The struggles I'm facing, The chances I'm taking, Sometimes might knock me down, But no, I'm not breaking.

Believe it or not, I thank my mom for how she raised me in a neighborhood where I had to jump and chase daily. It only made me what I am today.

Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared.

Five or six songs leaked from the original version of 'Encore.' So I had to go in and make new songs to replace them.

Gospel music was the thing that inspired me as a child growing up on a cotton farm, where work was drudgery and it was so hard that when I was in the field I sang all the time. Usually gospel songs because they lifted me up above that black dirt.

Throughout my career, I fed off the fuel of people not being able to understand me.