When organizers of the inaugural Fool In Love festival first announced the event's lineup this spring, soul and R&B heads across the internet went nuts.

The reaction was to be expected: There hadn't been such an ambitious mix of GRAMMY-winning legends and young, popular soul acts on a shared bill in recent memory. And certainly not in a single-day event.

The Aug. 31 event will highlight six decades of soul, R&B and funk — proof that those sounds are anything but oldies. The sounds of the 1960s through the '80s and beyond will be well represented by headliners Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, as well as Smokey Robinson and a recently reunited Nile Rodgers and Chic. Sets by Dionne Warwick, 2024 Special Merit Award honoree Gladys Knight, and sweet soul legend Brenton Wood promise to turn up the heat, sweet and memories. 

A cadre of up-and-coming soul acts — many of whom call Southern California home — also appear high up on the lineup, highlighting a younger generation's decade-long revival of interest in soul sounds. 

"I never want people to hear my records and wonder if it's new or not," GRAMMY nominee Mayer Hawthorne told GRAMMY.com in 2023. "I’ll never do classic '70s Philly soul better than the Delfonics. Plenty of artists do regurgitation of something old, but I’m all about putting my new spin on it."

In addition to Hawthorne, Fool In Love's lineup includes L.A.-based singer Trish Toledo, San Diego sweet soul phenoms Thee Sacred Souls, singer/drummer Aaron Frazer and singer Durand Jones, who will appear solo and together as Durand Jones and the Indications. 

While some of the older acts may be missing original members (Kool and the Gang's George Brown, for example, passed in 2023; Henry Fambrough, the last original Spinner died in early 2024; Ruth Pointer is the only living Pointer Sister) or have feuding families, the legendary acts playing across Fool In Love's four stages are not to be missed.

Ahead of the Labor Day weekend show, cruise over to your favorite streaming service and enjoy this playlist of Fool In Love performers.

Since its inception in 2019, Afro Nation has brought together the world's best and brightest entertainers in Afrobeats, amapiano, R&B, and hip-hop to perform on stages across the world. For the second year in a row, the festival takes over Bedrock's Douglass Site in Detroit — promising to continue its tradition of highlighting the best in Black music.

With its unique Detroit location, the festival bridges the gap between African music, global Black music, and the rich musical traditions that came out of Motown. In fact, the festival's site was once home to the first federally funded housing project for Black citizens in the city; Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson were among its residents. 

Afro Nation Detroit offers as much history as it does global appeal, as its lineup is filled with buzzy rising stars and beloved veteran acts. Among those on the star-studded roster are Nigerian sensations Omah Lay, Rema and Asake, amapiano stars Kelvin Momo and TxC, and hitmakers Lil Wayne and PartyNextDoor. 

Of course, it wouldn't be a Detroit event without native rapper Kash Doll, who performs on Saturday. And she won't be the only Detroiter performing over the weekend: genre-bending soul singer Charity and DJ Donavan Glover will also be repping their city amid sounds from around the globe.

That's just a taste of the exciting performances scheduled to showcase the diversity of Black music in one of its influential cities. Below, get to know eight acts who you won't want to miss at the second edition of Afro Nation Detroit.

Ayra Starr

Sat., Aug. 17 (Lit Stage)

At the age of 22, Ayra Starr is already making history. In February, The Beninese-Nigerian singer was the youngest nominee in the inaugural Best African Music Performance Category at the 2024 GRAMMYs; and in June, her debut album, The Year I Turned 21 helped her become the first female Nigerian artist to debut on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Just before her Afro Nation appearance, Starr added another first to her resume: she became the first Afrobeats singer to be part of Amazon Music's Breakthrough Artist program. The honor aligned with the release of her Amazon Music documentary, Dare to Dream, which chronicles her rise to global fame. There's no doubt that Ayra Starr will offer a showstopping performance that proves why she's such an acclaimed artist to watch.

