If you're here right now in your life, your journey continues and you've lived to tell the story.

The music business is not a good place for people who don't know things.

I don't listen to people's opinions. I have people around me who I can trust, but most of all I listen to myself.

My God is a God who wants me to have things. He wants me to bling. He wants me to be the hottest thing on the block.

I remember a time when all my fans were crying and sad and going through hell. Now, we're trying to uplift each other and accept ourselves for who we are, even if nobody else does.

Really, every woman is an example to me, because as women we go through so much pain. We have to live this perfect life when we are messed up inside. We all go through trials and tribulations.

My career doesn't get harder because when you have something to share, you have something to share. And when it's a trial or a situation that you triumph out of, you have to - because this is the relationship I started with my fans on the My Life album in 1994. You have to share in order for people to see how you came through it, or how you're dealing with having thoughts of doubting yourself. What songs are gonna help you? What lyrics are gonna pull you out of your slump?