I was the front man of the choir and then when I was 12 and I was the leadsinger of my highschool groups.

I feel like my job is to make impact, spread love, tell great stories, inspire people, that's what I am going to do.

Anybody under the age of forty knows hip-hop, gospel and R&B pretty well, and it's all a part of what we consider to be 'black music.' There is a natural synergy between the three.

Critics like to describe and categorize things, and categories often have a way of limiting people.

I listen to all those kinds of music, from classic soul to hip-hop to Brazilian music to, you know, jazz to indie to alternative... And for me, when I'm making music, it's all in my head, and all those influences in my head. So if something comes to me that's a reference from a different genre then people are used to hearing from me, I'm not afraid to go there with it.

Every artist wants some sort of feedback, because you make this music and you hope people love it and you want to hear if they love it and what they love about it, what their favorite song is, what they think the next single should be. I like to hear those things.

Sometimes there's that perfect moment when the crowd, the music, the energy of the room come together in a way that brings me to tears.