Uncle Waffles

Sat., Aug. 17 (Piano People Stage)

Often regarded as the "princess of amapiano," Uncle Waffles is one of the genre's most forward-facing talents. In less than five years, the internationally recognized DJ/producer has been listed on TikTok's inaugural Visionary Voices Africa List, been nominated at the BET Awards and MOBO Awards; this year, she became the first amapiano artist to perform at Coachella.

Her talents have also earned Uncle Waffles co-sign from Beyoncé — whose Renaissance World Tour homage to Uncle Waffles' "Tanzania" nearly brought the star to tears — Drake, Ciara, and Missy Elliott. Needless to say, Uncle Waffles is an act that you won't want to miss at AfroNation Detroit.

Read More: 11 Women Pushing Amapiano To Global Heights: Uncle Waffles, Nkosazana Daughter, & More

2woBunnies

Sat., Aug. 17 (Piano People Stage)

Think Daft Punk, but amapiano. Masked South African DJ duo 2woBunnies decided on the concept of anonymity as a way to create intrigue about their unique take on the genre, and let their music do the rest.

Though it has only been two years since their debut, they have done just that, from garnering more than 1 million likes on TikTok to performing sets everywhere from Dubai to Australia. Following first-time performances in major cities like Paris and Toronto, they'll make their Detroit debut next — and you don't want to miss the excitement they'll bring to Afro Nation. 

Kizz Daniel

Sat., Aug. 17 (Lit Stage)

Since releasing his breakout single, "Woju," in 2015, Kizz Daniel has been a trailblazer in bringing Afrobeats to the world. And nearly 10 years in, he's continuing to deliver songs that resonate — including a hit remix of "Twe Twe" with fellow Nigerian star Davido.

Kizz Daniel's Afro Nation performance comes on the heels of another fiery remix, as he recently hopped on Nigerian artist Kaestyle's "My Dealer." He'll have plenty of new songs from his own catalog to bring to his set, too, including his latest single, "Double,” and EP TZA. Whether new or old, Kizz Daniel will be ready to give his crowd a lesson in Afrobeats.

Shenseea

Sun., Aug. 18 (Lit Stage)

In May, Shenseea released her sophomore studio album, Never Gets Late Here, which solidified the GRAMMY nominee as one of Jamaica's most promising rising stars. "Hit & Run", the album's single, was warmly received throughout the Caribbean, reaching No. 1 on several charts across Antigua and Barbuda, Turks and Caicos, Bermuda, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and many other countries in the region.

Fittingly, Shenseea first brought Never Gets Late Here to life on stages across the Caribbean, where her onstage energy matched the hyped crowds. She stops by Afro Nation Detroit just after kicking off her Never Gets Late Here North American Tour in Chicago on Aug. 16, so she'll surely be ready to show festgoers why she's so beloved in her home country and beyond.

Amaarae 

Sun., Aug. 18 (Lit Stage)

To say Amaarae is in demand would be an understatement. Sabrina Carpenter personally requested the Ghanaian American artist as an opening act for her forthcoming tour; Childish Gambino featured her on his new album, Bando Stone & the New World, and its accompanying tour; and she recently made history as the first Ghanaian artist to perform on NPR's Tiny Desk.

Her latest release, roses are red, tears are blue — A Fountain Baby Extended Play, are equal parts Afropop and alté, a fusion genre that originated in West Africa and combines hip-hop, R&B and Afrobeats. Her sweet, alluring nature signifies her place as one of the most exciting new talents to take over pop. Don't miss the opportunity to see a new global pop girl take center stage. 

Scorpion Kings

Sun., Aug. 18 (Piano People Stage)

DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small — often referred to as the "godfathers" of amapiano — are the men behind Scorpion Kings. Already established in their own right and respected in South Africa's dance scene, the two have been inextricably linked to the global rise of the genre, and the celebration of South African and African music across the globe.

