For the first thirty years of my life I exercised very little, and I smoked cigarettes for ten or twelve years, and I ate junk food. And I began to see some elders in my community's health decline, and I didn't want that to happen to me.

I've been compared to people since the beginning. When you're starting out, you need a comparison so people will understand you right away.

I think especially with the Internet and the amount of reality shows that are going on, there's no way to keep a secret anymore, so I try to let my project be as much as reality show as I can allow it to be.

Everything in life influences my music. I've always used songwriting as a means to share what I think is profound.

When you're writing a song and there are five people invested in it, it's easy for one person to say, 'Oh, this song is about this and that', and everyone has to hear the idea and see if they can do better.

Do you ever wonder what happens to the words that we send Do they bend, do they break from the flight that they take And come back together again with a whole new meaning In a brand new sense, completely unrelated to the one I sent ((Did You Get My Message?))

I won't give up. Even if the skies get rough.