My brother, Mario, is in show business and so are all my cousins on my dad's side. We come from a family of musicians. My grandmother's sister in Puerto Rico plays five instruments.

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.

I'll never be that trusting again, believing accountants and lawyers have my best interests at heart.

I'll be gray by the time I'm 30, but I like my hair. It looks shiny. I like the way it looks when those highlights are picked up on camera.

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.

Here I found myself in my early 20s, at the height of my career, up against something I was totally powerless against. I had enemies I had never heard of because of this. I certainly didn't have needles hanging out of my arms, nor did I smoke anything.

I play piano and write better than I can sing.