As the Miami rapper readies his Def Jam debut, Living Legend, he talks about cracking smiles and how not to hurt people.
This feature appears in Complex's August/September 2013 Issue
GET ’EM HOOKED.
My father took me fishing every weekend in Montauk and Sheepshead Bay in New York when I was a kid. It’s a family tradition, starting with my grandfather. It took me out of my usual environment. I enjoyed being out on the water—I’m a Cancer, so water’s my thing. We caught flounder, bluefish, sea bass, a few shark fish, and a bunch of other stuff. The biggest fish I ever caught was a nine-pound bluefish on my ninth birthday. The key is patience and knowing where to go.
Those kids are too good, so I stopped playing Call of Duty and I started playing Fight Night. I’m a sore loser. If I can’t get really good, then I don’t even want to play.
BOW DOWN.
I haven’t been to church in a minute but I believe in God. He’s the one pulling the strings. I say prayers in my head constantly. I’m not perfect but I try to live as righteously as I can. It was by the grace of God that I was able to get on Kendrick Lamar’s “Cartoons and Cereal” and take my career to the next level. I didn’t have to worry about trying to survive for the next year. That was an opportunity—the type of record that makes you. No video, no radio play, no nothing.
BE FUNNY-STYLE.
People want to be entertained. I was a big fan of wrestling back in the day. I liked Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Junkyard Dog, Koko B. Ware. That’s my era. That’s me in real life, though. I do wrestling moves in my boxers in front of my girlfriend. She looks at me like I’m crazy, but she laughs. If you listen to my music you wouldn’t know that I like to joke around, because I’m serious, and when I get down to business, I get down to business.
FIGHT STRESS.
I play Fight Night Champions and Call of Duty: Black Ops because I want to beat up and shoot everybody. Playing those games is how I get those feelings out. That’s my stress relief. I used to play Call of Duty online, but those kids are too good and I couldn’t deal with that shit. My kill/death ratio started dropping, so I stopped playing Call of Duty and I started playing Fight Night and kicking ass at that. I’m a sore loser. If I can’t get really good, then I don’t even want to play.
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