“Singing wasn’t a reality for me, until other people started noticing I sounded good.”

The people who support me and my dreams make me feel like I’m on top of the world.

I love music, so if I wasn’t singing, I would probably still be working in the music industry. I love songwriting, so I’d probably be a songwriter.

As blacks, all we got is sports and entertainment. That’s the only way out the hood sometimes.

I wish I never fell so deep in love with you and now it ain’t no way we can be friends.

I don’t think music can be held. I don’t think artists can be put into boxes or places. It’s all about creating and making the best music you can.

I think everybody gets lonely sometimes. I don’t know if people can ever understand how you can be in a room full of people and be lonely sometimes.

Change is a natural form of progression.

From the music I make, to the things I do in my life, I’m true to my R&B core.

I love Calvin Klein underwear. That’s the only kind of underwear I wear.

Petersburg, growing up at home, all by my family and friends, Petersburg really, city-raised me, you know everybody there.

I’ve never really been settled. I don’t think I’ve ever known what it was like to be a person that was used to sitting still. I think it’s given me the ability to detach from any situation.

It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t get a little nasty.

The first tattoo I got was when I was 17, and it’s a cross on my bicep with ‘Only God Can Judge Me’ underneath.

Style is a display of character. It’s also a great way to express yourself and the ladies like it.

I think ‘selfies’ are fun and expressive, as long as you don’t get carried away with it.

In my dressing room, you’ll definitely find some Starbursts and Skittles. I have a lot of candles that remind me of home, and a humidifier for my voice. I also have some digital Kodak albums where I have pictures of my friends and family.

I want to do good work. I want the opportunity to work with good people, and the only way I’m gonna do that is to commit 110% – you get out what you put in.

I got good grades in school, but I’m not sure if I’m smart or if it just means I can study. I’ve never taken one of those IQ tests, and I don’t want to. It’s so pointless. As long as you enjoy life and have fun and you’re healthy and happy, that’s what matters.

I discovered martial arts, first judo and then karate, and I became quite good at it, because I had something to prove. And more than anything, I needed to feel safe.

The sign of a good society is where talent is respected.

I’m not good at future planning. I don’t plan at all. I don’t know what I’m doing tomorrow. I don’t have a day planner and I don’t have a diary. I completely live in the now, not in the past, not in the future.

There’s a long history of all kinds of cop films… But all these films are really about the same thing: the good guys triumphing over the bad guys.

I’ll eat anything. I love food in general. I love traditional Mexican, carne asada. Just meat, beans, rice, and some good salsa.

The third rule of life is this: Everything you buy today is smaller, more expensive, and not as good as it was yesterday.