Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
A lot of my girlfriends are always telling me they're really strong independent women, but they've got their boy on the side, and they only go over when he calls.
Me being a black girl in London, whose mom is first-generation African and whose dad is West Indian, gives me a different view. I'm coming at soul from my own place.
Conservatives, they're like the Republicans to me. They don't do much. They have this whole hierarchy and boys' club thing going on. That doesn't help the regular person.
I got into hip hop from my uncle; he was always playing us Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane. He was a bad boy, and my mum was not really happy that I was hanging out with him.
When I need things to happen, I need them to happen now, you know. I don't want to be having a meeting about a meeting about a meeting, which is what can happen in Britain.
I wear and have worn scarves my entire life while traveling, working out, and now sometimes while performing, and not just on my head - I wear them around my neck and on my bag.
I love singing, so I want to see how far I can take it. I love the challenge, and I won't be happy until I have a wall full of gold discs and seven huge world tours under my belt.
BMG has been an awesome partner throughout my career, and with New London, we plan to continue bridging the gap between soul, pop, London, and New York - uniting them through music.
If there is enough space on radio for Busted and McFly, who are basically the same band, or for 50,000 versions of Stereophonics and Coldplay, there must be enough room for all of us.
I'm so, so full of joy that America elected Obama. He didn't win because he was black - people voted for him because he had a plan and because he talked sense and because you believed him.
Sometimes I wake up in the morning and feel like going straight back to bed. But I still have to get up and work, and I still have to take advantage of the chances I've been given in life.
I'd really started hating music. I'd started hating all the songs, hating being in the industry, hating doing the shows. So I had to learn to love music again if I wanted to continue doing this.
The people who have the strongest opinion about everything have never left their city, their town, haven't left their 'hood, haven't left their area, their corner of the world. They don't read. They've never left their house.
If I did a Rock record, it would be equally as truthful because I love Rock. I had to actually sing to Bon Jovi one time and I felt like he believed me. He's one of my favorite artists, so there's nothing better than the truth.
I started writing an album on flights to Africa and Brazil, but it was crazy because I left the notebook on the plane. It had seven or eight songs in it. After that, I'm not writing any more songs on notebooks - and I keep my Blackberry close!
I always say, 'There's a difference between cooked food and McDonald's.' Your mom's homemade dinner - you enjoy this more than you enjoy the fast food that comes along and goes, and I strive to make homemade dinner every time I put out an album.
I always have to get my U.K. fix, and 'Downton Abbey' is definitely that. I absolutely love period dramas, but this one is particularly appealing - following the ins and outs of aristocracy as well as the interaction between the rich and the poor.
I can't stand quitters. My mother is a very strong, determined woman. I was peeling onions when I was seven, but I walked off when my eyes began to sting. She said to me, 'You start something and you finish it', and that stuck with me. I'm persistent.
I remember being, like, the age of 7 and just always being in control of something or someone, a baby somewhere. I had lots of cousins and brothers, and we were all taught that's how you are, you know. Things don't just run themselves; you have to make them run.
I can sit in my room and write a song that I think might be a hit. I can sort of make myself do that, and then I'll play it to a friend, and they'll say, 'Oh, that's nice.' But when something happens to me, and I sit down and write a song to get rid of my emotions, they'll turn around and say, 'Wow, that's great.'
The people at my label are always endorsing what I say. They say, 'You see the truth, so speak it.' They believe in me. They respect my opinion. At least I have an opinion, and I'm not trying to play it safe. I don't go around saying, 'I think everyone is great, and the world is fantastic.' Everyone has opinions. They just don't say it.
