"In salsa, it was a different atmosphere like I never felt before. The atmosphere is like, me moving in slow motion—I can actually see their faces, if they are smiling or not."

"‘Mr. Williams, I need to see you.’Which meant you were in trouble for something. I mean, it’s the first day of school. I didn’t do anything. Why am I in trouble? Why does he want to see me?"

"My phone rings, 6:30, 7 in the morning, people either asking me for word of the day, or some kind of inspirational word, or they talk to me about their problems. But that's just what I do right now. I'm there for people, in any way I can be."

11-year-old Inari Jade Higgins Barrett, bringing the house down with a song she wrote in the third grade. By her side is her father, Toussaint Liberator.

"I got my start in comedy in prison. One of the guys, he was a rapper, and he said: 'Man, you always sayin’ something funny. You need to write this down.' And so I wrote it down."

"You start, and it’s calm and cool. And then, next thing you know, it capture your inner self. And if you’re not too careful, you could get lost within the very same rhythm that you’re playing. Because it will take you. It’s like a musical journey."

"I just felt like if I was a stronger link in the chain of people around my brothers, that if they needed me support-wise, I could be there. It was basically: go to school now, so that you can take care of them later."

"You give me a mic and a thousand people, and you better believe I will captivate them. I will do it. I’m not sure of a lot of things in life, but that I’m sure of."

"The first day I took the ropes out was last year at the Ripley Road cookout. It was amazing. I had a 49-year-old lady jumping rope. She had a head full of grey hair. She jumped longer than everybody."

"I thank God because I have two sisters here- and let me tell you, if it wasn’t for them, we don’t know how we would have made out, because they make me laugh, they make me smile, they make me cry, you know."

"I’ve had many mentors, and continue to have many mentors along the way. Whatever I find I’m interested in, I usually go find an old timer who can show me, and I’ll start there."

"When I was at camp for final show, at the end, I danced, right? At the end, I lifted my leg all the way and then I did a split. Just at the end. For like, just a solo part. It felt good, because everybody was watching me, and they saw what I can do."

"Of course there are some days you feel upset, but I remind myself: get on your good foot. I love life, I think- that is what it is all about."

"The older people who lived on the street, many of them owned their houses, so they would also try to give words of encouragement, give words of insight, give visions to where you could go in life, instead of just being limited to one way of life."

"I've got the best food in Boston."