Last month, the pair performed alongside the who's who in amapiano — Kelvin Momo, Oskido, DJ Tunez, DJ Moma, Aquite, and the Descendants — in Central Park, making history as the first amapiano performance in the famed New York landmark. The duo is sure to keep the party going with their signature flair in Detroit.

DJ Moma

Sun., Aug. 18 (Piano People Stage)

There is a good chance that you know of DJ Moma. In addition to being one of the founding members of Everyday People, the Sudanese American DJ has been playing African music in venues throughout the country and world for over a decade.

His blend of African and Diasporic music, and incorporation of soca, amapiano, and dancehall are a celebration of everything that is global Black music. It is more than music to him, but a way to bring Diasporic musical traditions to the forefront, in an effort to connect and unify People of the African Diaspora across the globe. His mission will make for an Afro Nation Detroit moment that is as meaningful as it is joyful — a combination that's exactly what the fest is all about.

Woodstock '94 is no middle child music festival. While not as groundbreaking as Woodstock '69 or as infamous as Woodstock '99, Woodstock '94 boasts a unique legacy that deserves recognition.

Held Aug. 12-14 in the Hudson Valley town of Saugerties, New York, Woodstock '94 was set to commemorate the silver anniversary of the original Woodstock festival in 1969. Nodding to its origins in '69, Woodstock '94 was billed as "2 More Days of Peace and Music" (a third day of the festival was eventually added). 

Woodstock '94 featured a wide range of acts that both reflected the nostalgia of Woodstock '69 and highlighted a myriad of new groups. Original Woodstock performers such as Crosby, Stills & Nash (minus Neil Young) and Santana topped the bill, and now-household names including Green Day and Red Hot Chili Peppers performed some of their earliest festival sets.

Even Bob Dylan, who initially declined an appearance at Woodstock '69 despite living near the festival at the time, had a change of heart and agreed to play at Woodstock '94.

It seemed that everyone wanted to capture a sliver of the magic from the original Woodstock. Although roughly 164,000 tickets were sold, the actual number of attendees exceeded 350,000 (surpassing even Coachella 2024's attendance rates). 

Spirits were high as the festival opened on Friday with dry, sunny skies highlighting performances from Sheryl Crow, Collective Soul, and others. By the weekend, the weather took a turn and transformed the festival grounds at Winston Farm in Saugerties into a giant muddy puddle. Although Woodstock '69 was also rainy and mud-filled, the madness that ensued at Woodstock '94 led it to be dubbed "Mudstock."

As Primus performed "My Name Is Mud" on Saturday, festival-goers seized the opportunity to fling the wet dirt at the band on stage. 

"Once I started singing the words to "My Name Is Mud," all of a sudden huge chunks of sod started flying my way and it was pretty frightening," Primus' lead singer told Billboard 20 years later. "I still have those [speaker] cabinets to this day, and those cabinets still have mud in them."

With high energy from Friday's acts and some mud-induced chaos, attendees were buzzing with anticipation and excitement for the rest of the weekend. The party atmosphere continued throughout day two — and not solely because Blind Melon lead vocalist Shannon Hoon strolled on stage tripping on acid, wearing his girlfriend's dress.

Aerosmith may have been day two headliners, but Nine Inch Nails' 15-song set remains a highlight of Woodstock '94. The band drew the biggest crowd of the festival, and were catapulted into wider mainstream visibility. Taking advantage of the unpredictable weather, then-bassist Danny Lohner pushed lead vocalist Trent Reznor into the mud, prompting Reznor to retaliate. The other members of the band soon joined in on the fun, strutting onto the stage covered in mud. 

Opening with Pretty Hate Machine's "Terrible Lie," NIN turned the massive audience into a giant mosh pit and maintained that high energy until the end of the set. While the band faced technological difficulties onstage, it only seemed to enhance their raw, gritty image.

