I've always felt misunderstood. Growing up, it's been my word against the teachers' or my parents' word, and nobody would ever listen to me.

When I did 'Happy Birthday,' I wrote the treatment for the video before I wrote the record. And once I wrote the video, I had a clear understanding of what I wanted; I created the soundtrack to that video.

I stopped watching sports because I didn't want to watch someone running up and down the field making millions and I'm not doing anything about it. That methodology made me go harder and take control of my career.

When I was a kid, I was just rapping about school and stuff like that.

I think there's a responsibility more as an artist to try and push in the direction you think comedy should go... The biggest thing I could do for the art that I love was keeping it art: keeping it special, keeping it honest, keeping it truthful.

For me, as someone growing up in a working-class suburb in Stockholm, I couldn't afford all the music. So back in '98, '99, I was really thinking about how I could get all the music and do it in a legal way while at the same time compensating the artist.

I love writing for women. The willingness to go from laughter to tears in a moment is the greatest palette you can paint with as a writer.

Creativity and artistic endeavors have a mission that goes far beyond just making music for the sake of music.