I got a call from a mutual friend of ours, Charles King, who's also the executive producer. [Steven Caple Jr and I] had a conversation about it. I read it. We kind of finished each other's sentences when it came to the nuances and personality flaws that the character had, and some stereotypes and things we were trying to stay away from. We agreed on that as well. He just kind of allowed me to run rampant with the ideas. As we paced ourselves through, we developed Turquoise.

I don't feel like I need to preach to the world or nothing like that. I just feel like I share what I say, and if listeners get it, they get it. And I never underestimate the audience's ability to feel me.

I grew up with all mothers, all women. I come from a long line of matriarchs, very strong women.

I believed in myself, and I've always worked very, very hard as an artist, and I am an artist in every sense of the word.

I had the opportunity, as a child, to grow up in a community center where I was exposed to theater, music, art, and computer science; things that I would have never had the opportunity to even meet had it not been for those people taking time out of their schedules, helping us as children to travel all over the world while sitting in a gymnasium. That's what I did before I was a musician, before I was a recording artist, I was a teacher and a community leader.

The Man That Knowz Something Knowz That He Knowz Nothing At All.

The metal or the stone that's helping me .I'll incorporate them into anything I wear - but I think it's about accessories more than anything, because it's how you accessorize yourself that gives you your own unique style.