I think rap in general allows you to be more lyrically expressive. It's a lot easier to state your identity, as opposed to with a guitar making all these weird metaphors.
I grew up two train stops from where A Tribe Called Quest grew up, and one stop from Nas.
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.
They're not going to have a homeless person on a poster representing New York.
I studied my craft at the same place as Nicki Minaj.
'Welcome To New York' is one of those songs that, with just one single radio play, will make at least 10 New Yorkers move to Marfa, Texas.