Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
What's love without a soundtrack, you know?
I just make music from my soul and let it be.
I grew up in church and on the block; the best of both worlds.
I ain't rocking with Trump, but politics I kinda keep to myself.
The world hasn't noticed, but R&B has shifted. It's changing course.
Using what you have is always creates more opportunities for the future.
Falling in love in our generation just isn't as popular as it used to be.
Whatever your purpose is that leads you to the point of no return, that's where you go.
I just believe in giving people their roses while they're living. That's my new thing - period.
I've got some cool features with some cool people coming out but I can't speak on it right now.
Using what you have always enhances what's to come no matter if it's an album, song, artwork or whatever.
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 love loyalty, and I love paying back my end of loyalty, you know what I'm saying? I love making it full circle.
A connection should be natural. Just be yourself, and you will find someone who likes you for exactly what you are.
House is a big part of the rhythm in Chicago. I don't care if you're the most hood gangbanger - you understand house.
So from Jazz, Blues, R&B, Soul, Classical and Country music, Hip Hop has introduced us to a little bit of everything.
Singing is something I do every day - not every other month. When I touch the mic, the same thing happens every time.
Hip Hop has introduced us to a lot of genres that we probably wouldn't even listen to in our own homes from our parents.
I don't really concentrate on Urban AC or whatever. I don't concentrate on genres or how people section off songs for radio.
You cannot have black music without something soulful in it, whether it's lyrically, how it's performed, or how it's expressed.
The people I'm inspired by and I listen to are all ballsy, and I feel like I'm closer to an artist when they're open and honest.
Success for me is being comfortable, and not in terms of a certain level of financial status, but that comfort comes from within.
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.
The most important and common thing is to be able to connect with your fans. If you can't live life, then you can't connect with the fans.
R&B is everything. Hip Hop, Soul, Gospel and Classical Blues are everything. All of that makes sense in BJ The Chicago Kid and what we do.
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.
There's no unicorns that pop out the ceiling and no glitter that pops out of my pocket. It's just regular people in the studio doing what we do.
I just sing the song and I sing it with conviction, meaning and I get into the mood of every song I do no matter how much time I have in between.
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.
Chicago taught me when to talk, taught me when to shut up, taught me when to stay, taught me when to go. And really it all forms to make BJ the Chicago Kid.
Every hip-hop artist I have worked with has a respect for higher power, whether that's church, Allah, or any sort of higher being - they all have a humbleness.
Passion without purpose is kind of pointless. I think God gives us the vision and wisdom to help enforce what he sees for us. You don't just sit at home and end up on 'Empire.'
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.
I thank God for Hip Hop because Marvin Gaye didn't have that and he was able to be that dope. For us to have that and more, I feel like it is up to us to be as dope as we can possibly be.
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.
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.
You just do you like when you're doing any other song. It's nothing different. Some people are like "How's it like working with Kendrick Lamar?" and really, it's like working with anyone else that I work with.
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.
I embrace everybody, but you work everybody and each song at a time to who it is for. I believe that's how you build a palace. You build a palace one block at a time and then you'll have what you want. That's how it goes.
The aggression. The love. The joy. The pain. All those feelings and emotions that come from the music are Chicago. Chicago pretty much made me the man that I am. It's in my name. I have no choice but to accept and embrace that.
Just to be a part of something that can travel beyond and reach the lives of people and help them through a daily problem or struggle or even just giving encouraging words, period. I feel like it's very powerful. I thank God for my gift.
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.
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 started singing backgrounds for Mary Mary and Usher during 'Confessions.' Then I jumped to working with Anthony Hamilton, Jill Scott; jumped again to Kanye West, The Killers. I kept saying, 'OK, this is the last time; then I get to do my music.'
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.
Style is a big part of my life. I used to work in retail before I was an artist; a lot of people didn't know that. I was so good at selling clothes and shoes, and just the lifestyle, that I could tell what size someone was wearing just by looking at them.
In a compass, we got north, south, east and west, right? But in between that, you got things like north-east - now that, to me, is where real life is. Everybody's life is not straight: it's often 30 degrees to your left, or in the hardest part of the reach.
I definitely have a relationship with God for myself, and yes I grew up that way, and I choose to keep the relationship that way. It's real; that's my balance. Sundays, I was in church, and Monday through Friday, I was with the knuckleheads having a little fun.
I'm part of this show called "Shots Fired" that is premiering on FOX. It's right after the Super Bowl. It's a pretty incredible show. I'm pretty much the voice of the show, so the voice of the opening credit record and the songs in between is pretty much my voice.
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.