Quotes from Awkwafina

My mom passed away when I was 4 years old, and she came from a very conservative Korean background. I feel like my life would've been incredibly different had she still been alive.

I used to chop up C-Span soundbites or interviews with politicians like John Kerry or Bill Clinton into a radio-esque show hosted by Awkwafina and her producer, Mookie. I would pitch down my vocals to have male guests and would send them to a small circle of friends after they were done.

I'm torn between wanting to connect with what I grew up with and what's available, living in Brooklyn. I don't have a grimy supermarket that decapitates frogs' heads nearby.

I like to make songs that are based on concepts.

I was working a corporate job, but I really wanted to do music.

When I was 15, I talked to Liam Neeson because I was the only one of my friends ballsy enough to engage him.

I think rap in general allows you to be more lyrically expressive. It's a lot easier to state your identity, as opposed to with a guitar making all these weird metaphors.

'Welcome To New York' is one of those songs that, with just one single radio play, will make at least 10 New Yorkers move to Marfa, Texas.

It's definitely a privilege to be able to do what you love to do; it's not something that everyone gets to do, so I feel really good about that.

I was always that kid. When I got ice cream, I put it in my eye. When I got my license, I got pulled over so many times for playing 'Les Mis' too loud.

My every birthday wish was, 'I want to someday be on TV.'

Other female rappers are overly sexual, have no wit, and their lyrics are so generic. I want to change the game to make rap that shows I'm not a normal female rapper - it's not about how rich I am, how much sex I have, or how many boyfriends I have. That's just not me.

I think it's important for people to understand that as a woman, I can only rap about the parts I have.

I can't tell if I want to be a rapper who's funny because I kind of enjoy just doing really stupid songs about nothing. But I want to have a career that's long-lasting, and I don't think people want to listen to a straight-up comedy rapper all the time.

You can't really label me as a musician, a comedian, or a rapper - you know, it's different.

If women dabble in rap but they're not rappers, to get from dabbling to doing it is really difficult, confidence-wise.

It's not nice to say it - I know female musicians, but not so many rappers. I can't think of one I idolize, which is sad, but I'm hoping that will change.

Eventually, I started to actually enjoy rapping.

I started by producing, and the rapping came second to that, because I wanted to fill out the beat.

I really like gross Chinese things.

I am American. If you drop me in Seoul, I don't think I'm going to thrive there.

My grandma was very traditional, but she herself is a rebel of that culture.

More than anything, I'm an American kid, and my music reflects that more so than being an Asian-American. I think it's important but also something that can detrimental to your career if celebrated too much.

I was physically addicted to 'Tony Hawk's American Wasteland' for PS2.