I grew up studying music. I went to conservatory.

I'm an artist at heart.

It's funny, because in drama school, my greatest strength was my range. So my early career was like that: I played all kinds of different characters.

Notes are tricky in an audition, because I find, more often than not, my instinct is right.

You don't see a lot of black rock stars. The music industry tends to be segregated stylistically. It's hard for a black artist to cross over to rock music.

I started to realize, a lot of times if you go into your memory, your sense memory, you know more than you think you do, from having watched and listened.

Sometimes you have to say, "No. This is my space." If you're going to come at me, come at me respectfully, and I will respond respectfully.