Quotes from JPEGMAFIA

When you're you long enough, you get to this space where people start respecting you.

I am used to experiencing so much trauma, that when I see it, I have to speak out. I don't think rappers have a responsibility, but if you don't say something or be silent or avoid it, I believe it shows your true real character to the world. It's like, if no one wants to rap about gentrification then I am going to fill that void!

It just seems like Baltimore, talent-wise, nothing can touch it.

I used to get stop-and-frisked every time I walked out of my house.

America to me is where I grew up: in Brooklyn, around other black and Latino people who helped and loved each other. I just want to show people that America doesn't have to be this 'I'm in the NRA, blah blah blah' type of place.

Originally my entire goal with music was for it to be my job. When I sit down to make a beat, I wanna know that I'm gonna get paid from it, and that I can pay my bills and still have money left over to be a person.

I'd rather be dead than work in a warehouse.

My first live performance was when I was in the military. I went to some bar, and they had open mics. You could just sign up and perform. Nobody cared. Nobody liked it.

I love Baltimore, I miss the people, but I think L.A. is way more chill.

When I first started rapping, I used to just jock Jay Z super hard. Back when I was like 14 and 15, it was, like, Jay Z, Ice Cube, and Lil Wayne.

I don't have a manager who's secretly on Interscope. I'm the complete opposite of an industry plant.

I been compared a lot to Brockhampton a lot.

Rick Rubin is interesting. He doesn't wear shoes, I think? No wait, he wears shoes.

I honed my craft in the military, because it's the only thing that got me through it, to be honest. Working on music - being able to come home and work on music whenever I got off - was essential. If I didn't have that, I probably would've lost my mind.

I've been watching anime for a minute, so I know like real weird deep anime that people probably don't care about.

I don't know if there's anything Kanye West can do that can erase his influence on me, because it's here. It's already there. He can't even reverse that himself, because it's just so ingrained in me.

I want to work with Danny Brown but also Cannibal Corpse and Maroon 5.

I started producing when I was listening to The Diplomats. The first time I heard Cam'ron was 'Dead or Alive.'

I really got deep into downloading music when I moved to the South and got a computer. So I was downloading the The Diplomats, AZ, Half-A-Mil, 40 Cal.

Whoever likes my music, I'm gonna reciprocate that same love back to them. I'm not trying to alienate anybody.

I think it's important for black people in general to be aware of what's going on and do what you got to work around it. Not bow down to it publicly.

The intention behind 'Prone!' was to make a punk song with no instruments.

If Kanye was not in the equation, I literally wouldn't even be here. His music pushed hip-hop - the man is a master at taking a complex idea and presenting it in a way that is accessible for everyone.

My music experience living in Baltimore was life-altering. To this day, there is no scene that works as hard or puts as much effort into their art.