Pusha T

By now, you should know what you're getting with Pusha T. I've been in this game since 2002, and my name says it all. You know I'm only moved by a certain style of rap. Not that many other styles move me. You have to really be a rapper's rapper for me to like it.

More than anything, Play Cloths has taken risks in regards to the pieces of clothing that we're even creating. We started out as straight T-shirts. It was just T-shirts and a couple cool things. Now, it's leisure pants, it's all types of clothing. We're evolving even with fashion trends on a super high level.

Virginia Beach is just such a melting pot for so many different things, and they just have so many influences. I would always say that the area definitely influences Play Cloths. The area itself just has so many influences, whether it be fashion, music, everything.

Biggie is my favorite rapper, for sure. No other artist has impacted me that much.

'Darkest Before Dawn,' the short film, is basically the film of a man who faces the darkness when his back is against the wall and just about how miracles come in all forms, and even in your darkest times, it comes.

My vision for G.O.O.D. Music is just carrying on with the tradition of putting out high-quality music, high-quality art. G.O.O.D. Music is entrenched in the culture of hip-hop. It's entrenched in the culture, period.

Oh, I'm up at 6:00 A.M. every morning because I have a lot to do. Plenty. I work out probably at, like, 8:00. I gotta eat at 6:00 so, therefore, I can workout at 8:00.

I've always had some level of having to be independent outside of music because the music wasn't a smooth ride. We lost a lot in the mix: Everybody that I came in the music game with - friends I brought in with me - are all doing 10-34 years in jail. That's why if you want to get the real, you gotta get it from me.

As a writer, you're always trying to say the best thing. You're always thinking about what's the best thing to say, and what's the hardest way to say it, and what's the best line? Sometimes the best line is the simplest line. Sometimes the best line is the line that evokes more feeling than actual wordsmithing.

I make a timeless music. I think I've made my mark as a lyricist and as an innovator and as a tastemaker.

My music is airy; it's spacious. It requires you to be able to rap and articulate your message over it. That's what the beat demands of you. Not a lot of people try to rap over my beats because it's a bit of a task.

The crafting of lyrics is really a task, and when it comes to street culture, I don't feel like anyone else articulates it better than me.

Pharrell has definitely influenced my style in regards to streetwear. Simply because we're from that era that Nigo and A Bathing Ape started. That's where it all started at for us.

The Re-Up Gang mixtapes are going down in history, man. I still listen to them in my car, and the 'Hell Hath No Fury' album. I tell people all the time that I'll never make another album like that one again. Never!

When we were growing up, I got kicked out of Timbaland's house every day. He was the DJ for my brother's rap group in junior high school. So I was 7, and while Tim's DJ'ing and my brother's rapping, I'd be upstairs dancing.

I tell people that the Clipse were the first Internet rap darlings.

I don't even know how to think about running out of things to talk about. Certain things are inescapable to me. I'm connected by the hip with so many things in the streets.

G.O.O.D. Music is on top because G.O.O.D. Music is the culture. When you think of, you know, just every aspect from music, influence, fashion, art level. If it's not G.O.O.D Music, then it's somebody who was influenced heavily by G.O.O.D. Music.

I've been going to Europe for some time on the festival circuit, and once you get in that element and see others reacting to it, it's easier to understand. You get trapped in the wave. The beats are driving and super-aggressive - like, so hard. I was curious.

My hip-hop fans are a little spoiled - they want a particular level of lyricism and energy that I'm known for. When they don't get that, it takes a little time for them to open up to it. But electronic fans are as free as the music. On social media, they were so excited and loud; they're in awe.

Some of the greatest hip-hop artists have incorporated elements from electronic shows into their setup. People are taking notice. It's going to be a new wave.

People don't understand how long it really takes to find beats. Sometimes they're not all the way there, but it's elements in them I love. Then I get to take them to get chopped up. Ye got to cook over a few of them.

I think adidas really understands that it's cool to be in business with the right people. It really feels like a bunch of creative minds rather than some rap guys stamping their names on a sneaker. We're arguing over shoes, ideas, and everything - it's like a tug of war.

Playing a room, it's a real dictator-type situation - you can really move the crowd the way you want to. In a festival, there's a sea of people, and it's harder to lock in on any one group.

I see people doing things in their Blackberrys, and I need paper. Lines. Alphabets. I need to see it. It's so elementary, man.