Drake

My dad is a great writer. Naturally talented, naturally charming. He embodies that back-in-the-day cool.

I have an urge to communicate. I think I'm a change from what it would be like dating a normal guy who doesn't talk too much.

You know, there are artists who are 35 and up that still make rap and that still works for them. I don't know if I want to be that guy.

There were people who incorporated melody before me, but I would deem myself the first person to successfully rap and sing.

Trying to meet new women, it's always a little more difficult as opposed to calling somebody I knew that's single and trying to rebuild that connection.

I push myself in a lot of aspects when I write a song. I write a piece and where most people would stop and say, 'Oh, that's the hook right there,' I'll move that to the first four bars of the verse and do a new hook.

I feel connected to my generation through the music, but I also fear for us. We're in a very self-destructive state where we're addicted to outside opinions and we all feel like we have fans.

When I'm writing, I'm thinking about how the songs are going to play live. Fifty bars of rap don't translate onstage. No matter how potent the music, you lose the crowd. They want a hook; they want to sing your stuff back to you.

People like to build their own story about my life. I don't know if it makes them feel better, or if it makes it okay for them to not like me, but the last thing I grew up as was rich.

To go indie is a thing. But to put an album in the stores, you need a distribution label.

I try to really capitalize off of what other rappers really can't do. There are opportunities that rappers I love simply can't get, because... you know... I don't have the tattoos; I have a different image.

I like Ryan Gosling as an actor. I watch all of his movies, and he's Canadian and I just like his swag. I read his interviews and I'm a big fan of his.

I wake up in the morning and my heart is light, man. It's not heavy. I don't have skeletons in the closet on their way out.

I'm cool with Jay-Z. Jay-Z is genuinely my friend.

I don't really have a gimmick or a 'thing.' I'm one of the few artists who gets to be himself every day.

I would say that I'm more moved by melody, even though I love to rap.

Surface R&B doesn't work any more. The whole heartthrob thing, songs about unrealistic love and tearing your shirt off every show - that's not really where it's at any more. It's becoming harder for those guys to sell records, and harder for them to succeed.

Rappers aren't the really rich ones. We all have nice houses with studios and cars, but you need a piece of someone's business to be super wealthy.

I respect Chris Brown. I'd like to call myself a friend - I don't know if I'm allowed to do that.

I just have a thing in my brain that when I'm about to do something that's genuine or authentic, I think of it in song form. I'll be like, 'Yo, this is a human emotion that no one talks about.'