Quotes from The-Dream

I am pretty frank of a guy. That used to be appreciated, back in the day.

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.

What I want to do is to create a conversation piece and something people remember. I want to make it repetitive enough but not use what I call 'thin thinking' - the kind of thing anyone can do. A hook tells me what you are talking about and it doesn't have to be a lot of words.

My days, sometimes, it's just about work. I'm not thinking about taking a picture in the studio, and I don't have the time to stop being creative to stop and post on Instagram. That's not a part of my creative process.

Politics changes music most of the time. Ronald Reagan - you can kind of say that he made hip-hop what it was by the embargoes that he set. Certain things that he did created N.W.A in a way. Politics has always done that.

My grandfather would go to work at 6 A.M.

I'm everybody in music's guilty pleasure.

The record company has fought for themselves, never for me.

Rhythm and blues is about what life is, it's about being able to talk heartbreak and understanding that people go through it, not about this fantasy in how much you're spending.

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

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

More than anything, 'Purple Kisses' just came about because I'm very hands on, especially in relationships.

It was always in me to just put records out. I don't like holding on to records.

I'm a hopeless romantic, of course.

Spiritually, I just have an innate feeling about things and individuals in life and I'm touched in that way that I can't explain.

My influence is everywhere. You know when you're touching people.

I love movies. They've always influenced the music i've done.

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 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 listen to Sinatra way more than a person my age probably should.

It takes a lot to put a 5-piece band on, even though we need it. We need those harmonies; I need those four background singers - not because I can't sing but because I need to relay the message of what the song is emotionally, or the feeling, period.

I'm not a singles artist - I never have been.

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 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.