Some of the greatest artists did their best work when they got political.

Risk the fall to know how it feels to fly.

When I was a kid I'd practise Chopin on piano - and I love Chopin! He's my dawg! Then I'd go out on the stoop and blast the radio. I'm from New York, the concrete jungle. Hip-hop influenced me from day one.

If we took the time to learn more about different places and people, perhaps we would have more empathy for each other.

I've always been strong-minded, but I wonder.

You don't know what will happen from one minute to the next.

When I was younger, my mother and I, we'd have these crazy, crazy fights. Everyone would storm out mad, and the only way that I'd be able to express myself was to write her. We would write letters back and forth for days. When I'm writing, I feel uninterrupted. I write what I'm going through and how I see it.