He knows I rip him off every day. He's the godfather for me. Nobody can say they aren't influenced by what Stevie Wonder has done.

I just want people to take a step back, take a deep breath and actually look at something with a different perspective. But most people will never do that.

I went back and listened to the first three albums I made and tried to figure out what was special about them, why people keep going back to them. I think it was because I didn't know what I was doing. I had no idea if they were going to play it on the radio or anything. All I did was write songs, so that's what I got back to.

Lionel Richie told me forget about the critics. But if you come back with hit after hit, you don't have to worry about anything.