QUOTE (John's statements on a variety of topics)

John on other celebrities
• "I think Jamiroquai is a cool band. They haven't had a hit in the states in a while, but I really like what they do. It's distinct and fun."
• "Kanye West is a brilliant artist and a good friend of mine. We've worked together for a long time and I've enjoyed working with him. Sometimes people don't like the persona he projects to the press, but he's been very generous to me since I've known him, and I have nothing but respect and gratitude for him."
• "Now Kanye and I have been nominated for eight Grammys. It's amazing. When I found out I called Kanye straight away. I'm happy for him and he's happy for me. The cool thing is we aren't against each other in any group."
• "I don't know Ms. Hill very well. I've only worked with her a couple times, so I can't really say whether or not she's changed. I do know that her voice sounds as beautiful as ever. She's a genius."
• "Ms. Hill and I were not in the studio together. I worked on the production with Wyclef while she was touring Europe. When she got back to New York to record it, I was out on tour so I didn't get to work with her in the studio. But she sounds great on the record and i think our voices sound really good together."
• "India Aire is a very talented and beautiful performer. I really enjoyed performing with her, and I'd love to do it again. We don't have any current plans, but who knows?"
• "John Lennon was truly an amazing contributor to popular music, and we were lucky to have him for as long as we did."
• "Snoop, I've only met a few times, but I have a lot of respect for him and the long career he's built. I appreciate the fact that he was willing to be on my album. He was also a guest at a recent show that I did in Los Angeles. I originally met him because his head of A&R at his label is a good friend of mine from the University of Pennsylvania, my alma mater."
• "I've been trying to catch Coldplay this year, but I was always doing my own show whenever they were playing near me."
• "I am a huge fan of Prince. I've been able to meet him a couple times, and I was genuinely starstruck, which doesn't happen to me often. He is one of the most important artists in pop music history."
• "I'll continue to work with Kanye, Common, & Consequence, my GOOD Music family members. And I'd love to work with other hip-hop stars, especially Jay-Z, my favorite rapper."

John on his songs & music
• "I believe that modern r&b/soul is suffering due to watered down songwriting. People just don't write good songs anymore. They just get a hot hook and a beat and they're satisfied. I think people need to put more care into writing good songs. Also, R&B tries to be too hip-hop sometimes because radio prefers hip-hop. I could talk about this for hours, but that's the short answer."
• "I wrote 'She Don't Have to Know' from the perspective of two people cheating on their girlfriend and boyfriend, respectively. When you're cheating, you hope that your significant other doesn't find out. That doesn't make it right. But it happens sometimes, and I wanted to write a song about it."
• "Don't just judge me by my name. Listen to the music, and if you still don't respect me, that's fine. I can't please everyone."
• "A good soul song makes you feel something. It moves you and inspires emotion. It tells a compelling story and does it with music that is melodic and soulful."
• "Legend is a nickname that some friends starting calling me several years ago. My real surname is Stephens. Time will only tell whether or not I'll become a true legend. You cannot do that with only 1 or 2 successful albums. You have to build a successful career. Hopefully, I can do that."
• "I wasn't expecting to start a movement with a song 'Alright'. Just be careful. You might get your ass whipped if you mess with the wrong man's girl. Anyway, maybe I'll write a song about girlfriend-stealing that goes wrong."

John on his family
• "I don't have any Ethiopian ancestry that I know of. My family is primarily African-American. As far as I know, most of our ancestors are from West Africa, brought to America as slaves, then with some European and Native American blood also mixed in."
• "I was so happy to be able to include my family on the album. They're all very talented, and we love singing together. We recorded 'It Don't Have To Change' in a few hours in a studio in Cincinnati, Ohio. My family is very talented, and it didn't take much rehearsal for them to nail the song. It was such a pleasure recording with them."

John on his fans
• "Everywhere I go, the fans are very enthusiastic and show a lot of love."
• "I like small gigs for the intimacy, but I also like to see a huge crowd of screaming fans singing along to my songs. I get a rush from that."

John about love
• "It's off-putting when someone idolises me. It wouldn't be the best in a relationship - the power dynamic would be all wrong."
• "My longest relationship was seven months. It is partly because of the business and partly because of my personality. I'm picky and I like to move around. The fact I'm a touring musician is perfect for me because I get bored easily."
• "Eventually I'm going to want to get married and have children, so I have to be with someone I feel good about raising my kids."
• "Hopefully, anyone I date likes my music, so if that qualifies as a fan then yeah, I would date a fan. But there has to be an equity between us. They need to be successful in their own field and confident and they can't look up to me too much."