Go for someone who is proud to have you.

With my art, it's the one thing that I know will outlive me and outlive my feelings. It will outlive my depressive seasons.

People are just afraid of things too much … Sure, evil exists, extremism exists. Somebody could commit a hate crime and hurt me. But they could do the same just because I'm black. They could do the same just because I'm American.

Being singer/songwriter implies versatility and being able to create more than one medium, and R&B artist is a box, simple as that. It is 'that's what you do, that's what you are', and that's a little unfair, to me, because I don't just do that. So I like singer/songwriter because it allows me to move a little bit more freely.

Don't ever play with someone's feelings, you could win the game but you could lose that person forever.

I don't have any secrets I need kept any more.

I've written some great things. That's a gift, but there's consequences. Yeah, you get this great work, but you suffer. You really, really suffer.