I'm never going to search for anyone's acceptance. I'm just going to be me, and people are eventually going to have to accept it.
Kevin Abstract
I think the most important part of the teenage years is wondering.
I might not ever fully know who I am, but I also believe that I could be whoever I want, whenever I want.
It's hard to accept the truth, especially about yourself.
Hip hop's all about expression. That's why I got into it.
The biggest pop star in the world shouldn't be a boring white kid from Canada - the biggest pop star in the world should be a creative black kid from Texas that doesn't know how to come out to his family - that's a way more interesting story, and it gives a new type of kid some hope.
I'm just super into redefining things.
We just want to uplift people, inspire people, and get people through their day.
I believe that self-discovery is an ongoing thing.
I'm super inspired by Master P and early moguls. They were doing everything. I wanna do that, too. Twenty-six albums in one year. It's possible. Very possible.
Here's the thing: we don't write music for a universal statement; we just share our experiences. And that's all it is. It's always raw and very authentic.
I won't have a standout moment until I perform at the VMAs, meet Ryan Gosling, and hug Sky Ferreira.
For some reason, being gay can be such a sad thing in media, so it's really cool to see someone like me who doesn't look like, I guess, the stereotypical gay guy.
As soon as I left Georgia, my narrative became about taking risks and the fight for creative bedroom artists with no platform.
I've never seen a boy band that had members who look like us - kids of color from all over the world - and met on the Internet.
A lot of my music is about self-discovery because I focus on my teenage years.
I think we're always scared, but we have each other to lean on, so we're not being extremely vulnerable in front of the world by ourselves. We have each other.
I am everything Donald Trump is against.
I wrote 'Echo' a few months after moving out of my sister's apartment in Atlanta. I was 17 and just finished high school. I didn't go to prom and didn't walk the stage. I just dipped.
I just want to be Kevin Abstract and exist and help as many people as possible who are struggling with whatever they're struggling with.
No one in my family was creative. One of my sisters went to a university, and pretty much, most of my siblings live a basic and dull lifestyle.
I wanted to blend in 'cause I knew I was different.
In order to make a change, I have to exist in a traditionally homophobic space such as hip-hop. If I were to just be this queer rapper who only spoke to queer kids... I don't think I could as effectively make a change for another young, black, queer kid growing up in Texas.
There are no rules when I'm making stuff. That's why I'm glad I'm not signed. No one's telling me I got to drop this type of single or this video.
I want to speak for people who can't speak; they're afraid to speak.
I think it's awesome when you meet someone that can kind of just get you 110 percent, and no matter how long that lasts, you kind of just take it for what it is and embrace it.
I don't want to be a queer icon. I want to be an icon.
People will tell you for years whatever you have to say isn't important at all. So when you have someone who breaks the mold and speaks up - and you see and identify with that - they become your hero.
When you mention Bieber, Lorde, One Direction, I want to be on that list. But at the same time, when you say Lil Uzi Vert, I want my name to pop up, too. I'm kinda in between both. I wanna bring them together and exist.
I think cliche is a good thing sometimes.
I never thought I could sing. I still don't.
Having to deal with, like, family problems in front of the world is very difficult.
I always used to say, at the end of the day, I want Brockhampton to be like Paramount or something, and you don't really know who's behind it. You just think about Brockhampton and all the types of content we provide.
I don't really have a blueprint to follow besides watching interviews. Well, I guess the blueprint I do follow is Def Jam, in a way, just because it started in a small space, which is so similar to how we started.
I just wanted to have my own dynasty. I wanted my own Cash Money or Roc-A-Fella. Outside of that, I also wanted my own media company.
I don't know what it is that I love so much about high school, but I'm attached. The empty hallways. The teachers. They made me feel so much.
It's always been my dream to come to L.A.
I just want people to be able to put on 'American Boyfriend' and accept to not know. To not know anything about everything.
Me just existing and being myself is making change and making things easier for other young queer kids. I want to be me and express that and break new ground along the way.
The Kevin Abstract project kind of represents being socially awkward in high school, which I'm low-key kind of tired of.
I don't want to be that artist who's doing the teenage angst thing and draw it out my whole career.
I know I'm not what everyone says I'm supposed to be. But I'm gonna say what I want, and this is me, and I'm gonna be American whether you like it or not.
I really want to only put out three projects from Kevin Abstract as far as solo bodies of work.
Social media is awesome because I can somewhat paint myself the way I want people to see me.
Most of the time, with artists like me who go on to become superstars, you never see them when they are still lost and trying to figure life out.
The underground always has the best ideas. Sometimes those underground artists transcend and make it to the mainstream, but most of the time, the big guys just steal from us.
When you're bored, you get creative.
I want kids to live through this character I've created. I want them to say that they are Kevin Abstract because they relate to it that much.
I'm always around creative people, and I'm trying to work on something constantly at all times.
It's OK to get your feelings hurt.
