“I have never gotten into the label thing.”

I know that my fans want to know who I’m sleeping with, but it’s really none of their business.

If I’m with a man I’m soft and buttery.

It takes a long time to get to be a diva. I mean, you gotta work at it.

I don’t judge people by their sexual orientation or the color of their skin, so I find it really hard to identify someone by saying that they’re a gay person or a black person or a Jewish person.

I don’t care about vacations. I go away and I come back real quick because I like my work. I really like my work to consume me.

I’m not really a songwriter – I’m an interpreter. So in a sense I am an actress first and foremost. I act out the songs, and I lead with my heart.

It has always been, and still is, my intention to build a playground in Central Park.

One thing you cannot control is nature.

My travels led me to where I am today. Sometimes these steps have felt painful, difficult, but led me to greater happiness and opportunities.

When I’m working I actually forget to eat. I don’t eat sweets because I don’t care about them. I have no real secrets. I just realize that as I get older I should stay strong so I exercise more.

My problem is that people have been writing books about me.A lot of things that people write about you are incorrect, but you don’t fight about it.

I was brought up in this part of Detroit that they used to call the ghetto.

People can take your name and write a book about you and they make money off of it. How is the public supposed to know you’re not authorizing that book? As soon as you make a big stink about it it only makes the book sell more.

Hair has always been important.

Criticism, even when you try to ignore it, can hurt. I have cried over many articles written about me, but I move on and I don’t hold on to that.

You know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself.

Once you are labeled ‘the best’ you want to stay up there, and you can’t do it by loafing around.

I believe that there is a great fear in our generation of being labeled as priggish.

The thing I would like to be able to do is to make the music sound right no matter what it is. If somebody else wants to have a label for it, then that’s their business.

I know I can’t rap forever, but I know as long as I got a label or something I can get money forever.

There’s a very distinct difference between a really wonderful DIY label and a soft drink company, or a car company, or a clothing brand, and you will always understand that difference.

I don’t think I got rich on it. The labels and publishers did very cheap deals on our songs.

A product is most easily sold when it has an identity. So they wrap you all up and put a label on you.

I don’t like to label myself. I know I’m very hard to pigeonhole.