Ain't nothing coming easily in this life. Sometimes you gotta work, you gotta grow and it gotta hurt.

I'd love to work with Missy Elliott. I'd love to work with Bonnie Raitt. I'd love, love, love to work with Barbra Streisand. I'm reaching, because why not? You don't know what's going to happen in this life.

I think I've changed more as a person and, as I change as a person, there is new added creativity. I've seen more... I've met more people, done more things with dogs, and walked on more beaches since the beginning. The more I see, the more I wanna do; and the more I do, the more I wanna see.

I've been around the world and I've had bras made in different places, and each time I'm experiencing the same troubles: the painful shoulders, the underwire cutting into my flesh.

I'm excited about turning 40. I've been an adult for a long time, but there is a difference between being an adult and being a grown-up. I'm someone's mummy now and I'm enjoying that. I feel as if I'm about to hit my peak.

I've been enjoying playing with fashion - gold grills and diamond grills have just become a part of that.

Everything starts with writing. I heard Nikki Giovanni and was blown away. I just thought 'wow'; she was writing from a black girl's perspective, and the imagery was so vivid that I started doing spoken word.