There's really educated women out there who are feminists and they have read up on their stuff. They can talk to me right now, and school me on some things I've never known, and that's amazing, you are a scholar, you are wise, you are educated. But the unfortunate thing is also the reality, and the fact is, millions of people might not even know who these educated feminists are - hundreds will, thousands maybe.

So when it comes to being a role model to women, I think it's because of the way that I feel about myself, and the way that I treat myself. I am a woman, I treat myself with respect and I love myself, and I think that if I'm holding myself to a certain esteem and keeping it real with myself, then that's going to translate to people like me.

When I first saw Destiny's Child, I was in the fifth grade, and it made me want to sing and make music and there would be these freestyles on the radio for what seemed like hours, it was just so cool to me. So all of these influences and these styles started to blend together. Eventually, that evolved into me finding the indie scene in Houston. When I was 19, I joined a rock band, and that's when I began to say, "Okay, this is something that I could take seriously."

Generally, it's all of this subconscious stuff. I didn't even know what Lizzobangers was about until it was mastered and I got to listen to it.

You know what I want, above all things? I want people who are aware of my music right now, to believe in change.

When I was born, my father named me Melissa, and I am still Melissa but I got the nickname Lizzo around the time I was in the Cornrow Clique. I'm from Houston, so naturally, everyone dropped the second syllable of your name and just put an "O" there.

So if you can make it through, you know you've got something good, you can handle anything. We've been blessed to grow but at the same time, the hard part is having to wear every single hat. It's exhausting, but it's entirely worth it because on the flip side, the best part about being a touring musician is being a touring musician.