Often, kids don't appreciate the choices available, as if it's either the street or nothing.
We have African-Americans and black people getting behind the scenes more and more, we get true black images in television and film...because we have black people behind them. They can tell stories from those points of view and bring to life those characters who have yet to be shown. As long as we have people behind the camera just as much as in front of the camera doing the work, then we'll always be good.
I think we have to be accepting of one another, and we have to appreciate what every culture has given us and name that and accept that and empower and encourage that. I really think that's what it comes down to. The images won't change until we make them change.
Doing motivational speeches and stuff like that, that's always made me feel good.
Whenever I get to talk to young girls like me I always say, 'The only difference between you and I is that I know that I'm special and you just don't know that you are yet.'
I like to read quotes that touch on how I am feeling [on social media]. If I am dealing with confusion, I will read quotes about clarity and peace of mind. I started posting these quotes on my Twitter page, and the fans responded so positively! I realized that many of them were dealing with similar issues, and the quotes helped to open up a genuine dialogue between us.
I love music and I love acting. I always keep that in the forefront, not all the other distractions around me.
Sometimes, when you grow up in one of these poverty-stricken neighborhoods where the educational system isn't the best, you don't realize that you have any choices.
I work out. I'm getting toned, too. The Wii Fit really works your body. When I get off, I'm dying.
I feel like you have to tell people who you are, but you don't have to be disrespectful about it. But you also don't have to be a shrinking violet.
Looking into my future, I don't always want to be in front of the camera. I want to be behind the camera and bring to life those family members of mine or people that I knew or the kids I grew up. I want people to know the different facets of black people, brown people, all people.
Corbin Bleu was my first kiss in life. I was 12, and he was, like, my first kiss for TV... It was on the lips!
I'm a workaholic, so I ignore the signs of fatigue and just keep going and going, and then conk out when I get home. It can be pretty stressful.
Actually, Keke is my nickname. When I was little, my sister was about four years old, and she had an imaginary friend named Keke. And she wanted my name to be Keke.
Someday I would really love to do a talk show. That's something I've always been interested in. I like to talk, and I love to help people.
I decided to not be so dismissive of my music in favor of my acting. Acting has been such a consistent thing for me; a lot of times in the past, I wouldn't have had the confidence with my music to really make it a part of my schedule. I would easily push it to the side, or I would easily take up time that was needed for it. I'm not that way anymore. Now, I really want to make everything work. I want to continue to do both at the highest level that I can.
I started to make a joke that I had an imaginary friend underneath the let-out couch named Binky. I would never talk to him; I would only use him as entertainment for other people. I knew they thought that children had imaginary friends, so I was like, "I don't really believe in imaginary friends, but I want to feel like I do." I used to make a joke, "My imaginary friend Binky says this," because I knew it would get a laugh out of them.
As a kid growing up, the most simple things would make me so, so excited. I remember the first time my dad got a let-out couch; you could sleep in it like a bed and my sister and I just thought that was so magical.
I'm definitely a perfectionist. I started entertaining so young. I think naturally my personality is that of a perfectionist, and then on top of that, growing up in the industry I became very objective and analytical of myself early on and I find myself doing that in everything. It works good in my work, but sometimes it can be annoying, I imagine, to people in my life.
Something that was instilled in me by my parents at a very young age is that there is no happy life without a life of service. Over the course of my career, I've been fortunate to always encounter others who share that philosophy.
Like my little sister and brother, I always play them my music because I want people like them to be able to relate to my music. They always know what's going on; they're up on what's new. For me, when they hear my music and they like it, I'm on the right track.
I would love to direct videos and that's what it keeps moving towards, but I have to stop being scared in order to do that.
Being of service is something that really makes me happy. Being able to tell young kids about something they might never have known without meeting someone with my experiences is what really what I feel it's all about. I feel that's the only way that you get fulfillment out of life.
Singing was my first passion. Whenever I sing, I'm always so happy.
I changed the pressure from negative to positive. So, instead of thinking everybody wanted to see me fail, I decided everybody wanted to see me win, since I wanted to see myself win.
