I am an actress first, a singer second.

When you become such a strong personality in music, it's hard for people to accept you as a different character.

I've had more misrepresentations than I can handle, and people have told the wickedest lies about me. A lot of them have taken their frustrations out on me, and I don't like that because it can wound. Not necessarily me, but those around me. Journalists can be so bad.

I can look at a fur and tell if it's good or not.

I was the only black girl at my junior high school. I had an afro, a Jamaican accent, I looked really old.

Even if I sing like a robot, it is still an emotional robot.

It was very painful combing my hair. My grand-uncle was a Pentecostal bishop, and he was very strict: our hair couldn't be permed or straightened. So I just cut it all off.