I would sit in the back at church every Sunday trying to hide, and just when I thought I'd gotten through the service without her [grandmother] calling on me to sing 'His Eye Is On The Sparrow,' she'd always call me up

I really wanted my music to reflect my personal life and what I set out to do every day.

If people wanted to fight me-because of my hair or because my skin was too dark-then I fought them

When you're listening to my album, I want you to know that things happen and eventually you get over it

Rarely a producer gives me music and I write to it. I think that's too easy. Most of the time for me, it's on an elevator or in my car listening to absolutely nothing. I'll just be driving and then the lyrics birth.

I've never killed anyone but I've felt the emotion

You never get another first time. I just remember being excited and that feeling of "Wow my dream is really coming true".