through social sites. I don't feed into it, man. That's not real life.