Tee Grizzley

I've had a lot of big impacts before the music as far as deaths and tragedies and experiences in my life.

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.

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 think my genre is more 'reality rap'; I talk about my life and the struggles that I've been through.

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.

It's kind of hard to tell your life story and state all facts and it still be sweet.

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.'

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.

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.

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.

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.