I think the first half of my 20s I felt I had to achieve, achieve, achieve. A lot of men do this. I’m looking around now and I’m like, Where am I running?
I’m not trying to sound pretentious, but we did sell 12 million records on the first album, so we did get paid a little bit.
I’m completely removed from any hype that comes my way.
I really didn’t try to make an effort to make urban music, but I am a product of my inspirations.
I sang in church growing up. Memphis is the blues capital of the world, we like to say.
As an actor, it’s your job to find the way to play a character. I think you can latch on to some things that might have happened.
Obviously, with creating music you are solely responsible for the creation of it.
I grew up in Tennessee where you either play football or you don’t do anything at all. So I was a bit of loner, being interested in music.
I’m not a comedian so I’ll probably get crucified for saying this, but I think with a lot of comedy the impetus behind it is: I’ve been rejected so many times and I’m bitter and now I’m going to talk about it.
My idol when I was growing up was Michael Jordan the basketball player because of his work ethic rather than his talent and because of what he went through to be as good as he was.
I think with each generation comes more opportunity. At least that’s the way that I see it. I grew up in a generation that watched the birth of the internet. We all have. But I feel like I look around at the generation younger than me and it’s a very opportunistic mantra.
The Internet is a really strange place to be.
I sort of dreamed about directing before my career as an actor took off. I’ve directed stage before in so many capacities on tours. I put that together. You have to. Otherwise, it’s your statement. It’s your voice, and that has to come through.
The teachers that we actually learn more from are the ones that taught us life lessons more than trigonometry. And they have such a huge responsibility and they’re under-appreciated and underpaid. So that’s my opinion of teachers.
My step-dad is probably the greatest man I’ve ever known. The best advice I’ve ever been given was when he told me to enjoy my life because one day I’m not going to be as agile as I am now.
We gotta figure out a way to pay our teachers more. They’re like surrogate parents away from home. They have such a huge responsibility and they’re underappreciated and underpaid.
I’m a mutt as far as music is concerned, because I listen to everything.
In creating music you are the writer, the director, the producer, you create it from scratch. Obviously in playing a role in a film, you take guidance and put your trust into the director. You come into it and you really trust people.
That’s why I love entertainment, in all forms: it’s connection disguised as escapism.
The feeling of being different is really what makes us the same. We have our own struggles, yet we want the same things. We want human connection, a place to feel at home, and pizza.
I love the spaces that are not about the win but the practice.