My drive is still cool, it's not like how when I first began. I don't think anyone's drive is the same.
My strength has always been slow songs, so I never deviated from that, I always took care of my base and that's just doing slow songs and just pouring out my heart in songs.
To get nominated, and a lot of people get nominated and say they're glad to be nominated but I wanna win! I want to win!
Sometimes I listen to the radio and I can't believe some of the stuff that I'm hearing that everyone is loving. So it's a task that we've got to conquer and we have to make sure that we pass the test.
I think you have a lot of examples on TV of what not to do, you don't have a lot of examples of what to do.
Always making sure I'm clean. And that's truly what it's about. I think it's a lot of misconceptions about what a man is, what a thug is, and all that kind of stuff.
I think certain people may make it to sexual; and then others will offset that with the depth of R & B and all of its substance it has to have, in order to be called R & B or, known for an looked at to be called R & B and I kind of straddle the fence on that one because in my earlier years I was the 'Nasty Man,'.
I just don't like my voice in the studio, and I just don't like the studio, I'm not a studio-head. And that's why you don't get so much material from me.
I'm not going to listen to the hottest Hip Hop station in my city because that's not where I'm at right now. I'm going to listen to the smooth jams of the 90's and early 2000's. That's where I am and that's where my audience is.
I always tell people you can take the thugest thug in the world, and if you put a suit on him, he'll act different, trust me.
There's something about that suit, he'll feel like, 'Whoa,' he'll feel like a different person, and that's what it's about.
A lot of artists still will not get that far. And get that far and be as successful. So, it's a great thing for me, and hopefully I can make it to number 10. And then I would want to start managing other artists, 'cause I think the best manager is an artist, his, or herself, that has been in the business and been successful and knows the ins and outs of the business.
Just wanting to be more of an example, but letting them know also that I made mistakes when I was a kid; and I'm not expecting you to be perfect.
Everything's a 360 and that's what's so funny about life now, and they're right at that age and I have teenagers now, and I'm like 'Wow I remember when I did that.' Aint nothing new.
If I'm nominated [for Grammy] I would love to win, and get up on the stage and just say thank you. It would be a great closing, for me, a great closing to a great career.
You could have a kid that is going to get in trouble a little bit, and you can teach them as much as you can, and hopefully they'll go the right way.
That's what I try to do, my wife and I, we try to, not shelter them [kids], but still not contribute to the delinquency of a minor.
I just feel like I'm an artist that still has set a standard for artists that come up to follow and be like...So, yeah, I guess I'm a legend somewhat, I guess in my own right, but I still got a long ways to go.
I think doing shows with other R&B artists like myself brings the attention to the crowd. You can't just do those one artist shows anymore. I don't like just me being on the show.
I believe artists are too focused on the younger crowd. Why would you want to focus on them? Let them do what they do. You continue to do what you do.
When you are starting out you're inspired by so many different things, you just want to be the best, man...and you're just so ambitious; your drive is just at a million!
When you have kids and you're married...you know, life takes its toll on you after a while, and then you're just not as creative, you're not as motivated... And it takes a special person when it's time to dig down and do a record, to really go in there and pour out whatever it is you got in you to put on a record, and that's what we did.
Wear that cologne, shave your face, shave your head, cut your nails, you know...take care of yourself.
I mean the business is just so rough man, people always think the business is easy, and the business is very rough. This is probably the worst business that you can get in, as far as, business-wise.
It's probably easier for rappers as far as a respect level. 'Cause with singers, the powers that be tend to feel that we're stupid.
