I'm older, I'm matured... I'm looking forward to the years to come. Good years.

I would stay in my room for days, for days at times, just trying to get it together, to know what my next phase was going to be.

What's in your soul is in your soul.

To learn your artistry and to be able to perfect that, is overwhelming. Especially when you are exuding love. The human emotion is a very delicate thing, so you have to be careful about how you present it because it can be kind of scary, or too overwhelming if you're not careful. So I try to just keep it love.

Being around people like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Roberta Flack, all these greats, I was taught to listen and observe.

I almost wish I could be more exciting, that I could match what is happening out there to me.

In grammar school some of the girls had problems with me. My face was too light. My hair was too long. It was the black-consciousness period, and I felt really bad.