Motown will always be a heavy-duty part of my life because those are my roots

Even if I don't release it myself, somebody else might hear it and want to record it. When you write a song, it gives it that potential.

If I just gave you a piece of paper with the lyrics written down on it, it would mean something to you. It would tell you a story.

Once you're a Motown artist, that's your stigmatism, and I was there from the very first day

We're all going to be victims of temptation at several points in our lives.

My uncle Claude was my favorite uncle he was also my godfather. He and I were really, really close. He used to take me to see cowboy movies all the time when I was a little boy because I loved cowboy movies. He got a cowboy name for me, which was Smokey Joe. So from the time I was three years old if people asked me what my name was I didn't tell them my name was William, I told them my name was Smokey Joe.

Everybody has their own soul.