Music is a frequency, and my frequency, when I put it out there, is on the love vibes. It's not always sappy. Like, 'Bulletproof' is a love song. It's a black love song. I made it for my people. I made it for the world, but I made it for my people in particular.

Being independent isn't as flashy as a lot of people may think. It's a lot of hard work; its a lot of investing your own money. And to creatively time to make your day work - it's on you to make it work, and no one else.

I'm very big on content. I kind of feel like content is king and will continue to be that, so I'm just going to give the fans what they want.

You can't abandon an audience you created, because people will find someone else.

I enjoy being slept on. It's like being on the verge of a cult movement. But making the underground-to-aboveground transition is cool.

Dr. Dre I've always been a huge fan of. The Roots as well. The Roots gave me an appreciation for live music.

I don't make records just for the ladies. I make it for the fellas, too.

I like to think that everything I do is tastefully done and doesn't come off necessarily like ratchet or something that tears women down. I like to make tasteful, seductive music.

Every flaw, scar, or mark you may have adds to your beauty.

In this life, we are in a constant search for inner peace. We long for it in all aspects of our lives, both personally and professionally. The truth is that we cannot have inner peace without balance. It seems that having too much or too little of anything completely throws off our balance, therefore limiting our inner peace.

There's only so many ways to tell a story before the story gets boring.

I am humbled and truly honored to be the recipient of The Key to the City and my own day by the District of Columbia.

My mom and my grandmother are probably two of the strongest women that I know.

We all have friends that we confide in and talk to about our relationships. At times, we do not recognize the effect that this has on our relationship. We take a lot of what other people have to say to heart, and rightly or wrongly, it makes our way into our relationships.

If you are going to believe in the fairy tale of 'Mr. Right,' then you need to keep everything in perspective. Know the things that make you happy. Know the things that enable and/or hinder your growth.

Being in the public eye, I struggle to create and maintain romantic relationships. I am constantly faced with assumptions about who my significant other is, and it seems that there is always some speculation about my relationship status.

Anything that exposes the arts more, that gives us an outlet to make money and also do what we enjoy doing as artists and to connect with the fans, I'm all for it.

Like, music and songs, what we do, we can capture history as artists, so that's what I really try to do.

Frederico Pena is an amazing talented guitarist and producer.

All of my songs were about my firsthand experiences. Pretty much, I've learned how to become my own muse and take situations from my own life and wear them on my sleeve.

I broke out of my shell once I graduated from high school and got into college in my first year.

The best thing I can do is stay on the road and build a grass-roots following. I'm constantly about building my brand.

I feel like every artist has a place in their mind, this place where they exist artistically. And I just want to take people to mine, and my place is called Loveland. In Loveland, there's no war, and there's peace.

When you make timeless music - and I like to think that's what I'm doing - the fun part is picking the songs. You can clip and flop and mix and match, and when the record is timeless and it feels good, you know it's going to have the same appeal whether you put it out now or 10 years from now. That's what I'm about.

It's a world now where you don't necessarily have to be on the radio or be on the TV to be a star. Your audience can find you and find the music.

I don't just make music for one audience.

I'm constantly trying to create timeless music that many people can gravitate to.

I've always been hands on with my music and my movement.

I've blown myself up as a revolutionary and conscious artist. As a philanthropist and a performer.

I'm constantly reinventing myself. It's a constant thing that I do.

No diss to any of my homies, but I pay very close attention to what people say about me.

'Footprints On The Moon' plans to inspire and incite positive and catalytic change.

I love people.

Racism is very prevalent and alive... in this country and in this world.

It's my responsibility as an artist and public figure to put the right frequency out there.

I have a good cry once in a while; it's such a great release. Or it could be a cry of joy - watching your child being born or your child walking across a graduation stage.

I have faith in my art.

I feel like music can be therapeutic for all of us - not just music lovers but the artists that create it.

'Black Ice Cream' is a salute to the ladies with Black Girl Magic who exude a powerful sexual confidence.

Being an indie artist, you have to fight for position against a major.

I am very thankful to Washington, D.C. for their loyalty and support.

Kids should be able eat and have health care.

I think you have some artists who try to be as conscious as they can be.

We should have better schools.

In the past, being young, I might have been standoffish to working with other songwriters.

Since I am an artist, I know the media can pick you apart.

It's never my goal to throw any of my peers under the bus.

I put my own money up when I have a vision and believe in something. If you want a company to put money into something, then most of the time, they want to water your project down. When it's your money, it's your vision from the beginning to the end result.

Social networks didn't exist when I started. Twitter and Facebook didn't exist. It was all about MySpace when I first got in the game.

Everything I do has to be poetically done.