Quote

I hate negativity in general. We, as artists, we pour so much into our music and put out something we believe in... it sucks that people tear you down.

There is a downside to having one of the biggest-selling albums ever.

My first instinct when I write songs is not a negative one. It's something positive... Everything I've ever done has some form of hope in it, I think.

I listen to all the top 20 songs, and top 20 albums, even the rap albums. But I don't like negative messages. If somebody is putting a lot of ego out there, I don't like it. When I make my records I want it to be sincere.

I don't do something because I think it will sell 30 million albums. I couldn't care less. If it sells one, it sells one.

People don't really listen to albums anymore. They just find good songs.

I never want to record something that I'm not proud of just because I think it might be a big hit. There's no positive about that because if you record a song you hate and it's a big hit, then you're singing a song every night that you hate. And if you record a song that you hate and it isn't a hit, then you sold out for no reason.

If you listen to most of my songs, the lyrics are pretty kind of dark, but I like to put it behind happy music because then it evens it out... I'm really happy, actually. Obviously I have my bad moments, but I always challenge myself to not put negativity out there because there's already enough.

When you're releasing an album, you never know how it's going to go. You never know how a critic is going to receive it or how much it's going to sell.