Well, I was always a bit of a political junkie. Even as a kid I would read biographies of presidents and of civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King and Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington.
I like cool jackets – a nice fall or winter coat. You can get a lot of use out of it, and you’ll wear it frequently, so it can really set the tone of your uniform for the season.
I listen to all those kinds of music, from classic soul to hip-hop to Brazilian music to, you know, jazz to indie to alternative. So whatever. I listen to all if it. Classic rock and classic pop, all of that.
My line is probably a little more conservative than some of my compatriots in the business. But again, I think it’s all – like, it just – it comes down to me knowing who I am and knowing how I want to be seen in the world, how I want to discuss things.
Now that I’m coming out with my own record people can see I’m a solo artist.
In the 1970s, for all the Stevie Wonders, I’m sure there were five artists that were making forgettable music.
I’m honestly not a great gift giver. I could give better – my girlfriends have always complained about that.
I was always the front man for what I was doing from when I was 6.
I want to move people.
I think writers are prone to hyperbole sometimes.
I played classical as a kid.
I don’t get to listen to music for fun very often; a lot of what I’m hearing is for work and isn’t released yet.
I don’t feel like that many musicians are competitive with each other.
I always saw myself as a singer-songwriter, a solo-artist, that’s why working with other artists was never satisfying for me.
At the end of the day, there’s only a few major stars in the music business, and then there’s all these people that are aspiring to be that.
People tell me all the time that my songs help them express things to loved ones that they may not be able to say themselves.
As a young black boy, it made me proud to see black leaders that did something amazing and made the world change.
As a nation – and as a world – we need more truth.
I always felt that rap didn’t cause crime; it just reflected it.
I was a busy kid in high school – a little bit of an overachiever, I guess. Prom king was kind of silly, but the rest of the stuff was important to me.