I always say just stay positive. If you ever get down on yourself, try to find something that takes away that negative. Always find that positive area.Collection: Positive
Radio got behind me, and I'm very thankful for it.Collection: Thankful
I just like to see people smile.Collection: Smile
Life's too short to hold grudges.
I just want people to know that I'm a good person, and I'm not a thug like everybody thinks I am.
Be a good person. The best person you can be. That's what matters.
People always say, 'There are plenty of black country artists out there! There is Charley Pride! Darius Rucker!' That's all they can name. They don't understand what we go through, and a lot of people who are fans of traditional country music, as they call it, look at us and aren't going to say, 'Y'all like country music.'
I started going on YouTube and studying everybody who was super popular, from Taylor Swift to Beyonce to Michael Jackson to Chris Brown, just everybody... That's what helped me find my voice and helped me find how I write songs, just doing covers.
I was working at Lowes and Target, then FedEx, and still did not have enough money to pay rent on my own.
I could help a lot of people's kids that are going through racism or getting bullied. That's what I wanna do.
I just feel like I have a chance to be a role model now.
After graduating from high school, even though I was working, I didn't have enough money to pay rent, so I stayed with my Nana.
I was on the road with my buddy Alex - he's my guitar player - and we watched the movie 'Click' by Adam Sandler. And I don't know why, but me and him just got in our feelings. And then we ended up calling our girls, and we were like, 'We're so sorry. We wish you were here!'
You can't hold a grudge against anybody; you gotta let it go.
If you do get to know me, I'll tell everything to you. But I don't want to tell everything to the wrong people.
I'm a role model to a lot of kids.
Nobody deserves to be bullied.
When I was younger, my mom and I lived in a car because we didn't have anywhere to go.
I just want people to know that they can make it through hard times like I did.
My team and my fans are going to keep growing and getting better and making a name for ourselves.
I love everybody.
Matt McGinn and Taylor Phillips played a big part in getting me where I am.
A lot of people that only like country music, they're not fans of mine.
My fans love everything. You can find my fans at a Drake show; you'll find my fans at Post Malone all the way to Pink. They just love music in general.
I feel like everybody that saw my videos was like, 'Oh this dude's about to rap.' They just played my videos, and I feel like I shocked a lot of people.
I got bullied so much growing up for being a different color in a majority white school.
If you come to my shows, there's all kinds of different races, all kinds of different people.
It kind of feels cool to be the outsider.
I still feel like an outcast on the inside, but it doesn't bother me anymore at all.
The tattoo that means the most to me would probably be my Chinese symbol on my neck. It means love - I got it on Mother's Day.
I feel like everything happens for a reason.
My music-making process is pretty fun and easy.
I know that sounds weird, but I always compete with myself. If I do something, I always look at a chart and say I can do better the next week.
I definitely see the genre opening up a lot more. I don't know if black people don't want to get into country music or what, but I feel like we're breaking down barriers.
Now that I'm with RCA, they were able to get radio on board, and it's just really awesome to see their support and 'What Ifs' going to No. 1.
I've had a good-size fan base for a while.
My fans have always been supportive and have always been there for me.
That's something that I never thought I would have in a million years. We've done Gold before with 'Used To Love You Sober,' which I thought was awesome, but you don't realize once you get to Platinum, and you see the number difference between 500,000 and a million.
The world is so crazy.
I feel like I should show people that no matter where you come from - you can get beat by your stepdad, if you get picked on for your clothes and having no money - I just feel like everyone should know it will be all right as long as you keep focusing on trying to move forward and looking at the positive things in life.
I feel like I'm just trying to pave my own lane and just kind of make my own sound.
I'm definitely gonna be an outcast.
Growing up, we really didn't have a lot of money.
It's been neat to find out different writing strategies. I've been in the room with so many different writers. Sometimes, you write with tracks, and other times, with acoustic guitars. That's been really a cool thing, because it brings out different lyrics with you.
In the first game I ever played in high school, I had a pick-six for a touchdown. That was a fun memory.
On my posts, I would tell people, 'If you like this, give it a share.' If you go online and look at my videos, you might see where I have 80,000 likes, but 525,000 shares. That's where you gain more people as followers coming in. It took me a second to learn it all, but now that I have, it's been a blessing and a curse.
In country radio, everybody has such a connection and a bond. So you've got to meet them.
Everybody's got high expectations for me. I just don't want to let anybody down.
My first impression when I heard 'Heaven' was, 'Do not let anyone else have that song! I'm putting it on hold.' I knew it was special from the first time I heard it, and I thought my fans would love it as much as I did.
I have the best and most loyal fans in the world, and they are used to connecting with me since the very beginning.