Quotes About Opportunity

I look at rap as an opportunity to act. My head is full of different characters - in each song I'm auditioning a character.

There are so many great songs yet to sing.

A lot of great songs get looked over.

I prepared five songs, I sang them, and he hired me. I started working about a month later at the piano bar.

I always wanted to be an artist; being a songwriter for myself was always a must but being a songwriter for others has been a bonus.

Rap ain't out there for everybody; everybody can't be a rapper. Everybody can't be a singer; anybody can't just be a songwriter, but it may - there's some profession out there you can be in.

My dream collaboration would be to work with Drake. Honestly, he's an amazing songwriter, and I feel like if we got the opportunity to do a song, it would be the most amazing thing to ever hit people's ears.

The first year I moved to Nashville, I started playing these songwriter nights with people like Nickel Creek, Duncan Sheik, and even Ryan Adams... That was the first place I really started playing music, and I had to really step up my game. Really quick. Or get kicked off the stage.

People started recording my songs. Later, I was offered songwriter contracts. And then, finally, I could take the time to work on my own project. I worked hard for this all by myself.

I would love to work with Calvin Harris because I think he's a really good songwriter and producer and he does everything, which I like.

These days the whole 'American Idol' and 'The X Factor' and all that stuff has opened up doors for songwriters like me. I get songs on their albums.

For a producer, you want to be in L.A. You want to be close to the action, and in L.A. there are always singers, artists, songwriters, collaborators and other producers. It's easy to get access to all that, which gives you more opportunity to work records.

Growing up, I'd never heard of any female producers or songwriters. I didn't know you could be a girl and produce, which is terrible.

One not-to-be-mentioned major said they would sign me if I worked with a team of songwriters to help me finish songs, ha! Of course, in hindsight, I should've done it just to see what that would have been like.

I got a sociology degree and then had an opportunity to go to graduate school. But I said no, because I wanted to give songwriting a shot.

After two years in the songwriting world, I wrote 'All About That Bass.' L.A. Reid heard it and signed me as an artist.

I didn't really know you could make a living in songwriting. I was just very fortunate to have the opportunity to play a few songs for a guy there named Jimmy Ritchey. Through that meeting, I met another couple guys and ended up getting a publishing deal in Nashville.

The songwriting did come naturally; it really did. Like Joe said, the first song we ever wrote together was the song that got us signed, you know, so it was either luck, fate, or something in between.

When Eric Clapton cut 'After Midnight,' he sold so many records and it was so big at the time, I decided that I would pursue the songwriting thing. I was 34 years old at that time. I'd been down the pike and back before I had any success at all.

I feel very lucky to get to fly the flag of RCA Records and Sony Music.

I got signed to a development deal when I was 15. That fell through after about a year when the company merged with another label. Then I got picked up by Sony publishing. So I was writing professionally from 16 to 18. Then I started making my own records.

Good merchandise, even hidden, soon finds buyers.

If one swain scorns you, you will soon find another.

Avoiding the phrase 'I don't have time...', will soon help you to realize that you do have the time needed for just about anything you choose to accomplish in life.