I just feel so good; it feels like a very creative time for me. As far as my mind, spirit, and body, I've never felt better.

Change is growth. For me it has been a very spiritual and musical rebirth.

My mother always told me to embrace both sides of my background. And she also taught me one very useful thing when I was going to first grade. She said, "You're Bahamian and African-American on one side, and Russian-Jewish on the other. You're no more one than the other, and it's beautiful that you have all this. It makes your life all the more rich. But society will see you only as black."

What motivates it is life. Life is everything. Life influences my music and brings it forth. Life is always changing, so I'm always hearing new music.

When it comes to acting, it's about creating a character and bringing forth a director's vision. It's a weird feeling, because with acting, it's just not about me. I love being in that position, because with the music, it's always about me.

It was amazing to me that, all of a sudden, I was hearing my music on the radio and coming out of cars.

My first guitar, a Fender Jazz Master, I traded it in for a Les Paul Deluxe.