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You can't be afraid to be honest and to be yourself. We all have imperfections and fall short at some point. Showing your human side creates a sensitivity, openness and trust. That's the beginning of the demise in a relationship - not being honest and not being you.
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Style is a big part of my life. I used to work in retail before I was an artist; a lot of people didn't know that. I was so good at selling clothes and shoes, and just the lifestyle, that I could tell what size someone was wearing just by looking at them.
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I only collaborate with the people I rock with in life, period. I rock with people where I really respect their craft and respect what they're doing. That's what collaboration should start from.
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You just do you like when you're doing any other song. It's nothing different. Some people are like "How's it like working with Kendrick Lamar?" and really, it's like working with anyone else that I work with.
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Living my life socially means there is a swagger to how I dress, walk; it's not about being 'cool,' it's just being me - that's understanding your place and your center - that's what swagger is, and I guess that's where the soul comes from.
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We concentrate so much on anniversaries and birthdays that you forget it's the Tuesday that's tough that really counts. Sometimes she just needs some flowers or even just that ear. It's the little things that count. It's the regular days of the year that you have to keep your attention on her.
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Using what you have always enhances what's to come no matter if it's an album, song, artwork or whatever.
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In a compass, we got north, south, east and west, right? But in between that, you got things like north-east - now that, to me, is where real life is. Everybody's life is not straight: it's often 30 degrees to your left, or in the hardest part of the reach.
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Honestly, I've learned from results, period. Everything isn't a failure. Sometimes it just doesn't work. That's not a failure. Maybe it just means it wasn't its time.
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Passion without purpose is kind of pointless. I think God gives us the vision and wisdom to help enforce what he sees for us. You don't just sit at home and end up on 'Empire.'
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I thank God for Hip Hop because Marvin Gaye didn't have that and he was able to be that dope. For us to have that and more, I feel like it is up to us to be as dope as we can possibly be.
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As a man, if you're married, your happiness is with her happiness. If she's unhappy, everything's messed up. It's a woman's world for sure.
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Falling in love in our generation just isn't as popular as it used to be.
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Singing is something I do every day - not every other month. When I touch the mic, the same thing happens every time.
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My dad helped me understand songwriting because of him playing Babyface a lot. I don't even know if my dad realized that him just being him, him just living his life, loving what he loved, poured more into me than anybody ever would know.
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I don't really concentrate on Urban AC or whatever. I don't concentrate on genres or how people section off songs for radio.
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When you are making an album, it is about the purpose - you are creating both a concept and vibe, then you follow through with that.
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I grew up in church and on the block; the best of both worlds.
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There's no unicorns that pop out the ceiling and no glitter that pops out of my pocket. It's just regular people in the studio doing what we do.
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My mom and my dad was the best example of unconditional love I could see as a kid. I've known it my whole life. Interactions, kissing, hugging - it definitely wasn't the fake love.
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Most people have to learn the words to the National Anthem before they sing it. I learned these words when I was a child in elementary school, so this is something that's been embedded in me ever since I was an adult.
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Every hip-hop artist I have worked with has a respect for higher power, whether that's church, Allah, or any sort of higher being - they all have a humbleness.
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R&B is everything. Hip Hop, Soul, Gospel and Classical Blues are everything. All of that makes sense in BJ The Chicago Kid and what we do.
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House is a big part of the rhythm in Chicago. I don't care if you're the most hood gangbanger - you understand house.