Usher

Marketing is more important than it has ever been. But I'm trying to tear the layers back and make it not so contrived. I think people just want entertainment.

Sometimes, when I'm scolding the kids, I sound just like my mom. I'm like, 'How did Jonetta get in here?'

As a kid, looking at Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, New Edition, the Temptations, Motown, people who I felt were huge artists, they made me wanna do something.

When I was a kid, we got in a cipher and battled each other lyrically. We told jokes and made the hottest dance moves.

I'm not a morning person, but I've become one as the result of having kids. The morning is my private time to spend with my boys.

Somebody has to look out for and protect our kids, and I feel blessed to be a blessing to someone else.

If you get lazy when you're onstage, it shows.

You can't fake being a star. But you can also become a great personality.

The best present a man can give a woman is his undivided attention.

The girls want to see the rips on your stomach - they like that.

I went through a soul-searching period. I went to a place that was a little bit more reflective and dark. I began to look at who I am, who I was, where I come from, what my culture is, and who I am as an African-American person in America.

My music is about where I am at the time. In 'Raymond vs. Raymond,' I was going through a lot of things, and it came out in my music. My marriage fell apart, and I was suddenly a single father.