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.

In school, I studied psychology, linguistics, neuroscience. I understand that there is a real lack of respect for the brain.

What do you actually need? Food, clothing and shelter. Everything else is entertainment.

I continue to write songs that are topically related to social, political and economic issues of our time, but I also recognize that onstage, I have a lot of fun and audiences have a lot of fun, so I'm trying to package the messages in music and sounds that are fun to perform and fun to listen to.

Hip-hop educated me about other forms of music, because it sampled from all different styles.

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.

Industry executives sacrificed art for what sells and mega-stars now saturate the market with the same tired lyrics.