“I don’t look at myself as a designer; I’m focused on music.”

You grow up in a small community, there’s no outlet like New York or L.A.

Need ya love, not a need it is a must.

Make money not friends.

You’ve gotta really touch people to move them to buy your records.

I was in early on with ‘Yeezus.’

I love my fans more than anything.

I was born in Houston, Texas. I grew up in Houston, by Missouri City. It’s, like, a suburb in the area; it’s middle-class. But I used to stay with my grandma in the hood from ages one to six.

How do I block you in real life?

I think of Westernized culture as a good visual for my music.

James Blake is a real good friend of mine. He’s real different than what you think. He’s super turned up.

I’m La Flame at all times. That, at times, can be bad, at times can be good.

I feel like everyone just gets constricted by their parents or, just, life.

Lord I’m on fire they think that I’m Satan.

I design music; I don’t produce it.

The most ironic thing is my grandfather has his master’s in music composition; he was a jazz composer. My dad was a musician, too. He played more, like, soul music.

I think, with production, I pay very close attention. ‘Cause that’s my favorite thing in music. That’s the whole drive. That’s the reason.

Truth, however bitter, can be accepted, and woven into a design for living.

They are a very decent generous lot of people out here and they don’t expect you to listen. It’s the secret of social ease in this country. They talk entirely for their own pleasure. Nothing they say is designed to be heard.

Almost all crime is due to the repressed desire for aesthetic expression.

For me, the idea of a creation is not conceivable without invoking the necessity of design. One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be design and purpose behind it all.

Meanwhile the Adversary of God and man, Satan with thoughts inflamed of highest design, Puts on swift wings, and towards the gates of hell Explores his solitary flight.

The truth of the matter is we have become more interested in designer jeans and break dancing than we are in obligations and responsibilities.

If I was ever going to become a good designer, I had to leave America. My own culture was inhibiting me. Too much style in America is tacky. It’s looked down upon to be too stylish. Europeans, however, appreciate style.

Fashion is everything. Art, music, furniture design, graphic design, hair, makeup, architecture, the way cars look – all those things go together to make a moment in time, and that’s what excites me.