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You think about D.C. as a boring stuffy place. That's kind of its image. But if you grow up in that, you see all these energetic, fun people and crazy stuff that happens behind the scenes that no one knows about.

I grew up in D.C.

My pals, such as they are, in Hollywood, ask me why I love to travel to D.C. so much, why it's a vacation destination for me. I say, 'Because I sometimes have perfect days there.'

I was born technically in D.C., and then my family moved to the Columbia area when I was in elementary school. It was right on the line between Clarksville and Columbia in Howard County. I remember it being just like a peaceful, safe atmosphere. I always felt connected to the woods and that whole suburban feel.

There's this perception of D.C. as a boring town run by old white men, but in reality, there are incredibly young people in charge of really important things.

What I love about L.A. and Washington, D.C. is that they're almost the opposite of each other. L.A. is a very creative space while D.C. is a very cerebral space. So, they're the ying and the yang in my world. I like them both for their own reasons.

Growing up in D.C. there are so many different types of educational and professional levels. They call D.C. 'Chocolate City' but just because we're all chocolate doesn't mean we're all the same. In D.C., everyone co-exists harmoniously but the lines are still drawn. And people don't really step over those lines.

D.C. is one my largest audiences. They buy tons of records of mine in Washington, D.C.

I love the area I grew up in, which is right outside D.C., in Alexandria, Virginia.