I was just painting a picture. This song has an energy to it. I was just painting the picture of summertime, basketball games, and how the hustlers be outside betting, and making our teams, going against other squads, so on, and so forth. Neighborhood-type battles. So bricklayers and ball shorts, coaching from the side of the ball courts, if you know, you know.

Facts. Puff is like the ultimate, he’s definitely the ultimate street dream. I would have to say that. Hustler, however you look at it, hustled his way to the top. Inspiration, we all in the streets, all looked at Puff like, man, he’s the man. He’s really that guy. Every street guy wants to be part of music and wants to be able to propel his team to some level of stardom and success. Puff is the one.

“The company I keep is not corporate enough” is like, people will be like, “Hey, Pusha T, you’re the president of GOOD Music. You’ve been in the game for such a long time. You’ve worked with all the best producers.” You still catch me on a day to day with dope boys in any city, hanging out. My friends are just who my friends are. They been who they were. We’ve been who we’ve been. I wake up every morning and am happy that I can even call them and reach them, and tell them to come meet me here or come with me there.

A lot of people are like, “Wow.” I do interviews and they’re like, “Man, where are your industry buds?” I’m like, “It’s not too many of them.” I don’t have many of them at all, but my friends are my friends.

When you think of a child rebel soldier, you think that they’re loners. You think that they’re out there for war. They’re solo. They’re just, they’re by themselves. They go hard, so on and so forth. It gives that feeling of an orphan with a hard life. I’m speaking to whoever doesn’t fit that mold. You’re not orphan enough to be a part of this.

I can’t even tell you specifically what specific mob reference it was. It’s me just speaking to my core fan base, and speaking to the streets and really just trying to embrace them. I’m one of y'all, you’re one of me. We relate. This thing of ours, oh this thing of ours. Really just trying to draw people in, draw my people in, for sure.

Hit Boy actually was a co-producer on that, on “Paris.” Hit Boy gave me an amazing record during this whole time when all of these beats are coming about. Again, it just lined up. As you can see, it’s like a puzzle. Everything sort of makes cohesive sense in one way or another. You can connect these lines. And if you have the knowledge, or you have the insight and the back story on some of these things and can draw these parallels, it’ll help you remember it easier.

It seems like right now that’s a trend in hip hop, the running off on the plug line. Everybody’s got songs about running off on the plug. It’s like, it seems like the cool thing to say. So, it just lined up that way. I always try to find ways to bring the metaphors and draw those parallels, and those double entendres together. That’s the sport of hip-hop to me.

It was just a way to throw some hip-hop into it, a way to throw some history on top of some new age, fusing the two. The new age with the actual hip-hop history.

Totally wasn’t a Pink Floyd fan at all. Could tell you nothing about them actually. But, it’s just being colorful in rap, and speaking to jury in a more abstract way. Just pulling in a colorful energy to the verse.

My first watch, my first real watch to myself, it was a super-real watch. It was a gift, man. Pharrell bought me a watch called a Corum. It had a fish-eyed face on it, with a super-flooded-out bezel. It was pretty dope. It might have been before I signed with him. I mean, I was gonna sign with him anyway, so it didn’t matter. But, it was right around that time.