Musician

When I write, I write about my surroundings. Sometimes it's light, and sometimes it gets very dark.

I just want to keep pushing the envelope without it feeling forced.

The Joker is my favorite villain of all time: You don't know his past; you just know what his plans are.

I'm pretty laid-back in real life. I just love hanging with my friends and making jokes. The jokes don't stop - literally, all day.

I feel like I'm the kind of guy that would have kids before getting married. The first thing would be kids.

Thanks to my fans that have been with me from the beginning, I was able to sell out arenas on my own.

For me, bomber jackets are smart, but they are also street and have a lot of attitude.

I make good music for long journeys.

My inspiration is R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, and Prince - for the vocals, anyway.

I want to produce the music to a movie that I'm working on, like what Prince did with 'Purple Rain.'

I don't believe in icons.

For an Ethiopian mother, if you have a chubby kid, it means you're doing something good.

I always hated how I looked on camera. I never put a face to my music, which actually made the music that much more mysterious.

I feel like the way I was raised was to be able to see through all the titles in this world - from religion to race.

I'm a studio rat.

I didn't like the way I looked in pictures - when I saw myself on a digital camera, I was like, 'Eesh.'

OVOXO will always be there.

I'm a huge fan of R. Kelly's. He's a musical genius and probably the most prolific artist of the generation before mine.

All of my music is honest.

Music is like film to me.