Louisiana taught me another level of humility. Everyone is so content, not socially content but spiritually. Everyone is happy with who they are and loves their city regardless of what has happened here with Katrina and all the different stories. They have a sense of pride and it really rubbed off on me.

As much as he's been through, he's so alive and open to change. That's what I wanted to channel and I feel that's the root of who he is. So I was still and listening to God. All of that came together to really birth this human being known as Ralph Angel.

Ralph Angel was such a great character. The single-father image has been portrayed in so many ways so having the ability to be a part of that narrative excites me!

I just owe it to myself, to God and to everybody who supports me and people who don't even know me yet, to just be fully intentional and authentically real with everything I do, say and create.

I feel responsible to know what I'm talking about and to actually express myself the way I choose. We have to put those messages on a global platform period. That, to me, is inspiring.

Ralph Angel, for me, was about getting in touch with the similarities between the characters. I felt like he was a human being that I knew and [somebody] that I've been and am currently still exploring.

As a young, Black man, I absolutely feel responsible.