I think even before I knew I wanted to be a rapper, I wanted to be an entertainer. I was really into Michael Jackson as a kid.
For me, performing is the biggest part of being a rapper. There's nothing like the feeling of screaming your story to people.
Few rappers realize the genre sprang from West African griots through Delta slave songs to jazz poetry and the comedic trash talk of 'the dozens.'
All those rappers, they're the only glamorous people working in music now. They dress up in these chains of gold, cars, girls and this and that, high-heeled shoes.
I make soul music for hip-hop heads. It's music I'd want to sample if I were a rapper.
I was only 11 when we filmed the pilot. The idea of a rapper being a star on a sitcom just wasn't heard of.
I feel like a spoilt rapper. I get to pick and choose everything.
Until now, I've not done a project where the produce, rapper and singer has never worked together like this before, and I had a chance to try a variety of styles.
You can write a great country record and still be angry. Who's angrier than Toby Keith? He's angrier than the average 10 rappers.
My kid was a great baseball player. I thought I had it made. Front-row seats at Yankee Stadium. Then he turned sixteen and wanted to be a rapper.
When I first got into the rap game, I had an early dream of unifying rappers.
Everybody in the '80s, well, we hate rap. Now, the biggest rapper in the world... Eminem. Rap's a black thing.
I've probably wanted to be a rapper since I was a teenager. I was an actor and comedian and stuff, but I always wanted to rap, it was another outlet.
I always envisioned myself being a rapper and being in the game and having success, but you never know what it feels like or how you're going to be when you're there.
There was this rapper from New Orleans, Mystikal, who when I hear his music, I hear myself. Whenever I wanna get hyped, I put on Mystikal.
As long as I'm not selling out the people that ride or die with me, I'm glad I'm not an MC. I'm a motivational speaker. I'm not that rapper dude.
The ability to make somebody feel something: that's art. However you look at it, whether you're an author, a painter, a singer, a rapper, a spoken-word artist - art.
I put everyone in my school on to Nicki Minaj before she blew up. I was obsessed with her and I was like, 'If she's the best female rapper then I've got to be better than her.'
I've been trying to nail it into everyone's heads that I feel like I am the most versatile rapper.
People in the record business would say, Well, Pras, you know, you haven't been out in a while, maybe you should get today's hottest producer or rapper to do something.
Being called a conscious rapper is quite a compliment. It's a great thing to be. But as an artist, my nature is to not be in a box.
