“As a mom, you just don’t have time, so you get straight to the point.”

When I’m picking songs for an album I always want a song that I can relate to and that I have experienced. There’s nothing worse than watching an artist try and sell a song that isn’t believable coming from them.

I sound the same regardless if I’m 20 pounds heavier or 20 pounds light, and I think that’s the key thing with my fans and why they continue to be loyal because I’m that type of person.

Everything changes, but beauty remains.

Books have always been important to me – my mom was a first grade teacher, so I grew up reading all the time.

God will never give you anything you can’t handle, so don’t stress.

People like us we gotta stick together Keep your head up nothing lasts forever.

Even though I’m a pop singer, I really have more the life of a country singer.

The thing about Christmas is that it almost doesn’t matter what mood you’re in or what kind of a year you’ve had; it’s a fresh start.

I never said I was a ‘good girl.’ I’m not a bad girl. I’m just normal, and that’s what I’m going to be. There’s no bad girl with whips and chains that’s going to come out. I think people like me because I was myself.

Everyone is different: different shapes, sizes, colors, beliefs, personalities, and you have to celebrate those differences.

When people talk about my weight, I’m like, ‘You seem to have a problem with it; I don’t.

I still watch ‘Idol,’ and it’s still the No. 1 show, so obviously I’m not the only one who loves to sit at home and be entertained.

I wish I had a better metabolism. But someone else probably wishes they could walk into a room and make friends with everyone like I can. You always want what someone else has.

My happy weight changes. Sometimes I eat more; sometimes I play more. I’ll be different sizes all the time.

By keeping her heart protected, she’ll never ever feel rejected.

Gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change, and break away. I won’t forget the place I came from.

To me, full-time mothering felt like way too much and yet not nearly enough. Lost in a landslide of diapers, birthday parties, and others’ needs, I ached to reestablish myself.

Cleaning the house while the children are home is like shoveling while it’s still snowing.

I told my mother-in-law that my house was her house, and she said, ‘Get the hell off my property.’

I was asked for years about being a Republican, probably because most black people are Democrats. My mother heard it once and called me and said ‘Charles, Republicans are for the rich people.’ And I said, ‘Mom, I’m rich.’

My daughter and I are very close, we speak every single day and I call her every day and I say the same thing, “pick up, I know you’re there.”

My mother once said “If you don’t pay attention to age, then it won’t pay attention to you.” And she says it, and it sounds nice, but I don’t buy it.

I’m a Queens boy at the end of the day.

My mother was the most creative, fantastic person and would come up with great things for us to do. She’d buy art supplies and all of us would sit around painting. I was lucky.