In Philadelphia, you are welcome, and that's The City of Brotherly Love. I think that makes us culturally thick and sound, so you can experience all kinds of cultural authenticity.

I'm not interested in being commodified. I'm not into being sold. I'm not a slave.

I don't write on demand - I wait for inspiration to come.

To be a queen of a household is a powerful thing.

I was once making a burger for myself at my boyfriend's house and a lyric started pouring out and I had to catch it, so I ran to another room to write it down, but then the kitchen caught fire. His cabinets were charred, and he was furious. But it was worth it for a song.

Common is one of the nicest people I've ever met, and to describe him as a vile rapper because he has an opinion... just says a lot about the state of America. You are allowed to have an opinion in the United States - he's never harmed anybody, he just has an opinion about a president that wasn't good for our country.

Balancing is hard. I've lost roles that I really wanted because I had set up a tour. I cancelled tours to do roles before. But I have to find the time to make that up to my audience. I made a commitment to them.