I'm part of the party getting the crowd fired up singing songs pouring drinks whatever it takes to get them to have a good time. When I walk into the meet-and-greet someone's always going to have a story a sad story or a happy story.

You put a song on the record or on tape and you stop singing it. You just don't sit around and sing it anymore unless you're performing. That's kind of sad.

Ideally I would love to mix singing and acting but you can only be a pop star for so many years. I mean at 30 it's a little bit sad right?

So many schools are getting rid of music programs and it's really sad because I know that when I started singing and stuff it was something that I always wanted to do and I never believed in myself to be able to do it.

Anyone who can do the splits and come back up on the backbeat as James Brown and Prince can has my eternal respect. Prince who is a genius of the highest order can come back up while singing and playing the guitar.

What I miss today more than anything else - I don't go to church as much anymore - but that old-time religion that old singing that old praying which I love so much. That is the great strength of my being of my writing.

What is normally called religion is what I would tend to call music - participating in music listening to music making records and singing.

I've been singing for six years. I've been in and out of the studios with top producers but it wasn't something I was ready to express to the public or to the press. I wasn't ready to come out. I wanted to perfect my voice and be 100 percent positive that I could come out right.

The same people who are murdered slowly in the mechanized slaughterhouses of work are also arguing singing drinking dancing making love holding the streets picking up weapons and inventing a new poetry.

I never really liked poetry readings I liked to read poetry by myself but I liked singing chanting my lyrics to this jazz group.