I always say I wanna work with Alicia Keys. I'm in awe of her.

Someone told me something that stuck with me: "You have to envision your life, and then go backwards." I've been living by that motto for a while, so I see where I need to be. Now I'm just backtracking and trying to get back up there.

I think I don't take myself too seriously. You know as far as, it's a fun life. I take my music serious, but I like to have fun.

What I like about Elvis is the same thing I like about James Brown, Michael Jackson, Prince. These guys, back in the day, there was no smoke and mirrors. It was just raw talent. They would step out onstage and command an audience. Talk about awesome.

My mother is a singer, my sisters all sing, my uncles are incredible singers and guitar players, so it's just kind of been like my habitat.

I felt like I didn't have [any] pizzazz, and a lot of girls say I'm out of this world, so I was like I guess I'm from Mars.

I watch the best. I'm a big fan of Elvis. I'm a big fan of 1950s Elvis when he would go on stage and scare people because he was a force and girls would go nuts! You can say the same thing for Prince or The Police. It's just guys who know that people are here to see a show, so I watch those guys and I love studying them because I'm a fan.