Everything I do is me. I don't like taking ideas from people unless they're the G.O.A.T.
A Boogie wit da Hoodien
Being self-made means putting yourself in position to help others put themselves in position to be successful.
I can't even lie: Sometimes, I be antisocial.
No matter where I'm at in life, whether I'm in the music industry, rich, poor, everybody need love in their life. Gangsta or not, everybody need love in their life. You can't act too hard about that.
Every time I step on stage an' see all of the lights or hear fans singing the words to my songs ,it's a surreal moment for me.
Perfecting your craft is one of the main keys in being successful.
Why do you think my name is Artist? I'm an artist.
I just wanna be relevant.
I overloaded myself with work. I give myself work to do so I don't give myself time to chill and have free time to chill with the family as much.
I'm not really worried about the flashy stuff. I don't got chains and cars. I spend what I need to spend. It doesn't faze me.
My mom is proud of me. My pops proud of me. Everybody keeps motivating me.
I look at goals, like, what do I want to do and where do I want to see myself. What position to I want to be in going forward.
Its crazy: my name is Artist, and I dead can't even paint.
I don't wanna learn about more science and math. That's not why I'm going to college.
I want people to really recognize that this is what I am naturally good at: I'm really good at making music and describing your feelings vicariously through my experiences, through my past and my future. I want people to relate to me in multiple ways and be versatile in my music.
I'm not really rocking with mixtapes no more. EPs and albums - that's it.
'A' comes from Artist. And 'Boogie' from the Bronx. 'The Hoodie' part came from just having a hoodie on a lot.
Having a daughter made my music, I guess, more meaningful. It made me see more of life when I had my daughter.
If you listen to me, it's real stories. It's catchy and something you can relate to.
Me and Thugger could make nine songs in a day and then choose which songs we like the most and think is gonna do something. With other people, it's like, we pick one song, and we hope it's the one.
I always looked up to people who did more than just rap or focus on music. I'm inspired by the people who put their different talents to use and turned it into something bigger.
I want to be the next legend.
Getting people to like my music was challenging at first. It's hard to get people to like your music. There isn't a simple formula that automatically makes people like you.
Hip-hop originated from the Bronx specifically; that means everything. I'm down the block from where hip-hop was born and raised, so I'm glad I am here and I'm able to represent New York the way I am.
I was raised hearing music everywhere I went.
The album 'Hoodie SZN' is about the result of where I come from: it gave me this black heart. And the black heart represents depression.
Not everyone's really got the heart to talk about what's going on with their love in their music.
I used to record songs, like, play the beat from one phone and have another phone recording me and just rap. Moving from that to a studio was like, 'Damn, I never knew I could sound like this.' It was just magic.
Most of the time, I'm making music. There'll be moments of my life where I feel like I gotta to take a break and come back to the music. It's hard to explain, but you need to get a break from it and then come back to it. It's like you gotta lose something to appreciate it.
I'm not the type of person who makes a lot of songs in a day just to see which one is the best.
I got so many people that have my number. It's crazy. I just don't feel like texting anybody back after I get, like, 30 text messages in three hours. I just be chilling.
I was inspired to shoot 'Look Back at It' in a high school because I'm like a voice of the youth. When the youth sees me in a classroom, I want them to be inspired to accomplish their dreams. I was just like them in a classroom at one point. It all starts in a classroom.
'Remember the Time' and 'You Rock My World' from Michael Jackson were two of my favorite songs ever. My mom used to bump them all the time.
Everybody should start listening to love songs.
New York sounds like something that I could really listen to. It's like a vibe; it's a hit song. It's a song that you could listen to in five years and still like.
A lot of people don't know that: that Artist is my name.
I never knew Artist was going to get this big. When I was making it, I put my all into it. But you never know what's going to happen with something you make.
I was always writing, since I was, like, 12.
I was trying to make my name just Artist in the beginning, but it was weird at first, because I wasn't an R&B singer or nothing. Not an R&B singer. I didn't do no melodic songs, none of that yet.
My first mixtape especially - that came from a heartbreak.
Partnering up with the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour marks a milestone moment in my career.
One day, walking through the Bronx streets, I just realized that people were stopping me, taking pictures, and noticing me from across the street. I can't even use public transportation anymore, so I kind of stopped going places and started going straight to the studio, going home, and telling people I can't go anywhere anymore.
People's hustle in the Bronx is real.
You always gonna feel me. That's my main thing. When I'm speaking in my music, you gotta feel me.
I wasn't really comfortable going to college.
Everybody was always telling me to rap and freestyle. I used to go to the park and spit on the mic. If I go to the park, they always gonna give me the mic.
2017 was crazy when I made the 'Freshman' cover 'cause I looked up to it, and I really wanted to be in it. It was motivation for me after that: I kept on going, and I grinded.
If it wasn't for the Internet, I don't know where I'd be.
You can't say I don't sound like a N.Y. rapper - it's because I don't wanna sound like nobody else.
Highbridge - everybody rap in Highbridge; everyone grew up rappin' or playing basketball.
