Compassion can change a lot of things, including the world. Young people especially need to know that, because they're the future.

If I had to pick one social action I could encourage all my friends, family and fans to do, it would be to teach a child. One, to educate them about good music, but two, because that kind of relationship helps build a bond. When you share music with somebody, that then becomes your link to them. Music is what connects a lot of us, over borders.

People need to spread love towards strangers. We all bleed the same blood and we are all part of a global community now.

We live in an era of consumerism and it's all about desire-based consumerism and it has nothing to do with things we actually need.

The urgency for me is to hurry up and become visible enough to either influence or shame other artists or corporations into understanding that there needs to be an equal starting block. You can't rush to make the changes. The rush that I have is to change the mindset of the people who can actually influence the situation in developed countries and in under - developed countries ... and not all under-developed countries need to develop. Maybe they just need to learn and be re - given the tools to understand how to use the land that they live on.

I felt I had an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of great soul musicians of the past, who made a lot of social and political commentary through their music.

In hip-hop, I wasn't very focused on delivering a message. It was just a string of lines that didn't connect. What I wanted to do is write stories... and affect someone's emotions with that song. I think as a soul singer, I'm able to accomplish that.