My mother brought up nine children, in Hackney, and none of us are criminals, none of us in jail. Her strength made me who I am today.

English urban artists were very used to making secondhand American music, and I thought that was boring.

I'm all for trying anything once; otherwise, you end up like David Guetta - reproducing the same formula over and over.

Those that know me know that I'm not 100% in love with commercial pop music. It's not my preferred genre - I don't do squeaky clean pop.

I've made so many changes to my records because of the way the audience has reacted at the various festivals I've played - I've taken tracks back into the studio, stripped them bare, and built them back up again to create something entirely different.

I'm a hundred percent a rock n' roll guy.

I don't think about the success that I've had - I've had a lot of success with music - but I always look at it like it's a new day.

I'm a perfectionist, and to actually finish something is good for me.

You can make what you want. People care about what the artist has to say, what the sound is, and how it affects them.

I think, as an artist, I wear a lot of different hats, and people have to join all of the dots.

You can't go up to girls and start talking about minor 7ths and expect to pull. It's not going to work.

I grew up not really having a father figure, and it didn't bother me, because he wasn't there in the first place. But then he started other families, and I was jealous. It was like he was happy without our family.

I don't ever think it's a good idea to try to recreate the success you've had before; it's all about chasing something fresh and new.

When I was younger, I'd be in the studio three days straight to get something right, and my manager would be like, 'Go home!' Even now, I still sleep in the studio sometimes, but I can't do it quite as often. I've got gigs; I can't have my hobo beard! But if you love what you're doing, you can't stop. It's obsessive.

You get so close to your own music that you can't see the beauty in it. I had to learn to let go. It's good to be less precious.

I think producing a record for other artists is almost like giving them advice, and I would say that it is easier to produce another artist than it is to produce yourself.

My ethos is musical freedom: to create whatever I want.

One thing I always really enjoyed about Quincy Jones' production technique was that there were so many layers to every song. Like, one week you'd hear a new trumpet-line, then the next week you'd hear - be hearing a new guitar-line.

I actually tried to learn the dictionary at one point. It didn't work; I only got through the first few pages.

It's a lot easier producing for people or being in the background, and they can take all the fire from the front. But in order to express the ideas that I have without any kind of contamination, I thought it would be a cool thing to be out front.

I don't see categories; I don't see styles - l see them all gelled together. And it was gospel that definitely helped me to do that.

The first tour an artist does is a strange one... because you can never tell how the audience is going to react.

My main thing is I just want to share as much hope and happiness as possible for music. If I can share as many moments and help people believe in themselves... if I can do that, then I'll feel like my job is done.

I definitely didn't wanna be a one-dimensional artist that you can just put into one box. Because, to me, we're all masters of certain energies, and we all create different colours.

I'm not just looking to be famous and attach myself to famous names. I want to make history in the business in terms of creativity.

I have learned that while your putting your record together you can get so caught up in making what you want that you forget what you wanted in the first place.

When you make a record, I always imagine people dancing to it. If the chef thinks it tastes good, then there will be someone who ultimately believes the same thing.

Urban is not actually my world. It was me trying something out, basically. I come from a gospel background.

I'm from Hackney, and it's an area that is not so pretty, and we have a different way of expressing ourselves than somebody from uptown that has lots of money.

I really enjoy 'festival life,' as it were, and I love the reactions when I bring out my guitar on stage. The crowd are always a bit like, 'What the hell is this urban guy doing with a guitar,' and that's what I love - the shock element of it all!

I got into music through just being inspired by my brother and sisters. They all sing, play instruments and write - and they're very good at it.