People didn't know that I existed before 'Purpose.'
— Poo Bear
For me, what makes a dope concept is it's a fresh idea, something that I've never heard before.
Ideally, it would be cool to actually get to know artists enough to know what their feelings are, what they believe in, what they want people to get from them, what they represent.
Often by the time writers and producers try to get a new hit song, the industry has already moved on. Whatever you're creating might not be as hot as it would have been during the time of your first hit. It definitely compromises the creative process when the music is changing and evolving so fast. If you're not on top of it, you will be forgotten.
I think the biggest sacrifice I had to make was giving up time and missing out on things. Not going to college and getting the college experience. Or missing important holidays. All my time was spent in the studio.
I've never stopped writing, I've never slowed down just because I don't have something on the radio or a No. 1 or No. 2 record. That doesn't mean that I'm not in the studio planting seeds.
Just because I make something doesn't mean that it's going to be amazing, and most creative people don't like to admit when their music is just okay.
I love R&B because it got me to where I am today, but at the same time, R&B just doesn't sell.
It's cool to have a big record, but it's even cooler for the world to love it and sing along to it in every club word-for-word. It's a real feeling.
You can't get tired of something you don't know exists.
I see my friends who have superstar lifestyles, and it's great to have hundreds of millions of dollars, but at the same time, it's a sacrifice of your own sanity.
I had to go through so much trial and error to get all the whack-ness out of my system as a kid. I think everybody has to do that. You have to go through a period of failing in order to get better at it - whatever you're doing.
I don't want to be an artist; I don't really want to sing - though I do sing on a few songs. But I want to be the guy that presents new music from both new artists and established artists at the same time.
As a songwriter, I got used to being in the background.
Pop music - deriving from the word 'popular' - for me, it's just great to be a part of music that reaches a large amount of people and not just a small amount of people.
Toronto is my favourite city in the world.
Being genuinely humble and being myself has helped me succeed in my career.
My first significant break was when I was 15, going on 16, and my cousin Courtney 'Bear' Sills told me you can make a career out of writing songs. He was the one who put me in with 112. The first song I did with 112 was 'We Can Do It Anywhere.'
People love music, but they also love the lifestyle and glam that comes along with it.
I had people telling me how much I sucked and how bad my music was, but I didn't allow that to discourage me to the point where I didn't want to do music anymore.
Working with Justin Bieber, I learned that he can literally do any genre - he's a chameleon. His voice is so flexible that he's not locked in to one genre, and it just shows the world that he can really sing anything.
When you wake up every day, it's like a new birthday: it's a new chance to be great again and make great decisions.
I'm just used to working harder than everybody and other people taking the credit.
I don't know about the rest of the world, but America loves redemption. They love giving people second chances.
Back in the Nineties, I was in an R&B group. I signed my first record deal when I was 12.
People say to me, 'You're a genius; you're great.' I don't know if I'll ever feel that way about myself. Some things, I feel like, are better left for other people to say, and I'm just not into, like, tooting my own horn or bragging or anything.
It's cool to be recognized, but it's not something that I was seeking or sought after. I never wanted to be famous.
I don't listen to the radio.
I find inspiration by feeling like I haven't done or achieved anything. I push all songs I've written to the furthest part of my mind so I am not thinking of what I've done. I continue to think on what I need to do.
I'm trying to stay a song ahead, two songs ahead of everybody else.
I learned years ago that the more honest you are about anything you're doing in life, you can grow and learn from your mistakes.
Most writer's blocks come from people second-guessing to the point where they get discouraged, and they just quit. For me, if I write something and it's not amazing, I don't care because even if I feel like it might not be amazing, it could still be a number-one hit.
I never wanna settle; I never wanna be complacent - I gotta outwork everybody.
I'm like this ghost - you look around, and all you see is the artist. But if you look at the credits, it's still Poo Bear.
Finally, I've reached a place where if I'm working with an artist, they allow me to just do whatever I feel. Growing up, it was like, 'We want another 'Peaches and Cream.' Then you realise... why would you want a 2001 Mercedes Benz when I'm making 2018 Benzes?
I've watched songwriters, writers, producers, even artists that I've written hits for come and go. But to the world, it looked like Justin Bieber was my first success.
Being a songwriter, my job is just to write songs for people. I'm not attached to them.
