I've been singing for six years. I've been in and out of the studios with top producers, but it wasn't something I was ready to express to the public or to the press. I wasn't ready to come out. I wanted to perfect my voice and be 100 percent positive that I could come out right.

I want to be like the athletes who seem stuck in time. When you see them at 50, you say they probably can still run like a champ.

Smiles come naturally to me, but I started thinking of them as an art form at my command. I studied all the time. I looked at magazines, I'd practice in front of the mirror and I'd ask photographers about the best angles. I can now pull out a smile at will.

Black women have always been these vixens, these animalistic erotic women. Why can't we just be the sexy American girl next door?

Designers are very fickle. I never wanted to be a victim of that. You're in one minute, out the next.

I love the confidence that makeup gives me.

It's a crazy time right now with kids. They are so much, more savvy than even their parents are. They are handing down their devices to their parents. They are giving their parents the old iPad in exchange for the new one. It's a whole different world nowadays and they are in control and in charge of technology. It's scary but at the same time it's exciting. There are a lot of choices for them.