Being a parent is not easy, but speaking for myself, it's a wonderful blessing and the most rewarding job I've ever had.

I am now in a place where I have to be truer to myself first before anyone else. If you're not real, how can you expect others to be real with you? The older you get; you aim to have an understanding of who you are as a person. But, I can honestly say, I am a better me than I've ever been in younger years.

I turn on the radio now and I don't have anything against a lot of sequenced and programmed and electronic music, a lot of it is dope and it's the future. It's what popular music has evolved to.

I have always tried to keep an honest, age-appropriate line of communication open with my daughter,India, even during the teen years, a painful time of development when they usually shut down, and the last person they want to speak to is a parent. But India would always tell me what was going on, so I really encourage people to be as open with your children as you possibly can.

If you're mourning, cry, scream and purge whatever is going on inside you emotionally. That's part of the process. And keep those that love you very close as you go through it.

What's working for me is like when I go into the studio, I'm trying to get goosebumps.

If I want to be moved by the track, I don't want it to be sequenced, I want it to be somebody playing the guitar or piano or a horn arrangement where you can hear the breath. You can almost smell the studio while listening to the music. For me, that's what moves me emotionally, that's what I came from. I think that's always going to work best for me.