I wanted to be a singer when I was 5 years old. But when I was making a new album - kind of before, I listened to a lot of music from the 1970s and everything and every time I listen to albums that
Marvin Gaye was going on, a lot of his records--like
Stevie Wonder and
Isaac Hayes, and I was thinking about the kind of music that
James Brown was kind of making, not just to get up and do your thing, but, "Say it Loud and Proud - Stay in School, get an education!"