Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I never have really become accustomed to the 'John.' Nobody ever really calls me John... I've always been Duke or Marion or John Wayne. It's a name that goes well together, and it's like one word - John Wayne.
For me, it's always been about a mix of hip-hop, acoustic singer/songwriters, and piano rock. I pull all those together. Each song may lean more heavily on one than the other, but they all have all three pieces.
I get my competitive edge from my mum. When we're together, we're competitive about little things - it'll be, 'I can bake cakes better than you can.' But she's never been a pushy parent; she's always just supported me.
There have been so many photographers and editors who mentored me over the years. At the very beginning, the person who taught me the most was Arthur Elgort. I always loved working with him. We traveled a lot together.
One of my brothers teaches karate at our gym and also handles the administrative side of the gym. My other brother is a fighter like me and teaches a class at the gym. So my brothers are always at the gym together training.
With me and Timbaland, we would always be at the studio, but working separately. He would be doing his thing with the beats and I would be doing my thing writing and then we would both come together and say 'OK, you add this to it and I'll add that to it.'
Academically, I think things kicked off pretty late for me. I was kind of one of those kids who was in half honors, half regular. I was like a history/science kid, which was always weird. Around tenth grade or eleventh grade, everything started coming together.