I enjoy just being me. I don't need to be Queen Latifah, the brand, 24 hours a day.

I lost relatives to AIDS, a couple of my closest cousins. I lost friends to AIDS, high-school friends who never even made it to their 21st birthdays in the '80s. When it's that close to you, you can't really deny it, and you can't run from it.

Lets be clear, Dolly Parton is a rapper. Somewhere before all the country, I don't know what happens up there in the mountains when you're growing up, but she has been spitting rhymes for a very long time - 50 years I'd say.

When I want to push myself and do intense workouts, I do that, but I'm not going to do it because anybody thinks I should look a certain way. It's really more about how I feel and about being healthy.

I feel anger and I feel understanding. It's a difficult position to be in.

Look at people for an example, but then make sure to do things your way. Surround yourself with positive people.

So often, you don't get that opportunity. You only go over everything once and, the next thing you know, you're on set.