In chess, you gotta come up with a strategy. I made a lot of plans in my life. 'I'ma do this, I'ma do that, this is gonna happen, that's gonna happen.' And a lot of stuff don't go as planned. You really gotta act on events as they unfold. That's how I compare chess to life.
Tee Grizzley
I really can't make no wrong moves out here, because just as quick as you can get people to love you, you can get people to hate you.
It's kind of hard to tell your life story and state all facts and it still be sweet.
Discipline yourself. Be conscious of what you think, and what you like. What gets you mad? What gets you in your feelings? Figure that stuff out and take control of it so nobody else can control you.
When you in the positive light and good space, do everything to keep it that way and be real careful what you say and how you move because your world can come crashing down on you.
I'm experiencing a lot of new things in life - cars, houses, jewelry - and getting the family situated. I've been dealing with fake friends, though, like a lot of people trying to come around. There are pros and cons to this fame thing.
My favorite Taylor Swift song is between 'Blank Space' and 'Wildest Dreams.'
God just kept me on the right path. I never smoked, drank, none of that.
My goal is just to inspire. To tell people that's going through the same thing that I went through, that there's somebody out there that knows… that can relate.
I have a relationship with God. I do believe in God, The Son, and Holy Ghost. But I respect everybody, and as far as the Muslims go, I like how they live because they have discipline. They have real structure and I like.
I've had a lot of big impacts before the music as far as deaths and tragedies and experiences in my life.
Donald Trump is a good businessman, and I say that because he made a lot of money, so he got to be. As far as his presidency, I ain't pay no attention to him and what he been doing in office.
I knew for a fact I needed to get some money. I felt like I was good to go with the music. People around me weren't as confident, but they didn't have to be, because I was going to do it regardless.
I was raised by my grandma, had aunties and sisters in the house.
Like, you can have church at your house. I feel like as long as you're giving Him praise, you can do it wherever. You don't have to be inside of a church to give praise to Him.
I used to read three books a day, sometimes.
'Don't Even Trip' gave me a chance to really like put some swag on a song. I put the sauce on it.
I'm going to try my best to do everything I can for Detroit.
When people hear my music, they ain't really hearing about no shiny stuff, the glamorous life. They're going to hear that gritty, slum.
I see myself as the godfather of the streets.
To me, being real is being yourself. You know, that's whether you're a pop artist or whatever.
SAD!' is definitely one of my go-to songs when I want to vibe.
I really tell a lot of stories. I want people to know who I am.
I appreciate Drake's music, I appreciate Future's music, I appreciate Lil Durk's music. I appreciate Uzi, Meek Mill, I appreciate Migos.
I just want people to know I'm mentally strong.
I am going to make singles with other artists and put those out there - I'd love to work with Bruno Mars, Drake, Kendrick Lamar. But when somebody buys a Tee Grizzley album, all they're going to hear is Tee Grizzley.
I read all types of books. I read Christian books, I read black novels, I read religious books. I read stuff like 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' and 'The Dictator's Handbook' and then I turned around and read science-fiction novels.
I can't even go to Rolling Loud and perform without the police and the news lying on me, trying to lock me up.
I can be more real and more vulnerable when I sing.
If I'm just hanging with all stars and people with money, you can get lost and caught up. You get to moving like you got it made and you get to spending. That's how a lot of people go broke.
I think my genre is more 'reality rap'; I talk about my life and the struggles that I've been through.
I don't try to be politically correct.
When I was in prison, rap was all I had at that point because I was kicked out of school, all that education just gone and I couldn't come out of prison to play football - that was all over with.
I started rapping when I was young, like 12, 11. But I wasn't really talking about nothing and it didn't really get me nowhere.
TV shows help pass a lot of my time.
There's definitely a way to fix the prison system. First of all, you gotta get a rehabilitation center in prisons, that every inmate must go through.
My favorite Adele song is 'Hello.'
Getting off parole is like walking out them cells all over again. There was a lot of stuff I couldn't do when I was on parole. I had a curfew, couldn't go to certain cities, couldn't be around certain people, and you miss out on a lot of opportunities.
I'm not even going to lie - when I'm in the studio, I'm not like, 'Alright, let me make a hit.' I just try to make good music to the best of my ability.
When teachers would say, 'When you all graduate, you won't have anywhere to go' - I'm the type of person playing chess and thinking ahead. I thought that was a good question. Am I going to be winging it? I didn't want to be in that position, so I set myself up to go to college.
I really like R&B more than rap.
I can't freestyle or else I'll just start saying anything, so I'll write the song first and then record. I'll rap to the producer and he'll make the beat off my rap.
I realized that I got problems bigger than anything that can happen in prison. So I started reading books, talking to people who had a head on their shoulders, sold my TV and just got a whole bunch of books.
I'm just gonna keep making good music and continue to stay in tune with the people and with reality.
A lot of my friends and the people I mingle with, they not famous. They don't got half of what I got. For me, what that do is, it keeps me humble. It keeps me grateful and appreciative of what I got.
I don't have no shame.
Ain't nobody gonna come from where I come from, keep it real as I did and make it with the local Detroit sound that has never made it in the industry before. Where I'm going, I don't feel like too many people from my city are going to blaze this trail.
First Day Out' just took off under our noses. I was shocked. I was happy. I can't even explain the feeling. It's something I always wanted my whole life.
Dudes like me, where I'm from with my sound, don't get signed! It ain't like labels in and out of Detroit and it's a guarantee and I got talent that everybody sees.
A lot of rappers think they better than me because they saw me broke, going in and out of studios, and couldn't pay for studio time.
