So your issue is with the contradictions?
Yeah, so you can love “this guy,” “that guy,” but not Pusha, although he’s doing what he’sbeen doing—first record I ever put out, 1997 on Elektra Records was called “I Got Caught Dealing.” My second record was called “The Funeral,” and that was eulogizing the drug-related death of my homeboy. This is my history. This is what I’ve been doing. I mean, can I get kudos for consistency? But no, everybody’s gonna slay and crucify me. That’s why on “Cook It Down” I had the line: “My travel lodge story, I pray that you ignore me, if you can’t feel the joy of a hustler in his glory.” In other words, I don’t want you to listen to me if you are not into this. I don’t need a new fan. If you stumble upon it and you happen to like it, I’m down with you, I’m cool—but one thing that you’re not gonna tell me, is that I cannot rap. You cannot tell me that I can’t rap, so don’t say I can’t rap. I don’t know what you can say—but don’t say that part. I pride myself on my pen. I don’t say I’ve got the best hooks in the game, I don’t say I’m the best beat picker—I ain’t never been that guy. I ain’t never said I was that guy, I just pride myself on my pen.
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