I recorded Jackin For Hits while I was sleeping on my brother’s couch right after graduating college. I was broke, hungry, and trying to figure out how to get real attention on my music. I didn’t have resources, but I had confidence and something to prove.

So I took a page from Ice Cube’s playbook and flipped it my own way. I jumped on the hottest records out and called it Jackin For Hits. At the time Kanye, Jay Z, and T.I. were running hip hop, and this was my way of saying I belong in the same conversation. Not as a copy, but as a competitor.