When I first started, I wasn't really aware of anything in the industry or aware of who I really was. I just put my music out there and tried to get as many people to hear it as possible.

Live in the moment. Feel everything you want to feel. And maybe have a couple of drinks if you're nervous, I guess.

When I was younger, definitely getting people to listen to me and believe in me. I think it's hard when you're a young girl in a record label full of male urban artists, which is definitely what Atlantic Records was and still is. Also, getting people to trust a young, female pop star that doesn't just want to be puppeteered was definitely a challenge for me.

I started writing my own things when I was about 8. I used to try to bully my friends into imitating the Spice Girls on the playground. Then I realized, Oh god, my career's going nowhere, so I looked in the Yellow Pages and phoned up the first cheap studio that I found and started recording.

To be honest I'd just love to keep writing hits for other people... That's kind of my secret dream.

There are some really amazing artists and people behind the scenes who are really effective in championing feminism in the music industry, and I think that's really important for people in the industry and for young girls and guys to see. It should become universal. It's really about the other people understanding that everybody's equal and that women are equally as valid creatives, businesswomen, powerhouses...whatever you want to call them.

I'm very closed off when it comes to working with people, I'm very selective.