I went to the Brit School for the performing arts in Croydon at 14, picking music as my main subject, and I'm so glad I did. I knew lots of people who'd gone there, so I always had my mind set on it.

Things go in cycles. It's like fashion, like flares go out then skinny jeans come in, people want something fresh. It's the strongest ever urban scene at the moment and I hope it can progress and keep getting stronger and be the base for something larger.

My mum loved Joan Armatrading and used to play her records all the time and even took me to see her a couple of times when I was really quite young. I didn't really like her music back then because my mum was always playing it, but I've grown to appreciate it more.

Whenever I'm making something, the challenge is always to create something that's interesting for me to listen to.

When I was 13, listening to Choice FM, I would listen to a lot of R&B from America, and whenever a British person tried to do it, it didn't really work, they just sounded like they were trying to copy that whole style. Now the music sounds British, something real rather than an imitation.

I would love to have the biggest band that I can have. I'd love to put on a massive show and just give people their money's worth, then just come away from it thinking, 'That was a good show', because it's kind of disappointing sometimes when you go and see someone and you can see they're not that bothered.

A lot of people say I'm like a pop girl, but I don't know what that means.