CeeLo Green

I was one of those kids, inner-city youth and finding my way. I made it. I made a success out of myself, surprisingly.

In my opinion, hip-hop has a lot to do with rock and roll, because at one point it was considered an alternative - edgy, independent. Hip-hop is pots and pans the way that punk is garage. You make something out of nothing.

I most certainly am not harboring any sort of negative feeling toward the gay community. I don't have an opinion on people with different religious, sexual or political preferences. I'm one of the most liberal artists that I think you will ever meet, and I pride myself on that.

Antique things have an appreciation and worth. Something can be old, but it can be timeless; therefore, it becomes an antique. If this antique is preserved and deemed precious, it could be passed down as a family heirloom.

Balance is key. Balance is a virtue. Balance is next to godliness, maybe. We should all aspire to better balance. Too much of what is said in this world is one-sided, and we need more balance - in our speech, in our music, in our art, in everything.

Emotion is something that you don't simply receive. Emotion is compelled. Other than that, we're just shells until we're possessed or reanimated from time to time by different emotions.

My style is ambiguous and lucid. I wish to be signified but not summed up. I don't want to have to go over the top each time.

I cry all the time. Music makes me cry.

There was a time when I didn't like myself at all. I thought I was a cruel joke. But now I've come to realise that maybe I am not cute, but I am beautiful.

Predictability is the cousin of death: I don't necessarily want people to see me coming. You know?

To lose my mother just as I'm right on the brink of crossing that threshold over into a career, it was pretty compelling. My entire career is my mother's work, for me.