The set was so celebrated that it is forever memorialized in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with art installations featuring a life-sized mannequin replica of Reznor singing into the microphone and his keyboard, both covered in mud.

By day three, Woodstock '94 was clearly becoming an iconic music festival that would be discussed for years to come. If Saturday's mud-slinging electric performances weren't enough, the final day of the festival featured performances from Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Dylan, Santana, and others. 

When Green Day — fresh off the success of their third studio album Dookie — took the stage, all hell broke loose. While the band was and continues to be known for their rowdy live sets, their performance at Woodstock '94 remains unmatched. 

By the time Green Day started performing, the fairgrounds had turned into a full-blown mud fight. The band tried to push through the performance and embrace the chaos, but the set came to an abrupt stop when lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong told the crowd, "Everybody say shut the f— up and we’ll stop playing." When the crowd shouted the phrase back, Armstrong said goodbye on behalf of the band, and the rest of the group fled the stage.

By the end of the performance, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong had lost his pants and the band had to be escorted out of the festival grounds by a helicopter. On their way off the stage, security confused mud-covered bassist Mike Dirnt for a crazed fan and tackled him, leaving him with five fewer teeth than he started the set with. 

"He actually sheared my teeth, and I blew like five teeth. Only one of them died. I fixed the rest of them, but he all sheared up the back of my teeth," Dirnt confessed to The Aquarian in 2013. "It was horrible. But the great thing about it is that I was able to get out of there, and I'd do it again tomorrow if I had to." 

Peter Gabriel closed out the weekend by remaining true to the original mission of the festival, offering fans peace filled with good vibes. Gabriel's music, though deeply contrasting with the hard rock and punk acts that dominated the festival, provided a flawless end to the chaos that had unfolded over the past three days.

While the 1994 installment of Woodstock hasn't basked in the same spotlight as its 1969 and 1999 siblings — the latter of which has been the subject of two documentaries in as many years — it remains far from forgotten.

Woodstock '94 stands as one of the legendary music festivals of all time. Although the rain may have soaked the grounds, turning it into a muddy catastrophe, it also nourished the roots of some of the most iconic musical acts and sent them into the mainstream media. The festival was more than just a series of performances, but rather a unique cultural event.

The first time Tink's name was on a lineup with Jhené Aiko, they were at Sacramento's R&B festival Sol Blume in 2022. Two years later, they're billed together again — this time, as tourmates.

Tink is one of four opening acts for Aiko's Magic Hour Tour, which also features Coi Leray, UMI and Kiana Ledé. As the 27-date trek begins winding down with its final stretch of shows (wrapping in Columbus, Ohio, on Aug. 22), Tink can't help but think about how "full-circle" the tour has felt.

"That was just a real manifestation," Tink tells GRAMMY.com, explaining that she's been "praying" for the opportunity since meeting Aiko at Sol Blume. "There's so many R&B girls that could have been in this position. The fact that she brought me on this tour speaks volumes."

Her slot on the sold-out tour signals Tink's growing appeal, and the all-female lineup is no coincidence for the singer. Tink's matter-of-fact storytelling and no-holds-barred approach is what made listeners gravitate toward her, especially women. Fans and critics alike praise Tink for her unwillingness to sugarcoat her emotions, particularly on her Thanks 4 Nothing album, and she continued it with her latest release, Winter's Diary 5, out now.

A long-awaited new installment of her Winter's Diary mixtape series, the project (which, this time, is a studio album) digs deep into her ongoing journey toward self-acceptance in the face of heartbreak and betrayal. From the fed-up lyrics of "Huh," to the sexually charged "Bless Me Don't Stress Me," to the deeply personal "Lows & Highs," Winter's Diary 5 sees Tink holding herself accountable for the failed relationships she sings so honestly about. 

"The past few years have been a lot of isolation, and I've had days where I had to lock myself in my room and kind of recoup and get myself right," Tink says. "This album is definitely for those moments when you have nothing to do but face your own thoughts and your reality."

