I believe in racial memory too. I'm sure I've got ancient African blood in me that has something to do with what I am.

I would like a man now who is rich, and who can give me a boat - a sailboat. I want to own it and let him pay for it. My first love is the sea and water, not music. Music is second.

It was always Marx, Lenin, and revolution - real girl's talk.

How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it

I demand perfection in what I do, and I practice very hard before I give a concert-sometimes three to six hours a day.

Theory and harmony broadened my mind in music. I know what music is made of.

From the beginning, it has been a no-no for a black man to touch a white woman.