BJ the Chicago Kid

“As a man, if you're married, your happiness is with her happiness. If she's unhappy, everything's messed up. It's a woman's world for sure.”

“Living my life socially means there is a swagger to how I dress, walk; it's not about being 'cool,' it's just being me - that's understanding your place and your center - that's what swagger is, and I guess that's where the soul comes from.”

“I can't be Stevie Wonder; I can't be Marvin Gaye, but I can be the foundation that I think withholds that mold.”

“I realize how much my life lines up with artists like Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke. My sound comes from church, but the stories come from actual personal experience, being out there in the streets living life.”

“Have you seen the oddest couple in the world, to your eyes, walking down the street? That means there's someone for everyone.”

“My whole childhood was church. But as an adult, I've grown to understand my relationship with God versus how I sing. People in church are like, 'You sing the devil's music,' but I believe in balance. I can't just party with you. I got to help you, too.”

“I love loyalty, and I love paying back my end of loyalty, you know what I'm saying? I love making it full circle.”

“I feel like Black Milk has found his way of putting his life into his music. I feel like, lyrically, he is a beast; a lot of people sleep on Black Milk. Black Milk is a monster. He from church. He from the street. He get down how I get down. He's a soulful cat, and I love how he get down.”

“I left the city to accomplish something. And by leaving the city and trying to accomplish something, I've been a terrible cousin, brother, son some days.”

“You can't be afraid to be honest and to be yourself. We all have imperfections and fall short at some point. Showing your human side creates a sensitivity, openness and trust. That's the beginning of the demise in a relationship - not being honest and not being you.”

“We concentrate so much on anniversaries and birthdays that you forget it's the Tuesday that's tough that really counts. Sometimes she just needs some flowers or even just that ear. It's the little things that count. It's the regular days of the year that you have to keep your attention on her.”

“I only collaborate with the people I rock with in life, period. I rock with people where I really respect their craft and respect what they're doing. That's what collaboration should start from.”

“When you are making an album, it is about the purpose - you are creating both a concept and vibe, then you follow through with that.”

“There's something about real music, dawg. It comes to you; you don't have to go to it.”

“Falling in love in our generation just isn't as popular as it used to be.”

“It's crazy all the dreams you have about what you want to do, how you want to do it, and when you're going to do it. As a child, you never know the date or that one person who's going to take you to the next person, who is going to put you in position and give you that one opportunity.”

“My dad helped me understand songwriting because of him playing Babyface a lot. I don't even know if my dad realized that him just being him, him just living his life, loving what he loved, poured more into me than anybody ever would know.”

“Whatever your purpose is that leads you to the point of no return, that's where you go.”

“My mom and my dad was the best example of unconditional love I could see as a kid. I've known it my whole life. Interactions, kissing, hugging - it definitely wasn't the fake love.”

“Most people have to learn the words to the National Anthem before they sing it. I learned these words when I was a child in elementary school, so this is something that's been embedded in me ever since I was an adult.”