My first attempt at a kiss was in fifth grade, but it didn't go so well. Later, I used Boyz II Men and Jodeci songs to come on to girls. I had more success.
I don't think it's an artist's responsibility to be political all the time. I think your first responsibility as an artist is to make music that people will listen to and enjoy. However, I think that when you are able to say something that is moving and put it in a great song, then that is even better.
I always saw myself as a singer-songwriter, a solo-artist, that's why working with other artists was never satisfying for me.
I'm trying to be me and embrace all the parts of me that have grown up, listened to more music and soaked up more influences.
I'm honestly not a great gift giver. I could give better - my girlfriends have always complained about that.
I don't feel like that many musicians are competitive with each other.
I think they need to get a more reliable way of watching television on the laptop. Because I travel so much, if I want to watch my favorite sports team it might not be showing in that place, so I want a reliable way to watch whatever I want to watch on my laptop.
We weren't allowed to have secular music in the house growing up. I was home-schooled, and gospel was the only choice we had.
My dad liked a lot of Motown, but I didn't listen to it until my teenage years.
Artists are, I think in general, compassionate people, and part of what makes us artists is that we're open-minded people, and I think we're almost, by definition, progressive in a lot of ways.
I like a lot of documentaries, I like political movies and political thrillers. But I also like a good action movie. I like a pretty wide range.
Trump's been a public personality forever, and that's fine if you want him to be a reality-TV host, but if you want him to be president, there's a different standard.
The best training is to play by ear: trial by fire.
The Obamas have been a great example for the country, and I think people are getting a bit nostalgic for that now when they see what some of the alternatives might be.
Even with G.O.O.D. Music, we have artists that have done very well, and we've had artists that haven't. Being attached to Kanye is only going to get you so far. You've still got to have the records and the talent and the artistry on your own to carry it.
I love to make fried chicken.
I studied African American studies, and I read these slave narratives and the escape narratives of people that were able to escape slavery and always found those stories intriguing and powerful and inspiring.
In my neighborhood in Springfield, Ohio, there were a lot of young kids. We all played tackle football after school, but I knew very early on that I was not an athlete.
There are autobiographical elements to the albums, and when I write, I always reference my own life as well as other things, so I'm just like any novelist or any fiction writer who tells stories.
I always felt that rap didn't cause crime; it just reflected it.
