When I see people of my likeness, or who are somebody that I feel connected to, doing something great, I fee like I can do it. It gives me some hope and vision.

I embody EVERYTHING from the Godly to the party.

I put God first, and strive to do my best by being a loving human being, recognizing that sometimes I make mistakes and bad choices.

To have my name said like, "Common and John Legend, Golden Globe nominees," is one of the greatest achievements I've ever had as an artist, as a person.

There [are] times when I put out an album, and I don't hear my songs really on the radio a lot, and it's like, Dang, I ain't inside that world. But I'm still moving some people or touching some people.

This is my inception, I'm writing my dreams.

When I did the album Electric Circus, not only was it not commercially received. But even the critics and hip-hop community was like "What is this?" At that moment, I could've been written off. But I had to believe because I really love what I do. I'm passionate about it. If 12 million recognize it, that's beautiful. If 12,000 do, that's beautiful. But I'm always going to put my heart and soul in it and I'm going to shoot for the stars and go for the highest levels of recognition and creativity. I definitely doubted myself at the time. But it always come back to believing what I do.