Tink's music has always mirrored her own life, but the Winter's Diary narratives involve more introspection, bringing another level of rawness and vulnerability — as she said in a teaser for WD5, "things only a diary knows." As a result, the Winter's Diary series has largely been the reason for Tink's cult following.

Tink was just 16 when she made her debut with 2012's Winter's Diary, releasing iterations 2, 3 and 4 in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively. In between, the Chicago native made a name for herself as a rapper in the drill scene with mixtapes Alter Ego, Blunts & Ballads and Boss Up in 2012 and 2013. Early singles like "Finger's Up" and "Bad Girl" showcased her grit, while her viral hit "Treat Me Like Somebody" revealed her angelic singing voice and vulnerability. 

The string of acclaimed mixtapes earned a then 19-year-old Tink a deal with Timbaland's Mosley Music Group/Epic Records as well as a coveted spot in XXL's 2015 Freshman Class. That same year, her song "Million" (which samples Aaliyah's "One in a Million") whet fans' appetite for her debut album, Think Tink. The much-awaited project was slated for a July 2015 release before ultimately being shelved due to label issues.

By the end of 2017, Tink took matters into her own hands and reclaimed her narrative. She launched her own label — appropriately called Winter's Diary — in 2019 and hasn't looked back. 

Working independently has brought her greater success, pointing to her resilience, work ethic and prowess as an artist who stops at nothing to get what she wants. It has also sparked quite the creative streak: in those five years, Tink has released five studio albums, one EP and a mixtape.

"I was just really trying to make up for lost time — I want to make sure that I'm keeping my name in the streets and that my fans are fed," Tink says. "As an independent artist, I don't have to adhere to anyone but myself, and that's what's making [the music] feel authentic. What I'm trusting works for me, so the songs I enjoy and feel proud of, I get to push those out. That's the difference."

Now 29, she brings a level of maturity and wisdom with Winter's Diary 5 that can only be learned through trial and error. But even after navigating toxic relationships in the Summer Walker-featuring "Songs About U" and acknowledging her battle scars on "Insane," she ends the album with "Pretty Girls," a powerful self-worth anthem that confidently reminds, "Pretty girls don't beg/ Pretty girls bounce back/ Pretty girls don't trip/ Pretty girls run game/ Pretty girls don't slip." 

Whether or not she keeps adding to the Winter's Diary series, Tink is eager to continue growing her fan base and manifesting more big-name team-ups (she has her eye on Brent Faiyaz, SZA, and Drake next). Wherever her career goes from here, she'll always keep one thing on her mind: those who find the same solace in her music as she does.

"So many women and girls who listen to my music really need these lyrics… that's my reason and my purpose," Tink says. "I know my lane is for the girls going through it. I'm telling women's stories."

Aug. 7, 2024 was not just another Wednesday in Las Vegas. It was Ne-Yo Day.

No, really: Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman proclaimed that Aug. 7, 2024 was officially "Ne-Yo Day" in the city, presenting Ne-Yo with a Key to the City during his first night of his three-show Human Love Rebellion residency at the Encore Theatre at Wynn Las Vegas. 

It had already been a full-circle day for the R&B hitmaker, who grew up in Sin City and got his start in the entertainment business as an understudy in the David Cassidy-starring show "EFX." As a hometown boy, Ne-Yo knew there'd be at least a few familiar faces in the crowd — and that makes his Key to the City even more special.

"I've run into a lot of girls that were not interested in me in high school and, yes, it's a totally different story now," Ne-Yo tells GRAMMY.com with a smile. "There's a part of me that wants to be petty, but I can't do that. [But] when I run into those that were mean in high school, those are always fulfilling moments."

Ne-Yo's career has been full of fulfilling moments — beginning with his 2005 chart-topping smash "So Sick," and followed by two No. 1 albums, 12 Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and three GRAMMY Awards. He celebrates it all with his 100-minute show, which features other favorites like "Because of You" and the diamond-certified Pitbull collab "Give Me Everything."

