That first apartment was a big step. It has a lot to do with being independent.

I had been performing since I was 5, so it wasn't like I hadn't been on a stage before. I was always older than my age. That's my nature. I've always been a kind of mature kid.

The music industry had virtually blacklisted me.

I don't mean to sound immodest, but I never had any doubt that I'd be successful, nor any fear of success. I was raised as a little goddess who was told she would be a star.

Take your passion and make it happen.

When I act, I act. When I sing, I sing. I don't put one over the other. Entertaining is what I do best.

We have a tendency in this country that when we say Black it automatically means Black Americans. But that's a big mistake, and that keeps us divided. There are Blacks all over this entire world-even in Africa.