I wanted to show the world, and myself too, what I can do. I came up in the world of Philadelphia soul, but I'm fluent in a lot of languages musically and I like working with different people from different generations.

The biggest honor of my career was when I won R&B Artist of the Year back in the 1970s. I look at that as a major honor.

Smokey Robinson is one of my heroes as a singer and songwriter, a major influence on my own music from the very start.

What I do isn't black music, it's just my music.

I wanted to show the world, and myself too, what I can do. I came up in the world of Philadelphia soul, but I'm fluent in a lot of languages musically and I like working with different people from different generations.

I think Philadelphia has been underrated over the years as a musical region.

Every artistic form has its golden age, and unfortunately I think the golden age for whatever I do probably ended about 1990.