Absolutely, I grew up listening to soul music. People like Stevie, Aretha, Ray Charles, Michael and Prince. My parents’ record collection was all I had when I was a little kid. If it wasn’t that, it was something else in their collection.

I definitely caught a lot of backlash in my situation, not just from students but also from faculty, which was unfortunate, given that I was spending a lot of my time outside school working on a career, which a lot of people didn't really agree with.

I want to keep everyone happy but at the same time I also have to be confident with what I'm putting out and be secure with it.

Whenever I have time, I try to get in the studio and write, whether it's for me or other artists or my catalog of music. It's definitely one of my favorite parts of the music industry.

If you really want it, you need to really work for it.

I've always wanted to play a soldier and I'd never taken on a character where I'm the happy-go-lucky protagonist. I've played a lot of jerks recently.

I went to school every day, like everyone else, and I played baseball for my high school team. I was a part of a lot of different activities outside of school.