You have a record with Schoolboy Q, and a freestyle over Kendrick Lamar’s “The Recipe,” who are some of the newer rappers that you like?
Definitely a fan of ScHoolboy Q…Kendrick Lamar, that’s the homie. Same with J. Cole, all of us have been coming up together so it’s been crazy being a fan of these artists that are growing up in front of everybody now. I’ve been listening to them since before that, so I would say Kendrick…I would also say Wiz [Khalifa]. Wiz has been somebody I’ve been a fan of since 2005. He was somebody I reached out to before I signed my deal because he was signed to Warner, when I met him. I’m a big fan of what Wiz is doing, we just rocked a big festival together in Kansas City so it’s crazy to see both of us on that plateau, coming up together. I also mess with this kid, Joey Badass. I just found out about him like three days ago. I think he’s like 18 or 19, or younger, but the kid’s vocabulary, with the rhymes, are crazy.
What about new school female rappers like Azealia Banks and Iggy Azalea?
I’ll put it like this, I grew up in the era where I feel like female rappers were really, really, good. Lil’ Kim, Foxy [Brown], I remember Queen Pen, I remember Lady of Rage, I remember all of those people. At that time, rap was just rap, and it’s weird to see rap now where Nicki Minaj comes out and she kind of has her own lane. I feel like every artist that comes out has to be [like] her, or be better. Back then, Queen Pen, Lil’ Kim, Foxy , Lady of Rage, MC Lyte, those are five different artists, but they were all out at the same time. I feel like I came up in a time of that, I’m not a fan of the new era of it, just because I don’t feel like anybody is bringing anything new to the table. A lot of it just reminds me of Nicki, and Nicki’s already f—-ing dope!
The ones that are on the pedestal right now are the ones that I’m not interested in. There are some really, really dope ones that don’t get heard and that’s what the problem is. Even Lola Monroe, who’s up on the pedestal, I feel like she has her own lane [but] she’s what I would say is another evolution of what Nicki Minaj is doing as far as like a Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown comparison. But there’s this girl Uzoy from Houston who’s really dope. There this [rapper Nitty Scott] I met her at the BET cypher, and Rapsody’s hella dope. But like I said none of these artists are on a plateau, so I feel like I don’t get fed those artists like I did back when I was listening to Queen Pen, and Queen Pen was on Blackstreet records. You feel me?
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