A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie quotes: on his unusual names, his idol growing up, how he approaches music, how fame changes things, and more.
“I am not even able to lie; at times, I am antisocial.”
“Highbridge [a neighborhood in the Bronx where he’s from, and also the name of his record label]: everybody rap in Highbridge; everyone grew up rappin’ or playing basketball.”
“Growing up in Highbridge was real. Me and all my friends, we never really went to any other places in the Bronx but Highbridge. We always just stayed in Highbridge. It was like territory, to be honest, because Highbridge is like a town.”
“People’s hustle in the Bronx is real.”
“Hip-hop originated from the Bronx specifically; that means everything. I’m down the block from where hip-hop was born and raised, so I’m glad I am here and I’m able to represent New York the way I am.”
“I was raised hearing music everywhere I went.”
“Two of my preferred songs [growing up] had been ‘You Rock My World’ and ‘Remember the Time’ from Michael Jackson. My mother was in the habit of bumping them at all times.”
“Even though I can’t dance, that’s, like, the one thing I wished I could do growing up. I used to act like I was MJ, doing the moonwalk, tip toes, leg kick, all that.”
“I used to record songs, like, play the beat from one phone and have another phone recording me and just rap. Moving from that to a studio was like, ‘Damn, I never knew I could sound like this.’ It was just magic.”
“I was always writing, since I was, like, 12.”
“When I was 13, before I got in high school, I was writing mad raps. I didn’t really know if it was good or not, so for a year, I just held them. When I got in high school, I started spittin’ bars.”
“If it wasn’t for the internet, I don’t know where I’d be.”
“I wasn’t really comfortable going to college.”
“I found my sound through exploring. I was in the studio yelling, going low, trying things, and that’s how I found that I have a lot of sounds.”
“Some of my songs are turnt up, but that’s just ’cause I have to make ’em like that so the clubs can play them.”
“Everybody should start listening to love songs.”
“Getting people to like my music was challenging at first. It’s hard to get people to like your music. There isn’t a simple formula that automatically makes people like you.”
“I had to realize that you can’t try to get money, support yourself, and grind doing whatchu need to do at the same time. The music is the grind. You really gotta grind. You gotta find your way around. You can’t be stuck tryna get there.”
“This is the most fun thing in the world to me, making music. Sitting down, I can make songs and not leave the booth, ever, and I love it.”
“I am not the guy who prepares a huge number of songs in a single day only to see which one happens to be the best.”
“[The one exception being…] Me and Thugger could make nine songs in a day and then choose which songs we like the most and think it’s gonna do something. With other people, it’s like, we pick one song and we hope it’s the one.”
“My first mixtape especially, that came from a heartbreak.”
“Most of the time, I’m making music. There’ll be moments of my life where I feel like I gotta take a break and come back to the music. It’s hard to explain, but you need to get a break from it and then come back to it. It’s like you gotta lose something to appreciate it.”
“Every time I step on stage an’ see all of the lights or hear fans singing the words to my songs, it’s a surreal moment for me.”
“One day, walking through the Bronx streets, I just realized that people were stopping me, taking pictures, and noticing me from across the street. I can’t even use public transportation anymore, so I kind of stopped going places and started going straight to the studio, going home, and telling people I can’t go anywhere anymore.”
“‘A’ comes from Artist [his actual first name]. And ‘Boogie’ from the Bronx. ‘Da Hoodie’ part came from just having a hoodie on a lot.”
“Why do you think my name is Artist? I’m an artist.”
“Its crazy though: my name is Artist, and I dead can’t even paint.”
“Before I was even famous, I was famous on Facebook.”
“2017 was crazy when I made the ‘Freshman’ cover ’cause I looked up to it, and I really wanted to be in it. It was motivation for me after that: I kept on going, and I grinded.”
“I’m not really rocking with mixtapes no more. EPs and albums—that’s it.”
“I pick and choose what I want to put on what. Instead of just dropping a single, I like putting projects together.”
“No matter where I’m at in life, whether I’m in the music industry, rich, poor, everybody need love in their life. Gangsta or not, everybody need love in their life. You can’t act too hard about that.”
“My music became even more meaningful when I had my daughter. It helped me to see more of life in the long run.”
“You always gonna feel me. That’s my main thing. When I’m speaking in my music, you gotta feel me.”
“I always looked up to people who did more than just rap or focus on music. I’m inspired by the people who put their different talents to use and turned it into something bigger.”
“If you listen to me, it’s real stories. It’s catchy and something you can relate to.”
“I was inspired to shoot ‘Look Back at It’ in a high school because I’m like a voice of the youth. When the youth sees me in a classroom, I want them to be inspired to accomplish their dreams. I was just like them in a classroom at one point. It all starts in a classroom.”
“I want people to really recognize that this is what I am naturally good at: I’m really good at making music and describing your feelings vicariously through my experiences, through my past and my future. I want people to relate to me in multiple ways and be versatile in my music.”
“Perfecting your craft is one of the main keys in being successful.”
“I look at goals, like, what do I want to do and where do I want to see myself? What position do I want to be in going forward?”
“I’m not really worried about the flashy stuff. I don’t got chains and cars. I spend what I need to spend. It doesn’t faze me.”
“Being self-sufficient implies that you are in a position to assist others by helping to make them successful in the long run.”
“I overload myself with work. I give myself work to do so I don’t give myself time to chill or have free time to chill with the family as much.”
“Everything done by me is me. I don’t wanna take ideas from anyone unless they happen to be the GOAT.”
“I want to be the next legend.”
“My mom is proud of me. My pops proud of me. Everybody keeps motivating me.”
Related: A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie net worth.
