Big Sean

Definitely just growing up in general influenced me; Detroit happened to be where I was. I feel like the city definitely has made an impact on my life and made me who I am. Detroit has an unmistakable soul - nobody can duplicate the soul we bring to the game. From Motown to J Dilla to Eminem to anything. ”

I grew up on the west side of Detroit - 6 mile and Wyoming - so I was really in the 'hood. And I would go to school at Detroit Waldorf, and that was not the 'hood. Growing up in Detroit was good. I had a good perspective, a well-rounded one, and not being one-sided. ”

Working with Kanye is one of the greatest things ever. It's also one of the most nerve-wracking things ever. He's, like, the most critical, particular, artistic person ever. ”

I feel like I'm able to relate to all races of people because when you learn to tap into the raw emotion of a person, that goes past color. ”

Kanye didn't sign me to hold my hand and walk me through my career. He signed me because he believed in me as an artist and gave me a co-sign. I didn't see that at first. I saw it as him about to hold my hand, and I'm about to be the biggest artist because he's the biggest artist, you know? ”

People who tend to listen to my music have come back and said, 'Yo, this is my anthem. This is what I live by.' ”

Kids that I went to school with didn't know how to interact with black people like that. There were only, like, three or four black kids in the class. ”

I'm a Detroit player, they set styles. ”

I got this tiger head ring that's similar to a Cartier ring. I had my jeweler Sean from Detroit make it similar to the Cartier ring, but gold and diamonded-out. That's my Detroit tiger. It's made with two different golds - the bottom is yellow and the top is gold. ”

G.O.O.D. Music is just real tastemakers, man. Kanye's a real tastemaker. One thing that I feel is tight about G.O.O.D. is that a lot of people have their own style, and you can see that. My style is different than Pusha's, it's different than Cudi's. But it's also slightly similar 'cause we have some similar tastes. ”