There's a bunch of people who sit around and make excuses for themselves and get upset with artists, but you already know what this is - it's an ego-driven business.

I listen to all types of different music. I go to different festivals. I'm around music.

You're put in certain situations and it kind of opens up those doors and it opens up your eyes to realize what your true calling was.

Brandy is one of my favorite vocalists. Jay-Z is my favorite emcee outside of Biggie.

I really was kind of like a musical nerd. I would watch VH1's 'Behind The Music.' That was heavy when I was a kid. I would sit up and want to watch that all day instead of going outside sometimes.

A song is a song and a hit record can change a life.

When you're an artist, you can only do your own stuff. Even if you only write for other people, you're really more focused on yourself. So while everybody's out touring, I'm working on records.

I really want to work with Rufus Wainwright. Michael Stipe from R.E.M. I would love to work with Kanye West.

I don't believe in writing people off.

Not to be arrogant, but I have a lot of hits, so my phone stay ringing, but it's consistent.

It's a gift that I have and I became good at it. When I heard my first song I didn't even know that I could write songs.

NOTE TO SELF – BOOMERANG EFFECTMy words, thoughts and deeds have a boomerang effect.So be-careful what you send out!

If your gonna screw up, do it while you're young. Older you get, the harder it is to bounce back.

Maintain a good balance. A personal life adds dimensions to your professional life and vice versa. It helps nurture creativity through a deeper understanding of yourself.

O spring, I know thee! Seek for sweet surprise / In the young children's eyes. / But I have learnt the years, and know the yet / Leaf-folded violet.

I'd have to say Bali's my favorite place that I've visited.

Playing Augusta is like playing a Salvador Dali landscape. I expected a clock to fall out of the trees and hit me in the face.

It puts you in a kind of a strange situation where everybody is looking at every little thing you do.

The world would be a pretty dull place if it were made up only of the first-rate, right?

The hardest thing of love is to let go.

I don’t even know at what age I started, because it’s always been there. Performing … creating … it’s in my DNA.