What is a soul? It's like electricity - we don't really know what it is, but it's a force that can light a room.

I'd like to think that when I sing a song, I can let you know all about the heartbreak, struggle, lies and kicks in the ass I've gotten over the years for being black and everything else, without actually saying a word about it.

I can't help what I sound like. What I sound like is what i am. You know? I cannot be anything other that what I am.

Music's been around a long time, and there's going to be music long after Ray Charles is dead. I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind. If it's a big record, that's the frosting on the cake, but music's the main meal.

Love is a special word, and I use it only when I mean it. You say the word too much and it becomes cheap.

There are many spokes on the wheel of life. First, we're here to explore new possibilities.

I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water.