In June, he began his journey as an independent artist after nearly 20 years with Motown and Def Jam Records, releasing the confessional single "2 Million Secrets" alongside a "CSI"-inspired video he directed himself. With a fresh start, Ne-Yo says he rarely feels like he's already two decades into his career. 

"The only time it feels like it's been 20 years is right after a show where my back and my knees are bothering me," he says with a laugh. "If you don't see the age out here, I'm feeling it on the inside!"

Ahead of his Las Vegas residency, Ne-Yo sat down with GRAMMY.com to share his most memorable moments with some of his most beloved hits, from a hilarious wardrobe malfunction with "Because of You" to how Jay-Z helped save "Closer."

What instantly comes to mind with "So Sick" is my initial introduction to Stargate. I was at Sony Studios in New York City working with [another] group of producers. [I pass] Stargate's manager — his name is Tim, I met him before briefly. He said, "Hey, are you busy right now? I would love you to come in for a second and meet my producers."

So I walk with him over to the studio — mind you, he says they do R&B, they do hip-hop, they do a little bit of everything. And Tim is Black, so I'm expecting to walk in the room and see two Black guys. I walk in the room and they are absolutely not Black. They are two tall, lanky, white guys with accents. They're from Norway. And I'm like, These guys are gonna do some R&B music for me, huh?

The very first track they played was the music that we now know as "So Sick." I listened to it for like, 10 seconds, and I'm like, "Run it back." So they played it again, and by the time the song finished playing the second time, the song was written. I wrote that song in maybe 3 minutes.

It was a song that needed to be written for a long time. It just hadn't found the right backing music for it yet.

Here's the first time I realized that Stargate was producing around what I was writing. I wrote "Sexy Love" to the skeletal track they gave me, and then about a week later, I go to the studio and they're like, "You got to hear this." A beat comes on, and it's vaguely what I'd recalled, but completely different. They basically changed the whole beat based around [what] I wrote. So the "Sexy Love" we now know, that was not the original track.

I'm like, "I don't mind, because it sounds great, but why did y'all do that?" And they were like, "We just felt like this direction complemented the song more." They're the only producers that I've ever worked with that do that.

Nowadays, the producer is kind of a celebrity too. Everybody has a tag, and you hear the producer's name before the song starts. You'll never hear that from Stargate. They're like, "You're gonna listen to this song, and you're gonna love it so much that you're gonna ask who did it."

The part in the video where I don't have any shoes on — the performance piece — that was not by design. I don't remember who styled that video, but all the shoes they brought were too big. [They] were 11 1/2, I'm a size 10. But I couldn't do it barefoot, so I'm like, "Alright, let's just do it."

So I'm dancing, and then whoop! There goes one shoe. I look at the director, and he's like, "Just keep going!" So I kicked the other one off, and just continued doing what I was doing.

I've danced barefoot and in socks in the kitchen, you know, trying to moonwalk and all of that countless times as a kid. But I'd never done it as an adult. It was a bucket-list moment, scratched it off: performed with no shoes.

I wrote it with the intent of selling it to somebody who would make more sense with that style. We stayed overseas for damn near two years, just touring around. While I was over there, I started listening to a lot of house, techno, EDM. With a lot of those songs, there might be two words in the whole song just repeated over and over. But I'm paying more attention to what the music is doing to the people that are listening… Everybody goes nuts. These people are getting this kind of response with no words!

So I'm like, imagine if somebody took that energy and wrote a song over it that actually means something — it'd be double the effect, right?

Me and Stargate get in the studio. They start putting together the track, I write the song, it's done. We're listening back, and I'm like, "Yeah, we will be able to sell this easy." And they're like, "Sell it? No, no, this is yours." And I'm like, "Nah, I don't think my fan base is gonna understand that."

