EW: Last night was your first major solo show since your release from prison.
I really felt a lot of love up there last night and they made my homecoming that much easier.
Some people smoke cigarettes; I wrote songs to cope.
EW: Have you been writing a lot since youve been home?JF:Not a lot.
But I still got it!
Thats the unofficial number.
In the past two weeks, Ive recorded 24 songs.
The functioning title of the album isWater Light Sound.Its a three-word metaphor for birth.
I see this album in stagesits water stage, its light stage, and its sonic stage.
Its about bringing all of this stuff together because the tapestry of the music is so broad.
I really,really, really want to do a duet with her super badly.
That whole singer-songwriter anti-folk movement did something to me.
Call me a musician.
I think Im a musician who happens to rap.
Im no rapper, not to say Im writing important music.
No, I just think that what Im writing happens to make more sense than not.
I dont curse in my rhymes anymore.
I also dont use the N-word or the B-word.
But for me, Ive been there and done that.
I dont want to be that punch in of guy.
In the absence of recording devices, I had to find a new way to write songs.
I began to gravitate towards singer-songwriters and to develop my own skills.
I said, I want some of that.
Thats what I strive to do.
What Id like to do, however, is finish this album by spring and tour immediately thereafter.
The release could come in the summer or early fallI dont know.
But I know that I wanna be on the road late spring, early summer.
In a nutshell, it means that I dont need a record deal.
Its given me enough of a cushion that Im okay to just do me.
Thats not to say that Im not speaking to labels, or labels are not speaking to me.
Theyve actually been pretty kind and forthcoming since Ive come home.
Look, if somebody comes at me with a deal that makes sense, we can make it happen.
But Im not gonna sell myself short.
Yes, but Im so happy to be home.
So I dont take it lightly when it comes to enjoying this moment right here, right now.
I dont take this for granted.
