Most artists try to avoid cliches, but it's pretty hard to avoid them if you yourself end up being one.
I definitely dislike pomposity and artifice. I hope that I'm not that. Once I write a song, it belongs to the world, and the way people perceive it, it's cool.
I have to say I have never been comfortable with somebody else telling me what to do - in any way.
I have an English family and I've lived in England for years.
Traditionally, duos get accused of lots of things.
I wanted to show the world, and myself too, what I can do. I came up in the world of Philadelphia soul, but I'm fluent in a lot of languages musically and I like working with different people from different generations.
I think Philadelphia has been underrated over the years as a musical region.
Being at college, I think that's the time when you really start searching for things outside yourself.
Smokey Robinson is one of my heroes as a singer and songwriter, a major influence on my own music from the very start.
As a singer, I float around. I'm kind of scatty, bouncing around a lot. I try to adapt to what's going on around me in the song and the arrangement.
I returned to upstate NY where I just laid in bed for days with a fever that just wouldn't go away. After more of this, I grew increasingly sure that this was not simply the flu!
What I do isn't black music, it's just my music.
I was just like a 21st century person waiting to be born, and this is the medium that I thrive in. And I feel stronger now than I did any time since I've been a teenager - I mean, musically, creatively.
As I got older, my voice got better.
Americans think that if you're popular, there must be something wrong with you.
