The-Dream

“My gears that I have to go through... One minute in my mind to be Beyonce and one minute to be Rihanna and one second to do a hook for Kanye and then have to write records for myself. I'm so many people, I'm never just one person. So I don't have to reinvent because artists around me reinvent for me.”

“People are so over what they did yesterday, they don't even sit and discuss what made it a great time. They'd have to be reminded by their Instagram, after 52 weeks, and it's like 'Oh, I remember that now.'”

“My uncle used to say, 'You'll go on and become the dream of the family.' That's how I got my name.”

“I really love customising certain songs for certain people. No matter what weight that comes with it - whether it comes with it not being a number one on the Top 100 or whatever. I'd rather write someone a career defining record.”

“The easiest part is growing something from nothing because there's no expectations.”

“I'm a hopeless romantic, of course.”

“What I look forward to the most is influencing an individual to go out into the world and make the world a better place.”

“I have a problem with men that are supposed to be R&B artists that talk about women in a certain way, because you're supposed in the cornerstone of uplifting love in a sense.”

“I learned to play instruments and I've been in bands since I was 13, but I wanted to be an artist and I really wanted to design cars.”

“I was playing a lot of Coldplay before the world knew who I was, before anybody knew my 'Umbrella' song. Those songs still stick in my head. I just love it. It's without pop culture, it's just a song. It's just singing.”

“When the Atlanta Braves were owned by Ted Turner, he was very passionate and did whatever it took to do something good - and eventually he made money. Labels used to be the same way. Now they're corporations, and it's only about their stock.”

“At the end of the day, I'm big on principle and loyalty.”

“I refuse to do something that's not me as an artist.”

“I want to be the king of music. Period.”

“I understand freedom of speech but if I made my living spreading rumors about people, my family wouldn't claim me.”

“When people try questioning my artistry or what it is that I do, it's because it doesn't look like everybody else's art.”

“You never know somebody till you get in the room with them.”

“I don't believe in cards. I believe in cash. I'd carry gold if it wasn't so heavy.”

“I'm an artist because of how I do things, not because I'm trying to be one.”

“I got fed up with the idea of partnering with labels on a major scale because of how they have to deliver things. They get gun-shy.”