This accident, or incident, happened in the most secure place I could have felt I was in: Walking onstage with my guitar, you know?

I didn't have to leave my neighborhood to be surrounded by the things that 'Super Fly' is about. It was easier than most scripts because it was about an environment that I knew.

I don't like to appoint myself to nothing, knowing I'm no better than anybody else. But it always makes me feel good to know I try to do the best I can, and those who might observe say, 'Hey, I can take a little something from that person.'

I didn't put Priest down. He was just trying to get out. His deeds weren't noble ones, but he was making money, and he had intelligence. And he did survive. I mean, all this was reality.

I think my grandmother was one of my biggest influences.

Being a young black man, observing and sensing the need for race equality and women's rights, I wrote about what was important to me.

I was writing songs from when I was 12. My songs always came from questions that I need answers for.

When I was just coming up, I always wanted to be able to perform to a large crowd with a symphony.

With a spinal cord injury, which most people don't really know about... there are many, many complications that actually lead you through your life, and sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down.

Through my fans and my children, my wife, just good people, I'm coping.