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I think most artists will experience a lot of negative people on Twitter but, thank God, I've got so many followers that I'm not able to see them that much. I'll see some from time to time but, for the most part, I always focus on something good.

On the radio there's only a certain amount of artists: Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kanye, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, T.I., Mary J Blige, Alicia Keys. Other artists are achieving things that are really special, they have a hard time getting people's attention. Music has been just a little bit lacklustre.

Once artists are expected to shock, it's that much harder for them to do so.

As a new artist, you come out, and there are so many other new artists. It seems like there's a whole wave of new artists that come along every year. In '05, I was part of the crop. It was a lot harder trying to set myself apart from the rest of the pack.

It's a really cool time for artists who want to strive for a little more depth in what they want to say to come forward. We live in a very fast world right now. We've got all this media and music which is so accessible to us, it's here one minute gone the next.

Because artists can be extremely eccentric and insane, and unfortunately, the people they hurt the most are the people that are closest to them.

I think all artists need to try to improve, or their work gets stale.

Artists are overcompensating with this aggressive, energetic, hyperstimulating music - it's like someone shaking you. But it can't move people on an emotional level.

I feel like every artist has an opportunity to create something new and to challenge themselves to reach out to a new crowd.