I love Toronto.

Good things take time.

I definitely study the greats.

I'm really about this women empowerment thing.

All of my music is based off my life experiences.

Living my truth was very hard - I felt vulnerable.

I'm a sneaker girl, but I like to make comfort fancy.

Sometimes it's all about hype, and I didn't want hype.

All the gossip - I'm not about that at all. The drama.

I'm so emotional when it comes to even the smallest thing.

I write about other people's experiences from time to time.

To live your truth and sing your truth, that defines success.

I went to a Buddy Guy concert when I was, like, seven years old.

I always say that my music is my diary. It's very personal to me.

It's scary and uncomfortable releasing music that is close to you.

People are gonna listen to the music whether or not I reveal myself.

I go to my mom's house and she'll make me do the dishes or clean up.

I really wish I could have collaborated with Prince before he passed.

I was almost afraid to speak on the things I've dealt with as a woman.

I like to pair clothes or accessories that wouldn't usually go together.

It's not a popularity contest to me. It should always be about the music.

Black culture, to me, is so important and I identify with young black women.

Some people, they make these assumptions before they even listen to the music.

Being anonymous, I thought I'd just release the music and see what happens organically.

As a person, I'm just trying to be better than I was yesterday and continue to elevate.

My dad had a cover band. They would rehearse in my living room while my mom was pregnant.

I've been writing since I was five years old. I used to write poetry, and I loved to rhyme.

Some people want the attention, some people want the spotlight, and that just wasn't it for me.

I would not be able to sleep at night and I would practice my Grammys speech. That was definitely me.

A lot of women need to know that they don't have to conform, they don't have to take no for an answer.

People at school knew I sang and that this was what I was gonna do, but I was pretty private and low-key.

My parents have very different tastes. They exposed me to so many different things. I represent both sides.

I was a kid. I would go home and play instruments, and I would be at school on the playground the next day.

It's really powerful to have a strong base that genuinely loves the music and plays it over and over again.

I will say about my fans, from day one they've been listening and are still listening to my projects on repeat.

People have always tried to imitate, but at the end of the day, no one can do me better than I can do me, you know?

I wanted people to just accept the music for what it is without any judgement and being anonymous was the best way to do that.

As an artist, you're very sensitive about your art. And you feel like, 'Am I doing the right thing? Am I making the right music?'

I've learned a lot about myself through my music and the way people perceive it, and the goal is for the success not to change me.

I'm so thankful that at this point, even if you see my face or know who I am, it doesn't matter, because you already love the music.

I want people to feel the emotion, try to relate to the way that I look or want to be like me in the way that I'm living or whatever.

I have to keep doing me. I have to not look at what everybody else is doing, or what everybody else thinks should be happening right now.

My dad and I would perform around the Bay Area where I'm from in California together, and I also did talent shows growing up, I loved it.

You can't avoid heartbreak, you can't avoid a lot of things. You have to go through them in order to become the person you're going to be.

I want women to really feel how honest and vulnerable I am and to understand that they are not alone and that these are all human emotions.

When you're growing up as a young woman, you develop all of these insecurities, and then there's boys and all of that stuff on top of that.

We live in an era of social media. We care more about looks, popularity and followers than about real music. And I wanted to get away from that.

Throughout my teenage years or whatever, I've been so uncomfortable, or I've made mistakes and I've felt like I'm the only one who has done that.

My dad and I used to play Prince, Lauryn Hill, Stevie Wonder, The Parliaments, and a lot of older funk bands while cooking breakfast in the morning.

I remember being really, really young and watching Prince and Michael Jackson concert DVDs. One of my favorites is Prince's 'Rave Un2 The Year 2000.'

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