I've always been an animal lover my entire life.

I grew up always wanting to be a dancer and when I went to New York, I fell in love with the idea of performing in all ways.

It doesn't necessarily always come down to race in the music industry. It can be whoever has the most money, has the most power, and that's really the struggle - dealing with how crazy money is.

Of course the Disney movies, you know all the soundtracks, and anything Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire were doing - Singing in the Rain was one of my favorite musicals I used to watch a lot because my mom came from a theatre background.

Even now, it's so funny how much we do have in common and how much her experiences were similar to mine. But I just wanted to be like 'If I'm going to do it, I'm going to write all of my own music, every lyric, and all this stuff.

The women in my family are just strong women who do their own thing, so I knew I needed to have individuals like that.

I think the world tries to put people in a box, like this is the only appropriate way to be beautiful.