B.o.B Speaks Out on His Father’s Opposition to His Rap Career

B.o.B's debut album hit No. 1, but he wasn't always confident in his abilities or future as a rapper. And neither, he reveals, was his own dad.

Thankfully the haters and naysayers are what propelled B.o.B to work hard. "I think if I would've went through life and there would've been nobody hating on me, and there would've been nobody writing 'you're wack' in my rap book, if I didn't get booed at the talent show, I don't think I'd be here," he admitted. "I wouldn't have wanted it badly enough."

B.o.B, born Bobby Ray, admits that his father was opposed to his career choice in a new interview with MTV's 'How I Made It.' "My dad will tell you that he wasn't too fond of me when I first started rapping," the 'Both of Us' rapper said. "My dad was a preacher. When your dad is a preacher ... the things you wanna say as an MC, they don't really go hand in hand."

To be fair, much of B.o.B's breakout material was pretty innocuous, but he got much grittier in a new mixtape, 'F--- 'Em, We Ball.'

"I remember I was walking through the house with a rap book, a do-rag on and some headphones or something, and my dad stopped me ... he was like, 'Why are you trying to be something that you're not?'" Of course, that's actually who B.o.B was and is, but his pops didn't want to accept that right away. "I was like, 'What do you mean, something I'm not?' I'm an MC, I' m a lyricist, I'm a rapper -- I love this," B.o.B fumed. "If someone tells me I [can't] do something, I'm going in the exact opposite direction."