Growing up in Cleveland, I learned about singing from my mother, who had once sung professionally and who admired Mahalia Jackson and Aretha Franklin.

I meet people in my daily life, people who seem to experience some change and some growth on a personal level, and that gives me hope.

People's real hopes and dreams can be distorted and misdirected and packaged until you're not sure what you really want or what you even really need.

I'm not sure if the next song I write is going to be about love or a song about a tree.

I got a plan to get out of here, I've been working at a convenient store.

Why do babies starve /When there's enough food to feed the world /Why when there's so many of us /Are there people still alone

A lot of kids spent more time out of school than in, but I always loved school and thought it was my way out of Cleveland, and out of poverty.