# data[].attributes.body
I do miss Hawaii though. People over there are real content and satisfied with just being on an island, having kids at a very young age. It’s not like you’re trying to be an actor or trying to be a musician with millions of other people, and it’s just hustle, hustle, hustle. That’s what I miss the most, just going down there and everyone’s just living life, as opposed to grinding.

# data[].attributes.headline
3) WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO LEAVE HAWAII TO PURSUE A MUSIC CAREER IN LOS ANGELES?

# data[].attributes.subject
3) WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO LEAVE HAWAII TO PURSUE A MUSIC CAREER IN LOS ANGELES?

# data[].attributes.body
I accomplished a lot in Hawaii as an entertainer, but never really dabbled in original music. I was like a circus freak—I used to sing songs, I used to open up for a Las Vegas-style magic show. I’d sing songs for all the tourists. It was always cover songs—everything from Chuck Berry to Usher. Then I got fed up, like I’m singing songs to a bunch of tourists that don’t even speak English. I felt like I could do more.

# data[].attributes.headline
4) WHAT’S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SOME OF YOUR TATTOOS?

# data[].attributes.subject
4) WHAT’S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SOME OF YOUR TATTOOS?

# data[].attributes.body
The last tattoo I got was my mother’s name on my arm, Bernadette. The first one I ever got, I was 19, it was a sacred heart. I got it upside down.

It basically looked like an ass shooting fire. I had it for about two years before I was like, “Let me do something about this.” So I got it covered up. My mom’s reaction to my first tattoo was, “Why are you marking up your body?”

Then after I showed her I got her name tattooed on me, she was ecstatic.

# data[].attributes.headline
2)DID YOU HAVE ANY WEIRD MOMENTS WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVED IN LOS ANGELES THAT MADE YOU THINK, “THIS PLACE IS CRAZY”?

# data[].attributes.subject
2)DID YOU HAVE ANY WEIRD MOMENTS WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVED IN LOS ANGELES THAT MADE YOU THINK, “THIS PLACE IS CRAZY”?

# data[].attributes.body
I remember pulling up to my parking stall one day and there was this homeless guy just squatting and turding all over. That was my “Welcome home.” At that time, I was driving a Volkswagen Jetta. It had one window that wouldn’t roll down in the summer and no locks on the door. And of course no radio or no AC.

# data[].attributes.headline
1) YOU’RE 23 YEARS OLD NOW. LET’S REWIND TO 18. WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT THAT AGE, DURING THIS SAME MOMENT?

# data[].attributes.subject
1) YOU’RE 23 YEARS OLD NOW. LET’S REWIND TO 18. WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT THAT AGE, DURING THIS SAME MOMENT?

# data[].attributes.body
I just got signed to Motown Records as a solo artist. But I was too young. I had been doing shows my whole life. I had never really recorded, and never had too much experience recording. Let alone producing, I had never written a song before. It worked out the way it had to work out because I needed to learn a lot.