I've been performing live a long time, even before doing dance music clubs downtown. I used to watch clips of Beyoncé to learn how to perform in front of people. I got my jitters out in front of my friends.

I think love is important, and loving yourself and being happy and feeling you're worthy of happiness as an individual. One of the most important things is to have the courage to love yourself and share that with the world.

I love to dance to Robyn, Nicki Minaj and Boney M.

New York is very intense. Every time I go back to New York, I'm starting from scratch. You could have all these achievements - records, a tour - and then you get home and get back to the basics. It whips you into shape.

I've been performing live a long time, even before doing dance music clubs downtown. I used to watch clips of Beyoncé to learn how to perform in front of people. I got my jitters out in front of my friends.

I get to play with pop music and mix up the style. It's fun to play with party music and nice to get into the club. My big love is songwriting. I write the lyrics and the vocals, and I work with the producers.

I realize that if I were in that situation - living a hard life with people telling them they're not worthy of love - maybe I would be that strong and that brave.