I came to California and got signed at a young age. And it’s not like you see in the movies, where you start rubbing shoulders with Timbaland and Pharrell, and you become a giant pop star.
Expect me to give my all. Thats what I do every time I have a show. Give my all.
Got Chucks on with Saint Laurent; got kiss myself I’m so pretty.
No one sells a song better than the person that wrote it.
I don’t throw lavish parties or nothing like that – I just want a bed and a TV.
I don’t try and be dark, but there are obviously darker emotions that I want to capture sometimes.
I am so proud and so happy to be Filipino.
You’re amazing, just the way you are.
Oh every time I close my eyes I see my name in shining lights.
I tend to overthink things. I’m not the guy who screams ‘This is a world smash!’ when I finish a song.
In my songs, I’m not saying something that’s never been said before. The have lyrics aren’t going to blow people away. It’s the emotion and the melody that drive it home.
Ever since I was a kid, this was all I wanted to do. I’ve wanted to do music. I wanted to sing. It’s all I know.
You know, I just do whatever feels right to me! And so that’s what you’re gonna get!
Every artist should want to be like Michael Jackson.
My dad was into the 1950s doo-wop era. If you look at those groups, or at James Brown, Jackie Wilson and the Temptations in the 1960s, you’ll see you had to be sharp onstage.
In pop music, the public usually see the results – the hit records, the Grammy Awards performances, the concert tours – but not all the work that goes into getting into the spotlight. And not everyone realizes that, even if you have a lot of talent, chances are you won’t make it.
I’m a big fan of the young 1950s Elvis when he would just go onstage and control the whole environment.
My goals are – I don’t need much. I’m a simple man. I think that success is having fun. And when I’m having fun doing music, I’m happy. If I can make a little money on the side doing it, I’m really happy.
My father’s a musician and my mother’s a singer. My dad’s originally from Brooklyn and he was a Latin percussionist so I’ve always had instruments around the house. He used to have a show like a 1950s rock and roll show with Little Richard music. They would do doo-wop songs and stuff like that.
Whether it be a reggae song, rock song, a love song, the main thing was just to, whatever I was feeling, to try to capture that emotion.
Every time I try to write a song, when I sit down and think I’m going to write, I really want to write a song, and it never works out. It’s always when it hits me unexpectedly on a plane or right before I go to bed, something like that.