I never saw a distinction between a man and a woman. My grandparents and my mother were great examples of men and women, and they taught me equality. So I would fight with boys and wear my cousin's clothes. I would do whatever I wanted, and that's where I still stand today.
I actually have a young readers' series that I wanna do, kind of in the same lane as a Harry Potter or Narnia or Twilight. I want to write stuff like that.
I want to write some books. Books that have nothing to do with music, just some fiction type of books for a whole different audience of people.
As I got older, I really got into Tupac's poetry, his books and just learning about his life and what he was into.
Because people love music, I feel it's my responsibility to produce more of the music and to get it out to more people, so like I said, If the mainstream route does that without compromising me being happy as a person then that's something I'll do.
I've been offered things from alot of different labels and stuff like that, but it's just like, it has to be perfect. I'm not going to sign my life away.
I'm creating songs. I do it most of the time, in the car or in the house.
I finished school, because I started when I was thirteen, so basically around 16 or 17, I just focused on finishing high school.
I think that's really really important, you can't get in the industry, because you want to make money because number one, I don't think money should be motivation for anything because I don't believe that it has any value.
I'm friends with [exes] and they hear the songs. I can honestly say I don't have any exes I hate. They're artists in some fashion so they understand.
Me as a person...I'm really laid back, I'm really an on my own time type of person so its just kind of like if I have to compromise some of that for the mainstream success...to me its not really worth it. I just like to sing.
I always tell people is really make sure you know why you want to do it. For me, I didnt make a conscious decision like "Oh I want to be a singer", it was like I grew up around it, I was singing because it was just natural for me to sing.
Before I had my daughter I actually wanted to do something that I could put out for free, like a mixtape, but it wasn't going to really be a mixtape, it was just going to be songs that I wrote and release for free.
I think I have patient fans that want quality over quantity. It's more important to me that the project be the best that it can be and the realest it can be rather than rushing a whole bunch of generic songs, because I could do that. I could just put together some songs real quick that I really like. I only write and I only sing for a purpose, so if its not then, it's not going to be rushed.
"Snapped" happened maybe like two months after I released the mixtape. I just like took a break from recording and that was the first song I wrote and recorded after the mixtape.
With my career, everything I do is me. There's no one that handles telling me what I should be about or how I should dress or anything. I'm hands on with absolutely everything. When I'm writing a song, I'm already thinking of the visual for the song and I'm already thinking of what I'm going to wear in that visual and what I'm going to wear when I perform. It all goes hand in hand. Everything I do is just me expressing different sides of myself.
I think touring is one fo the funnest parts of being a singer or entertainer or whatever.
I always go to my Kanye [West], Jay-Z. I go back to alot of the stuff that I know for sure that I like.
I've never been in that position in my life, where I hate a celebrity so much that I want to call them names.
I guess I just developed more of an interest to actually be a part of the design, picking out the fabric and just being more involved. I never really considered myself a fashion person, but then I just realized that fashion is just another way of self expression and that's pretty much what I'm most passionate about.
I know like the Wiz Khalifah one, got me excited because I like his music, and its almost like you know I can relate to his music, so I feel like dang if he listens to my stuff and thought it was good then maybe I'm as good as him, you know what I mean?
