When I do solo material I definitely tend to overthink it. I make a lot of rules for myself that are a little bit arbitrary and... it's just painful.

I went to college in '94 and started freestyling a lot more and hearing how others did it, hearing styles from other regions, all of it. Met Blockhead there.

I had written rap songs in the early '90s and even did a couple homemade rap songs with my brother in like '88 or '89, but it was just like... I don't even know how to say it. Just plain rap. I was just rapping about whatever, there was no real style or direction, it was just semi-braggadocious rhymes that probably imitated 100 other rappers.

Rap lyrics are really the only thing I've ever written.

I remember thinking that 'Earthworms' wasn't really an 'album' to me, only because it felt like a weird collection of songs more than an actual project.

My collaborative albums are always way more enjoyable to make.

I went to college, got a job. Not a good job or anything but I was fully set to be an office employee for my life.

I never really planned on being a rapper, I just kinda did it and then people started liking it.

I remember when I was younger, I read that Jay-Z was 33 and I was just like, 'Damn! This dudes really still goin for it?' It's just so rare that you see any rapper over 30 doing anything interesting.

I love the playfulness and braggadocio that accompanies a ton of rap music - that's basically what makes up the foundation for most rappers. But there is nothing 'weirder' to me than someone who has never doubted themselves.

I just think I want my work to represent me fully.

I would love for my existence as an artist to be completely about my art - not about my social media, or what I do vs what's cool right now, or even whether or not I sound okay in an interview.

Drawing and visual arts was kinda my first passion going all the way back to when I was a kid. I always felt like it was what I was supposed to do - but in reality I don't know that I ever had the skill to make it a profession.

Pardon me if this all sounds corny, but when you put on a record, I'd like it to be an escape from everything you do.

People don't stress enough that when they're writing lyrics, they are writing.

MCs are authors, and rock musicians who write lyrics are authors, to a degree.

To me, it seems more realistic to my thought process when things feel a little scattered in the lyrics. Being disjointed is not that abstract of a thing when I think about how my brain works - I feel like it's almost more realistic. That's how my brain works.

I just write notes all day on my phone, and when I write songs it becomes a patchwork of these smaller notes that I had, mixed with stuff in the moment.

I've always recorded at home. That's been part of what it's about to me. I've never been the kind of guy who rents a studio.

I think I learned very quickly after I started putting out music... you just learn that people are going to take what they want and make it fit their agenda or make it fit their interpretation. And you make peace with that or you suffer forever.

I think if the desire to improve what I do starts to plateau then what's the point.

I am hoping to improve my writing and rapping, as well as get a better grasp on how to make beats and music that complements what I do vocally. It's a learning process that hopefully won't end.

I don't want to hit a point where I feel there is nothing to improve upon - there always is.

I want to stay learning and hopefully allow my craft to evolve.