I enjoy being involved in making the artwork for albums and stupid stuff like that.

I like the anonymity that directors can have about their films.

Some people focus more on sonics. Some people focus more on story. I focus on both sonics and story.

In art, at a certain level, there is no 'better than.' It's just about trying to operate for yourself on the most supreme level, artistically, that you can and hoping that people get it.

You gotta make sure the listener is listening to you, so if you put it into a song, often times, if the song is striking enough, then you can really deliver the story most effectively while keeping the ear of the listener the whole time.

I booked my first studio at like 12 or 13. Somewhere in that season of my life, singing along with the radio became me wanting to be on radio, you know. And writing Langston Hughes replica poems became me wanting to write like Stevie Wonder.

It started to weigh on me that I was responsible for the moves that had made me successful, but I wasn't reaping the lion's share of the profits, and that was problematic for me.

I booked my first studio at like 12 or 13. Somewhere in that season of my life, singing along with the radio became me wanting to be on radio, you know.

It's not essential for me to have a big debut week; it's not essential for me to have big radio records.

It's hard to articulate how I think about myself as a public figure.

I don't intend to stop making music.

I want to thank The Beatles for almost single-handedly getting me out of writer's block.

I don't ever want to be caught up in a system of thinking I can do one thing 'cos that's just... that's just telling yourself a lie.

I need to know how many records I've sold, how many album equivalents from streaming, which territories are playing my music more than others, because it helps me in conversations about where we're gonna be playing shows or where I might open a retail location, like a pop-up store or something.

When I did have some success, it further emboldens you to be like, 'No, I'm just going to write what I feel I should write.'

I worked my face off.

I've gotten used to being Frank Ocean.

I can operate in half-a-song format.

I can't usually stomach a project after I finish it, but for those days and weeks and months that it's new to me, I do listen to it, and it might change over time, but it's about function.

I enjoy singing my songs in front of people. I enjoy being involved in making the artwork for albums and stupid stuff like that.

I might just write a novel next. I don't know!

I grew up in New Orleans. I had just moved into my dorm at the University of New Orleans, and I was doing laundry, and my mom called me, like, 'We've got to evacuate. There's a hurricane's coming.'

I never think about myself as an artist working in this time. I think about it in macro.

Of course awards matter.

I guess I'm just inspired to tell stories.

I enjoy singing my songs in front of people.

Because I'm not in a record deal, I don't have to operate in an album format.

I'm in this business to be creative - I'll even diminish it and say to be a content provider.

All in all, I just don't trust journalists - and I don't think it's a good practice for me to trust journalists.

My music definitely comes from a place of experience. Everything connects to a truth.

As a writer, as a creator, I'm giving you my experiences. But just take what I give you. You ain't got to pry beyond that.

I feel like I was writing as I was learning to talk. Writing was always a go-to form of communication. And I knew I could sing from being in tune with the radio.

Sometimes I'm fascinated with how famous my work could be while I'm not so famous.

The way I approach this thing, when I started to get my head screwed on straight and really trying to make something of myself as an artist, when I was 19 or 20, it became more about function for me. Like, what is this song doing to you? What is the function of this type of artform? What is it doing?

I make pop culture.