I guess, like, I’ve always listened to rap, and I remember I specifically started listening to, like, pop-rap when I was, like, 11, you know, like Shaggy. I love Shaggy. And then I discovered, like, underground rap when I got to high school, and really, that’s when it kind of blossomed. I don’t feel like my love for rap blossomed off of Shaggy. Awkwafina Read Quote
I like to rap about things that are funny but mostly things that are relatable. I remember there was this one song with Ja Rule, and I forgot, exactly, but it was with Ashanti, and there’s a line in it that was like, ‘She hit me up on AIM.’ But that wasn’t the actual line; it was something else, but I was like, ‘Oh my God, he uses AIM!’ Awkwafina Read Quote
Other female rappers are overly sexual, have no wit, and their lyrics are so generic. I want to change the game to make rap that shows I’m not a normal female rapper – it’s not about how rich I am, how much sex I have, or how many boyfriends I have. That’s just not me. Awkwafina Read Quote
I think people always want to hear that there are barriers that exist for us. But the more I started to realize artists that are kind of like me in my lane, like, if they were white or African-American, they often had trouble because it wasn’t the quality of their music: they just didn’t stick out. Awkwafina Read Quote
Let’s take Taylor Swift. She lives in a huge beautiful apartment; she gets limo-ed everywhere. She’s not seeing what it means to live in New York. Awkwafina Read Quote
It’s definitely a privilege to be able to do what you love to do; it’s not something that everyone gets to do, so I feel really good about that. Awkwafina Read Quote
I am American. If you drop me in Seoul, I don’t think I’m going to thrive there. Awkwafina Read Quote
I think that’s why I was able to do well in the beginning: because it was such a foreign thing. People frame it in a negative way, like, ‘For Asian-Americans there’s no one out there, so that must be really bad for you.’ No, I benefited from it. Awkwafina Read Quote
