She smiles through a thousand tears, and harbors adolescent fears. She dreams of all that she can never be, she wades in insecurity.

I still listen to older music a lot more than new singers. I listen to whatever's on the radio, but when I want to listen to something that moves me I put on a Stevie Wonder record.

I just want one day off when I can go swimming and eat ice cream and look at rainbows.

I always felt like the rug could be pulled out from under me at anytime. And coming from a racially mixed background, I always felt like I didn't really fit in anywhere.

You don't have to be doing vocal acrobatics or singing all over the scale to have soul.

My father identified as a black man. No one asked him because he was clearly black. But people always ask me. If we were together, people would look at us in a really strange way. It sucked. As a little girl I had blond hair and they'd look at me, look at him, and be disgusted.

I still get nervous sometimes before performing.