Ne-Yo

“Early inspirations included Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie... Those were the people I actually wound up studying just to hone my craft.”

“I'm the type of guy to put the water on the stove and then walk away and 10 seconds later be like, 'Come on, boil'!”

“Back in the day, Motown was on the pulse of young America. It wasn't about just dope contemporary. It was pop, it was R&B, it was all of that.”

“My style is mainly about comfort. It has to be comfortable, it has to lay right on me, know what I mean?”

“People are bringing a lot more of that funk element into their music, you know, with Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson - that's one that you never thought you would hear something like that on the radio again 'cause it just sounds so much like the Back Bay and what they were doing with music back then.”

“I've never been the guy to go for the celebrity girl. I've always liked regular girls, regular people, because I've always viewed myself as a regular person who just happens to be gifted in music.”

“Michael Jackson believed in making music that made people feel good.”

“I think people are getting into these 'Empire' songs because of the emotional investment they have in the characters. You kind of feel like you know the songs already because you just watched them play out in front of you with these characters.”

“'Stomp the Yard' was a great film. It was a great film, great opportunity. It's the reason I live in Atlanta to this day, that film. But as far as acting goes, it wasn't very challenging. I played me.”

“I've spoken before on how the art of storytelling has been lost a bit. I definitely feel 'Empire' is helping to reprogram us back to that place where we pay attention and invest emotionally in the records and the artists.”

“I am blessed to be doing what I do. So if I have to be at a photo shoot, do an interview, or make a TV appearance, I am not going to sit around whining and complaining about how I don't want to get up early or I don't feel like talking.”

“That has been everybody's challenge, above the dancing, the singing, the lines: getting into who these characters would be in 2015. Today's Tin Man is heartfelt, but he wouldn't be soft. Today's Dorothy would be sassy.”

“I feel like everything is inspired by something else. There is no 100 percent original thought.”

“I would've given my right arm to do something on the 'Ray' film, the movie about Ray Charles.”

“I've never viewed myself as above anybody else or anything like that. I'm a regular guy at the end of the day. I like Cinnamon Toast Crunch and The Powerpuff Girls.”

“A lot of times, when artists are rushing to put out projects, it's on some financial tip because they want to make money. But for me, I'm not in any rush.”

“Let's make Holberton one of the biggest schools on the face of the planet.”

“There's no recreating what Michael Jackson and Diana Ross did in 'The Wiz'. We're trying to figure out who these characters are in 2015. How would these times change their motives, change the things they would say and do?”

“I grew up in Las Vegas. My mom worked in pretty much every casino on the Strip.”

“The name of the album is 'Non-Fiction'. And, I'm calling it that because the name of every song on this album is derived from a true story. Now, some of the stories are mine. Some of the stories belong to some of my fans.”