And I can say this, most of the people who have recorded my songs are songwriters themselves.
— Smokey Robinson
I played golf all over Detroit.
I always try to write a song, I never just want to write a record.
Had I not come out with an inspirational CD, you perhaps would have never known that I feel like I feel, that all songs, all the music I've ever done is a gift from God.
Drugs are in every walk of life - doctors, lawyers, preachers, the guy who works for IBM, teenagers on the street, teenagers in school.
We're very physical creatures, and we worry about how we look sometimes more than our spiritual selves.
There's so many wonderful gospel people out there, and I don't necessarily want to compete with those people.
As a kid, this is what I wanted my life to be. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever dare to dream that it would be this.
I don't ever balk at being considered a Motown person, because Motown is the greatest musical event that ever happened in the history of music.
People still look at Michael Jackson as being a Motown artist.
In fact, I wouldn't really call this a Gospel album, I call it more an inspirational album.
When someone picks up one of my songs and records it, I'm a flattered man, it's a blessing to me.
Even if I don't release it myself, somebody else might hear it and want to record it. When you write a song, it gives it that potential.
Songwriting is my gift from God.
We're all going to be victims of temptation at several points in our lives.
My mother was a churchgoing lady, so I always heard about God at home.
As human beings, we're very materialistic and have all this stuff - furs and cars and diamonds and money.
I've been speaking at churches for years, as well as juvenile jails, rehabs and hospitals, and I always talk about my faith. That is a declaration of my relationship with God.
You know what, I'm probably one of the most blessed people there's ever been, and I thank God for it.
Motown will always be a heavy-duty part of my life because those are my roots.
Once you're a Motown artist, you're always a Motown artist.
I really haven't strayed too far, musically, from my roots.
There are very few courses around Detroit I haven't played.
When you write a song, a song has longevity.
I left Motown because of the regime of people who were there.
You know what, life is full of temptations.
The only thing you're taking out of here is your spirit and your soul, so we need to be conscious to try and develop that part of ourselves, because we're all spiritual creatures.
So I wanted to sing inspirational music, and that's exactly how I approached it - only the words have been changed to declare my relationship with God.
Originally I was not writing songs for myself.
That's because we did not set out to make black music. We set out to make quality music that everyone could enjoy and listen to.
Once you're a Motown artist, that's your stigmatism, and I was there from the very first day.
One thing I can say about the Motown acts is that we were a family. That's not a myth.
I had been stockpiling Gospel songs for other artists, and had planned to submit them to Gospel artists.
