Nowadays, with the state of the music business, for any artist, whether you're up-and-coming or you've been in it for awhile, you have to explore different revenues and different ways of expressing yourself.

The music business is not a good place for people who don't know things.

I can't just make a song people can dance in a club to... it still has to be real.

It's up to us to choose whether we win or lose...and I choose to win.

When you come from so many damaged places you don't ever want to spiral back there, so you gotta continue to check yourself.

No one intimidates me because I'm not trying to do what you do, because I can't do what you do. I can only do what Mary J. Blige can do, so that relaxes me right there, and it gets me out of the competition and that whole thing.

In the inner city, there's a mentality that the government owes you something. My breakthrough came when I stopped feeling sorry for myself and took responsibility for every part of my life. No more pity parties. I've gotta love me more than anybody else loves me.