My music is very raw, it's emotional, and it's honest. I do my best to tell a story whenever I write music because I want to paint the most vivid picture that tells a story whether a person is falling in love for the first time or going through a painful heartbreak.
I can't be passionate about something that I don't understand. In my music, I feel that's why people can connect so well with it because it's all honest.
I feel like pain is the quickest way to relate to someone because everybody has been through that and everybody has had a heartbreak.
I feel that when you have a passion and you are real, you last throughout the ages and you're able to reincarnate your artistry numerous times.
Love and heartbreak is something that's always been a part of me.
I'm connecting and that's really what any artist wants at the end of the day which is to connect with their fans and supporters.
I am so weak over love and heartbreak. My music is rhythm and blues and with that said, the blues element of it is a major portion. I feel like it has been lost in R&B and a lot of people are scared to talk about their vulnerabilities and insecurities. They want to keep it up and in the club.
The influence that Oakland has on my sound is about 90%. There's so many different elements to Oakland. Of course you have the street elements, but then you also have the culture and there's so much culture around. It's a competitive city, it's full of just great artists and talent. It gave me the confidence, the passion, the realness I try my hardest to portray, so it has had about 90% influence on me.
I think that I work hard to make my music as a diary for new generations who find out about it years later. They can go through the history and see a trail. It's straight and narrow, you can see the growth and understand that I'm not afraid to give you honesty and be honest about anything that has to do with my story.
I don't like to veer away from the truth because I think that's what people have fallen in love with about my music. It's honest. I can't portray to you something that I've never been through or something I didn't watch someone close to me go through. It's the best way for people to get to me know.
Every time I hit the stage I try to take something from it. There are a lot of shows and opportunities to be seen like that. I like to just take all of them and allow them to help me build.
I'm one of the artists that even though I love my soulful stuff, I love to turn up and have a good time and that's another side of me. As long as it doesn't veer away from who I am, I'm down with it.
I never put myself in a box. I like to have various different types of songs and different genres and situational songs. No matter is going on, I have something for that time or era.
When you have somebody who takes their craft seriously, you don't have to babysit them and be there all the time.
Everything I do is about setting up for the next. I think that my confidence and belief in myself as well as the music and trusting my judgment of my songs really grew the most.
If I had to collaborate with anybody on a song, I would pick Kendrick Lamar because he is so dope as an artist and I love his hustle and his passion. He is fearless and the way he comes to the music is like we share the same passion for what we do and with somebody from the West. In my opinion that would be a great collaboration.
I'm not afraid to have the ratchet side because that's a part of me too. I like to turn up, I am from Oakland. But at the same time, there's still a classy side to me that I've seen in Oakland as well.
