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Has it surprised you how much importance people place on your "sensitivity"?
I don't know if people are getting more and more disconnected, and therefore I seem like the most emotional character in this whole scene. My favorite artists always documented emotion. Marvin Gaye and Al Green and Sade and Aaliyah. People poke fun, but I'm just not ashamed.
On the new album, what was the most technical challenge you faced in your rapping?
Consistently my challenge was using new cadences and new flows that no artists are using right now. I felt like I was under attack, with people claiming that I came up on their style or their moment.
How do the lyrics come when you're rapping at full speed? Is it like having a mental teleprompter?
The moment you start seeing the words is the moment you start forgetting the words. I have to go out there convinced that I know everything because I wrote it, and that when the time comes, it will just happen. Obviously that's after many days of rehearsal. I've had bad nights where I've been thrown off. My worst show was in the Bay Area. I was going to bring out [Oakland rapper] Too Short, but in my in-ear [monitor], they told me he was stuck in L.A. Just hearing that, I turned to the crowd and said, "L.A., what's up?" It was instant collapse. Just crazy. The crowd just turned, and I still had to get through that performance. I'll still occasionally stumble on songs I know front to back. But I get great assistance. My DJ has a cue thing, so if I forget, he hits it and I hear the track in my ear.
I don't know if people are getting more and more disconnected, and therefore I seem like the most emotional character in this whole scene. My favorite artists always documented emotion. Marvin Gaye and Al Green and Sade and Aaliyah. People poke fun, but I'm just not ashamed.
On the new album, what was the most technical challenge you faced in your rapping?
Consistently my challenge was using new cadences and new flows that no artists are using right now. I felt like I was under attack, with people claiming that I came up on their style or their moment.
How do the lyrics come when you're rapping at full speed? Is it like having a mental teleprompter?
The moment you start seeing the words is the moment you start forgetting the words. I have to go out there convinced that I know everything because I wrote it, and that when the time comes, it will just happen. Obviously that's after many days of rehearsal. I've had bad nights where I've been thrown off. My worst show was in the Bay Area. I was going to bring out [Oakland rapper] Too Short, but in my in-ear [monitor], they told me he was stuck in L.A. Just hearing that, I turned to the crowd and said, "L.A., what's up?" It was instant collapse. Just crazy. The crowd just turned, and I still had to get through that performance. I'll still occasionally stumble on songs I know front to back. But I get great assistance. My DJ has a cue thing, so if I forget, he hits it and I hear the track in my ear.
Drake: A Rapper Who Also Sings - WSJ.com
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