I've always had good support of parents for doing what I wanted to do. When it became music they were just as supportive as well.

You have a deeper connection with people who you have shared experiences with and shared pain.

The thing with me is, I'm from a rap background so I'm not really a traditional singer in that sense.

I have an urban background, but I need melody, I need a song, so I try to mix and match and keep it fluid.

When a song comes from a real story and from a real place I think it comes across to people. That's important.

I believe the things I love inwardly will be received by the right people outwardly. I believe that what I believe in will be received well. I try to keep that as a foundation to what I do.

Some people say that music isn't something you are; it's something you do. It's having a constant desire to share and express. But I believe it's something you are. To me it's more inward.

I think when you're younger you have a more black-and-white view of things. You're more exclusively dedicated.

Nakedness of what you do is exactly who you are, and that's how it should come across.

I have caressed a small child’s hair, and in doing so, know there is a God.

If I lie to you, it's either because I'm scared of you or scared of losing you.

If you go to thinking take your heart with you. If you go to love, take your head with you. Love is empty without thinking, thinking hollow without love

The tendency of an advanced civilization is in truth monarchy.

It is much more fun to write about villains then heroes. The villains are the ones that think out the scheme, and the heroes just kind of come along for the ride.

When oil goes over $40 a barrel it's almost impossible for America to do well.

Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg.

I now know all the people worth knowing in America, and I find no intellect comparable to my own.

Past performance speaks a tremendous amount about one's ability and likelihood for success.

To love blindly is to love selfishly, because the goal of such love is not the real advantage of the beloved but only the exercise of love in our own souls.