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The thing is, I wasn't surrounded by lots of people who were helping me build a career.

I didn't have any great job prospects.

Appalachia, my state, eastern Kentucky, has a large amount of poverty.

I did not dedicate my life to making Baltimore a safer and more just place because it was easy.

I didn't want to go to college. I wanted to move to Los Angeles right out of high school.

Yeah, I spent my teen years in West Virginia, and when I was a kid, in Louisiana. I definitely have that exposure to two different sorts of rural: the South and Appalachia.

I didn't want to go get a job or get a degree in business or marketing, or whatever all my friends were getting degrees in.

I never sought nor gained personal benefit in school or job applications based on my heritage.

The time after college and before music was really rough. I couldn't afford food. I was eating bread and butter for five months. Living in New Orleans, I couldn't afford to take care of myself. I had no health insurance.