Curtis Jackson

“Puffy's contribution to hip-hop culture was the remix. He offered us the music that his mom played in front of him, with newer drums and younger artists. That worked, and will consistently be there. The remix comes right after the original record, that's something Puffy did to influence the culture.”

“Hip-hop - it's the safari: it allows people who aren't under those circumstances to come closer to inner-city life, to explore it without actually being in danger. It's something kids in middle America indulge in to be rebellious.”

“Chris Lighty was a huge portion of my actual career. It's difficult to adjust to not have someone around that's in your life, in your life.”

“I don't display emotions. I have every feeling that everyone else has, but I've developed ways to suppress them. Anger is one of my most comfortable feelings.”

“I think it's easier for the general public to embrace me in a negative way. You have people who already have a perception of me that says I'm a bad person.”

“You have to challenge yourself and your muscles. When you are really regimented, it's the same over and over and you start to get comfortable. Switching up the style of training works your muscles differently.”

“I read all of the stories that people write about me. The ones that are really interesting are the ones where they actually write their take on me as opposed to just printing what I said, because they're asking similar questions so often, sometimes it just sounds like I'm answering the questions different intentionally.”

“I wanted to do something as an extension of my passion for music. My aim for the STREET by 50 On-Ear Wired Headphone range is to present music as it's meant to be heard, in studio-mastered sound.”

“I'll have long, straight hair, like down to my back, when I go to Heaven. And I'm not even going to work out, but I'll be in shape. It's a whole new program up there.”

“You know how a person is made for something? Eminem is made for hip-hop. The best rapper is a white man.”

“I think either you're creative or you're not. In general, I don't think you need to be in pain to actually be creative unless you're writing love songs. Then you might need to have some ups and downs within your emotions to start to capture that.”

“People often say I have so much energy, that I never stop; but that's what it takes to accomplish your goals.”

“I think Frank Ocean is a talented artist; I think he's created material that made me know his name, that impressed me, with things he said on a song like 'Novacane.'”

“I think I'll be going to Heaven, because I had good intentions. But my actions are another thing.”

“I like generals. I like Napoleon. I like strategy. The majority of them are praised for mass destruction, but it's exciting to see how it comes to the mind mentally.”

“My grandmother, she's been the positive portion of my life the entire time. She raised us Baptist, and when I got old enough to say I didn't want to go to church, she didn't force me. She was cool.”

“Because hip-hop has no requirements, you deal with people that have the least intelligence on the planet. Some of the people that compare themselves to me, compare themselves to me because they rap and I rap. They can't even read the contracts that they sign to be a rapper, to do the deal.”

“Out of frustration, I say things. Now, people listen to me so much I can say it under my breath and everybody hears me... I said in the past that I'm a work in progress, and I feel like I'm progressing.”

“Every morning I wake up in a home where Mike Tyson previously laid in the bed and he earned over $500 million his career. It makes me conscious.”

“I like the story writing process. I usually use someone who has been trained for structure to take the story that I actually want, place those elements in the right places.”