I've always wanted to make a career in the arts, and I think that my only hope at doing that is to make it more about the work.

You just do what you can and you have as much fun as possible.

If it brings me to my knees, it's a bad religion

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.

We all know we have a finite period of time. I just feel if I'm going to be alive, I want to be challenged - to be as immortal as possible. The path to that isn't an easy way, but it's a rewarding way.

I don't know if I ever told you this before, but you're the only one I ever waited for this long.

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.