We romanticize studio rat life. At the least, Young Thug certainly does.

In a new Interview Magazine interview with Virgil Abloh, Thug revealed that he spends upward of 16 hours a day in the studio, and breaks down how that has shifted his songwriting and content.

“When I first started, the topic was real-life situations,” Thug said. “But I now spend maybe 16 hours a day in the studio—I spend almost all my life in the studio—so I try to turn everything I go through in those hours into something. Anything crazy, or iconic, or even a mistake—whatever it is, I feel like it’s precious. That’s my concept.”

While this 16-hour routine explains Thug’s prolific output, it does leave us with one compelling question: How much can an artist grow and change if their entire life takes place in the studio? For certain acts, living within your work is the best way they can create, but for others, life must be lived before the real music can start to take shape.

So many fans pine after their favorite artists’ earlier works because that writing tends to be more reporter-ly. The writing tends to be more centered on struggles, circumstances, and life events leading up to stardom and life as an artist. As artists accrue fame and lock themselves in studios, that strand of life music frays.

Does that mean Thugger should get out more? Not if he feels like he needs those studio hours. If he is talking about “precious” moments and needing those types of emotional dire straits to create, then peace be with him. After all, he’s Young Thug. He would know Young Thug’s creative process best.