I grew up watching MTV, when Journey was huge, when Pat Benatar had 'Love Is a Battlefield,' and my friends and I used to cut school to watch this woman in the video. We loved Pat Benatar.

I used to think I was ugly. I thought I looked like a camel. A person who doesn't love themselves, they will see anything that pops up on their face. I've seen squirrels, I've seen a bird, and I've seen all kinds of animals on my face. But that is the result of self-hate. I've learned to say: 'You know what? I am a beautiful black woman'.

'My Life' is not an autobiography. It's just music.

If you're looking for inner peace from the outside world, you're not going to get that. The inner peace starts with looking at you from the inside.

I like to do interior design, I love to quilt, I love to see different colors together, and I love to match things up.

Just don't let the hype of what people are saying and how much they love you, y'know, just take the compliment and be thankful that people are complimenting you, but don't let it consume you; don't let your circumstances around you and the way people view you make you act a certain way.

You either learn from your experiences or go back and do the same thing, and I learned from my experiences.