Soul music is about longevity and reaching and touching people on a human level - and that's never going to get lost.

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

My stepfather was a very nasty individual.

I don't necessarily think of myself as a feminist, but I'm a whole person. I'm not just breasts or ass or thighs - I'm a whole being! And it just seems like women aren't necessarily striving to be the whole of themselves.

I see myself being a great-grandmother at my great-grandson's graduation from a school that has my name on it.

I panicked when my son, Jett, stopped eating baby food. He's only two but his food vocabulary is fantastic. He likes my baked tilapia and string beans with chopped garlic. But he really likes pizza. Sometimes every inanimate object to him is pizza.

There's something really magical about having a child - it's like permission to begin again, start over, reevaluate some things, check yourself. Recognize yourself.