So the most natural thing to me is to stay as pure to or real to or close to who I am as possible.

I think what makes people think that is because of things people write. It really doesn't have anything to do with the artist.

What does music mean to me? I don't think I would really be much without it, without it coming through me. It's my means of communication, my means of growth, my means of transportation from one point in my life to another.

I don't require sex for happiness - I need companionship. I need a partner I can depend on, that I can love and grow with.

Society has a problem with female nudity when it is not . . . ”—Badu pauses to get her words together; she wants this point to be very clear—“. . . when it is not packaged for the consumption of male entertainment. Then it becomes confusing.

They play it safe, are quick to assassinate what they do not understand. They move in packs, ingesting more and more fear with every act of hate on one another.

I think the job of an artist is to be honest and fearless.