Finally, I've reached a place where if I'm working with an artist, they allow me to just do whatever I feel. Growing up, it was like, 'We want another 'Peaches and Cream.' Then you realise... why would you want a 2001 Mercedes Benz when I'm making 2018 Benzes?

My first significant break was when I was 15, going on 16, and my cousin Courtney 'Bear' Sills told me you can make a career out of writing songs. He was the one who put me in with 112. The first song I did with 112 was 'We Can Do It Anywhere.'

Back in the Nineties, I was in an R&B group. I signed my first record deal when I was 12.

Being a songwriter, my job is just to write songs for people. I'm not attached to them.

I didn't even know what a beauty editor was. It sounds like a fictional job if you think about it. You get to test lipstick and perfume and nail polish legitimately and call it work.

I started my career without fans.

You've got to be a little vicious. You've got to be narcissistic. You've got to be on fire about your career.

The English Patient' was a huge turning point in my career and my life; it became this huge thing. But the whole Oscar build-up got completely out of control; I spent more time talking about that film than I spent making it!