When I was a kid, I used to look in the mirror and pretend I was Elvis.

When I heard BB Kings Sweet Sixteen, I knew I wanted to play bass because that was the thing that made that record: the bass player.

Im the middle man. I try to keep people happy. I go out of my way to get a smile. Thats the way my mother raised me.

I knew when I got to play with Al Jackson I would be a better bass player because he was the best drummer in the world. I worshipped him.

Most of my school friends and even a few of my teachers called me Duck.

I always look back and say I should have made more. It should have been more lucrative, but it wasnt.

Elvis wore a halo. Otis Redding did, too. You knew you were playing with a star when you played with them.

Plus, I grew up with Steve Cropper. There were so many good guitar players another one wasn't needed. What was needed was a bass.

I try to keep people happy. I go out of my way to get a smile. That's the way my mother raised me.

I'm the middle man. I try to keep people happy. I go out of my way to get a smile. That's the way my mother raised me.

Voicing out against injustice in the society is championing a just cause.

Music was all over my house, and all over literally my genetic house, and my house in the literal sense. So I kind of couldn't avoid it.

You know, when I did 'American Idol' the three times, I tried to tell these kids you have to tell the story of the lyric.

Some people think its just fun and games and others don't know how much I pushed to get here. They have to be in my shoes, but by listening to my music they can find out.

The art of good teaching begins when we can answer the questions our students are really trying to ask us, if only they knew how to do so.

Rap is just somebody getting something off his chest. That's all it is.

If you can't help me grow, there's no point with you being in my life.

There is absolutely nothing that can be taken for granted in this world.

I love children. I'm embarrassingly baby-crazy.

Good friends help you to find important things when you have lost them... your smile, your hope, and your courage.