If you're from South London you feel like you're always trying to win people over, so perhaps that underdog passion comes through.

I like how strong Sade is and how she doesn't give away too much.

I'm not a complicated person.

A female vocal can lift a song.

I always liked how people like Grace Jones and Annie Lennox pushed it with the videos. I'm not the most stylish person at all, but there's something about playing dress-up for the day and playing the role of a singer.

I don't know if I should say this, but I feel more like a singer than an artist.

I started meeting the right people, like [producer] Dave [Okumu], who explained to me how songwriting is really simple - "just like shitting," he said. "You gotta let it all out." When he put it like that, however disgusting it is, it made a lot of sense to me.