I let my management hear it, and they're like, "Yeah, this is yours." I let Jay-Z hear it, [and he's like] "Bro, this is the one!" I'm like, "What are y'all hearing? Because I don't get it."

I did not expect the song to do well. And for the first three, four months, it didn't. Here in the States, nobody was feeling it, to the point where we walked into the label one day with the total intention of telling L.A. Reid we should switch to another single. As we're walking to L.A. Reid's office, Jay-Z stops me and goes, "I know you about to tell him that you want to get off that record. Do not get off that record." And I'm like "Bro, it's been four months!"

That same year, we did the BET Awards. I performed "Closer," and the Jabbawockeez was a part of the show. After that performance, that song took off. My manager hits me with the "I told you so" every single time we think of "Closer."

"Miss Independent" was the first time I ever won a GRAMMY. I learned through winning a GRAMMY for that song that there are GRAMMY wins that are not televised.

I'm walking the red carpet, just soaking it all in, taking pictures, doing interviews, and as I'm talking to some interviewer, this girl blows by me and goes, "Congratulations, you just want a GRAMMY," and keeps walking.

So I go to my manager, I'm like, "Yo, um, did we win?" And he's like, "F—, who told you?" And I'm like, "I don't got my speech!" He's like, "You don't need a speech. You won for a category that's not televised, so you're not gonna get on stage."

It was kind of bittersweet, because I've been dreaming of a GRAMMY since childhood. I have my acceptance speech written already. I was gonna get up on stage and thank my mom, and do the whole thing, like, "Oh wow, this thing's heavy!"

I've won three GRAMMYs, and I've yet to walk across the GRAMMY stage and thank my mom. I might just do a Kanye. I might just walk up on stage when somebody else is accepting their GRAMMY and go, "Hey, congratulations, but while I'm here — um, yeah, never got to do this before, so" and just have somebody bring mine out and do it right then. I think that'd be a moment! And then I'd instantly get arrested and kicked out of the GRAMMYs and banned forever. [Laughs.]

We were in the U.K., Wembley Stadium, 80,000 people, me and Pitbull [for Capital FM's Summertime Ball in 2015]. Right at the part where it says, [sings] "Grab somebody sexy tell 'em hey," 80,000 people [are] jumping up and down at the same time. The whole place was shaking. It felt like electricity shooting through you, there was just so much energy coming at the stage. I literally felt sparks.

Pitbull felt it too. After the show, he was like, "Yo, right at the part where we went—" and I was like, "YO I know right! You felt it too?"

Me and Pitbull are actually really good friends. I met him before he became Mr. Worldwide and started wearing the suits and the whole nine. We've actually done a bunch of music together that the world has never heard. 

Pitbull is not your typical celebrity. From a guy who's having the success that he's having, you would expect an ego, a big, huge entourage, and a whole bunch of commotion around him. He doesn't club. He does the most amazing party music ever, and he doesn't go to regular clubs. Pitbull's definition of a club? He has his own island, and he'll just invite you to the island.

The song is about owning your s—. No one is perfect, no one is above making a mistake. But no one is beneath redemption, either. I absolutely made some mistakes in my previous marriage. And, you know, one thing that music has always been for me is therapy. If I have things that I couldn't say out of my mouth, I could write it in a song.

It took a little bit of growing up, maturing, for me to even write that song. For whatever reason, when you do something wrong and you know that you're wrong, my first instance was to place blame on anybody but myself. I quickly realized that that's not the way to heal, that's not the way to move on, that's not the way to receive redemption for what you have done. You have to own your mistakes… and then pray for redemption and acceptance of your apology from the people that you've wronged. 

Writing the song was very much therapeutic for me. I don't even call it a song. It's more of a confessional — it's me confessing to the wrongs that I did, and realizing that the best way to go about it is to get it out and then figure out how to move on. And that's exactly what me and my ex-wife have done. We moved on. We're in a great place now.