Breathing becomes really easy when you're laughing. It kick starts that feeling of joy.

It's almost like a lot of black people in America, a lot of young black men, are born with this cloud over their heads. It's their penitentiary cloud, this philosophy we all have, that it's harder for us.

If you make a decision, a pact with someone, your friend, you should say, 'I'm gonna do this,' and you should stick to it.

I was born to make mistakes, I ain't scared to take the weight.

I'm kind of a recluse when it comes to going outside.

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.

I view my hair and clothes as functional art.