I have tried to write songs quickly that get scrapped. I've also taken a long time on songs that get scrapped because you can over-think something, and you've squeezed the life out of it. As opposed to work of art, it looks like a really great work of craftsmanship.

I always write knowing that people will hear it, but also hoping they'll see it. So a lot of times I make lyrical decisions based on what looks better. Also I write based on what I saw for a video. I obsess over lyrics in the hopes that they'll endure in different ways. I'm very precious about it.

A lot of us don’t get a sense of our personal power. I know the vast difference that one person can make in changing things.

I think there's something your hormones do that makes a chemical change in the way you think.

I lived in Detroit until I was six. My older sister was living with us, and she listened to the Ohio Players and Stevie Wonder, so I grew up listening to stuff like that.

I wanted to be part of changing the world. I don't want to just stand by and watch it be however it is.

Sometimes it takes time to get into what ideas actually mean to you. Even when you're not writing a song, it's like that.