I think you're always policing yourself by trying to do what you think would be "cool" and accepted by other people, until you start to figure out who you really want to be. Growing up is an ongoing push-and-pull of you being yourself and you performing to what society expects you to be.

When I write, I don't really focus on duets or anything like that, or whether I'm going to feature this or that rapper. I just focus on just making a great song and figure out the rest later.

A just society is not one built on fear or repression or vengeance or exclusion, but one built on love. Love for our families. Love for our neighbors. Love for the least among us. Love for those who look different or worship differently. Love for those we don't even know.

I'm honestly not a great gift giver. I could give better - my girlfriends have always complained about that.

My family is very musical, I was surrounded by it. And from four years old I was the one that asked my mother could I take piano lessons.

I would tell myself, "Love yourself and don't be afraid to take risks." I was often afraid to take risks, socially, because I was young and a little more shy and still figuring out who I wanted to be. Sometimes I look back and think, "I should have just been bolder and more confident."

You see all these things that make you feel desperate or sad, but you realize changes can be made, and it doesn't take a lot of money on our part to make a change in people's lives.