Quotes from JPEGMAFIA

I don't think any other place puts out music with no promise of success and still works like Baltimore.

The first time I ever went to Texas was on a bus with curtains draped over the windows. I just joined the military and got shipped off to basic training in San Antonio.

The first thing I ever put on the Internet was actually a beat tape, but the first thing I ever put on where I was rapping was called 'Generation Y,' and it was hella political.

I grew up in Flatbush, Queens, Laurelton. These are places where it's mostly black and there was a lot of diversity.

We need true free thinkers, people who really say what they feel and have good, genuine intentions.

My dad used to play old dancehall records - Cutty Ranks, Ranking Dread, Michael Prophet, these type of dudes.

Punk is all about doing what you want and being yourself. And that's what rap is too.

Kendrick Lamar is 10-times the rapper I am, but I just feel I'm the best at getting my own point across.

When I first heard 'Pearly Gates' by Mobb Deep and 50 Cent growing up, the rapper Prodigy had a line about wanting to beat Jesus up. I wasn't religious, but I'd never been introduced to something like that. I was scared and mad, but then I asked why I felt like that.

I don't think rappers have a responsibility, but for me, I gotta say something. I can't just look at injustice and keep quiet.

People in rock had this idea that rappers aren't talented. In my opinion we're better writers, we think deeper, and our concepts are harder - Rap evolves faster than any other genre.

When I take from my influences, it's rare that I do it literally.

There's just more emotion and raw feeling in Baltimore music. It can't be copied.

I'm going to shock you with the truth. I'm just going to give it to you raw, and however you take it, I'm just going to watch your reaction.

I'm an artist but I'm also a real person. I have bills like everyone else.

The only real thing I took away from the military is that it just reinforced all the things I already thought about the underbelly of America, like how racist it is. So, it didn't really affect my music literally, but it affected the way I work on it.

Baltimore has the hardest work ethic out of all cities. It makes you want to work harder.

Liberals allow right-wingers on their platforms to have a 'civilized discussion,' but there's no reasoning with racists. I don't want them to have a platform that humanizes them. I want to talk down to them and meet them exactly where they are, with absolutely no respect.

For me, sampling is a high art. Most people don't see it that way, but it's a beautiful thing. I wouldn't know anything about music if it wasn't for samples.

I'd never been to a festival till I played one.

Either people cling to the past and refuse to advance their ways, or they're always looking to future and not appreciating what's in front of them right now.

As a black person, I have two parties to choose from: liberal and conservative. If I choose to be a liberal - regardless of who I choose - I'm picking the lesser of two evils in my mind basically.

I don't want anyone to expect anything from me. I just want them to know that I'm gonna put 1,037% into whatever I do. If I tell you I'm gonna release a folk/reggae/country album, just know at bare minimum there's gonna be 1,010% put into it.

Now that I have a little platform, and there are more eyes on me to release something, all that does is challenge me and put me under pressure, and I love being under pressure, especially musically. I might fail, but I'm excited about the possibilities.