There's just something creatively fulfilling about watching a movie and writing a song for it because it helps you put on another pair of shoes.
I was born in love with music. My mother is a singer. Many of my aunts and uncles on my mother's side are musical. My grandparents sang and played blues piano. It's literally in my blood.
In hindsight, I feel like I made the right decision to choose production that would get played on black radio.
I know that I pray a lot, and I take time for myself.
Every once in a while, I find something that I'm interested in just because of the singing, like the Goo Goo Dolls.
Just to keep myself balanced, I do things like yoga and meditation.
I am on an album with theater icon Billy Porter called the 'Soul of Richard Rodgers.' Our duet is called 'Carefully Taught.'
I loved her music and the fact that she was a classically trained pianist and that her voice was so unique, but what made Nina Simone my hero is that I had never seen anyone in the public eye who looked anything like me at all, ever.
What I love about Stevie Wonder is the way he makes people feel. He's one of the best examples of how music can heal.
I've never said anything that I didn't want to say on a record, ever.
In my opinion, you just have to make the music. Make the music and work as hard as you can to get it out there.
Joe Sample was one of my heroes. I met him at the Curacao Jazz festival, and I fanned out like he was the Beatles!
Sound is energy, and that energy resonates with your energy. And it gives you a certain feeling.
I've been trying to arrive at a person who is self-defined and able to make my own mistakes rather than having other people make them for me.
I am really excited to be partnering with Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula. Aside from being a longtime fan of their products, they're a family business with a strong ethical foundation, and that makes us a great match.
I didn't even listen to Bob Marley until I was 17.
I think anyone who is ever on TV is a role model for somebody.
I like being a role model - people have told me that I am a role model for empowered women, but I don't see myself that way.
When it comes down to the song writing, I'm just very slow - very slow. Because the songs are about my life, so I'm doing emotional work on myself.
I'm not just making rhymes and making melodies. I'm expressing my true life force, energy.
