I wanted to talk about my life. There is so much. I was 18 when I made the record, and I had a lot to say.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
When I was 13, I told my dad I needed to record myself because I sounded awesome, even though I didn't. By 18, I was a lot better. Then I got a publishing deal, so I was writing songs for other people professionally.
The first record I spent five years writing and it was an amalgamation of all the things that happened in my life from the time I was fifteen to the time I was twenty.
If they would have told me when I was just 18 that I was going to have a career that would last so long, I'd have said it was impossible, that it was crazy that that could happen in my life, so I'm happy to be here. To be able to go out on stage every day.
You wonder why I only talk about my personal life. But that's all I've ever done.
I wanted to tell my story in a way I haven't done before, things I've been going through in my life.
I record myself talking. I have a journal. And when I listen back, I remember why I wanted certain things. I listen to me at 16, saying 'I really wanna be on TV... I want a movie, a huge movie...' and I'm just like, 'Yo, I'm humbled. I'm living a life I imagined.'
When I was growing up, my mother would take me to plays and museums, and we'd talk about life. Those times helped shape who I became.
I started young. My first record came out when I was - what? 18? So I was in the studio when I was 15, 16.
It was probably years before I was confident enough in stand-up that I was able to talk about the things I wanted to talk about, the way I wanted to talk about them.
I was 17 when I released my first record. I didn't really figure out what I wanted to say, how to get a message and put it together.