“People will listen to a song and expect that you just have that persona on all the time. But really, that was your one outlet that one day to get that emotion out. The only difference was you put it on a canvas that’s going to be there forever.”

If you’re my woman, you’re somebody I give emotions to that I don’t give to nobody else. You’re my safe space. I don’t want my safe space to be compromised.

I probably talk to myself more than I talk to anyone.

If I’m being honest, I was messing up on every other level in my life growing up – whether it was in school or in my jobs. I was always distracted by my love for music.

I think it was ‘The Diary of Alicia Keys’. That was the first time album I ever bought with my own money. I had a little Discman.

In 2018, nothing is sacred. Everyone is everywhere and knows everybody. I don’t text too personal because somebody might screenshot it and share it.

I want to put my soul into the music and still be who I am when it comes to an actual conversation.

The first couple of times I went out and heard my voice or heard people listening when I wasn’t the one playing it for them, it felt good.

If I have a collection of songs for an EP or mixtape, I create the narrative afterwards; but usually with an album, I have a concept and the name first.

I got a dog and am trying to elevate. I’m working out, eating healthier, reading books. Making ‘Make it Out Alive’ is going to be a reflection of all of that.

I’d prefer for people to know that they’re going to get some substance when they listen to my music versus hearing the same ‘Oooh baby, I love you.’

I recorded everywhere. I would go to different cities and do a session there for the project. I did sessions in New York and I did sessions in L.A. It was just kind of wherever I was and I felt like cutting a track.

Rapping was kind of hard. It’s so many words. When you sing you can kind of stretch the words out. I didn’t have to write as much as everybody else.

My music is often written from the perspective of an extroverted introvert.

If it feels good coming out, then I really don’t care about anything else, for real. It’s all about just having fun with it. If it feels like less work, then the project is coming out better.

If I feel like making something, if I feel like saying something on the track, that’s what I am going to do – regardless of reaction.

I used to think that there was a certain way I had to stick to when it came to R&B, but now I’m saying whatever, the same way these rappers do. I’m bringing that into R&B music.

Christianity can be summed up in the two terms faith and love receiving from above faith and giving out below love.

Oh, Lord, nourish me not with love, but with the desire for love.

Here to make a difference in a world.

I’m really disturbed about the gay marriage thing. Because I think gay people should get married, cause it’s their own business. Because as a Black man, I think you’ve got to be against any form of discrimination.

I don’t pretend there aren’t biological differences, but I don’t believe the desire for leadership is hardwired biology, not the desire to win or excel. I believe that it’s socialization, that we’re socializing our daughters to nurture and our boys to lead.

I take the ball, I go wide, I cross, I shoot, but when the moment beckons, I am ready to make the difference.

The negative is comparable to the composer’s score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways.

The universe is a complete unique entity. Everything and everyone is bound together with some invisible strings. Do not break anyone’s heart; do not look down on weaker than you. One’s sorrow at the other side of the world can make the entire world suffer; one’s happiness can make the entire world smile.