I just make music based on what I believe.

All of a sudden it became that hip hop didn't used to be about partying; hip hop used to be about putting out a message.

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

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.

When I was five years old, me and my cousin got into a fistfight because when "That's the Way (I Like It)" came on the radio, he said, "That's my song," and I said, "No, that's my song."

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.