The big, big record labels have so much control. I think too much control that it actually made their artists scared to not do what they were told and then the music suffers because of that dynamic and now there's the power of the download.

It's nice to know that you're worth something and music really does put that kind of light back into you. Well, it does for me anyway. I've been through some very interesting times in my life and there is certain songs that I go to and I'm like, ok, it's not that bad.

It's not a deliberate thing. It's not like I was rejecting the UK, which is what the papers said. It's just that when you spend a lot of time in your formative years around an accent, you're going to pick it up. I had been living in LA for a bit and that's what happened.

I think that people are having to do like really crazy things to shock people now, to get people's attention and it kind of, it's this way in lots of different aspects of life. You know, people fight for attention. It's competitive. So they need to be the one that stands out.

If I was a person that felt success is money, and for some people it is, I won't yuck someone's yum - if that's your thing, that's your thing. Go for it. Make as much money as you can. I don't care. Not my thing. My thing is something else. So I don't miss that. At all. Who needs it? How much money do you really need?

The fact is when I get pissed off about something or something awful has happened, I just say, 'You know what? Thank you very much. Thank you for the lyrics. Because that is exactly what you just gave me.' There's no real negative then. So if something happens, I don't cry about it. I just find myself a pen and I figure it out.

As a singer, I've always said, "Yes, I smoke weed," when I'm asked. Of course I say yes, because why wouldn't I smoke weed? There are many reasons not to, though not that many compared to the reasons to do it. I've always been open about it ... but people go, "Hippie! No, not listening to you," and I think that's a bloody shame.

Madonna's not the best singer in the world, but she was awesome with her entertainment and all of her shock tactics and stuff and that's where it began. She then inspired all sorts of other girls to do that. But I don't know, I just think music's kind of important too. So you've gotta know where that line is especially when you are good at singing.

I always try to write about something that's actually happened or it doesn't always have to have happened to me, but it has to have happened at some point. So every single lyric that you hear comes from some kind of story that I've come across in my life. I like to think that that maybe helps me mean it a bit more and if you don't mean it, it ceases to be soul music.

People will download the music for free and they'll pay for it if they want to give you a compliment. They don't have to pay for it. And the only way the artist can make money was by touring 'cause the record label didn't take that money. Unfortunately now, cause the record company's not making money from the downloads, now they want to take money away from everything.

I'm just very much in love with love. I have this fairy-tale idea of what love should be, and I want it to be magical. I want everything in my life to be magical, actually. If you ever come to my house, you'll see what I mean. I've made it like a fairyland. Flowers and hearts everywhere, and there's colors and little gems hanging from the windows. I just like things to be magical if they can be, and in love there's your opportunity. I think that's how it should be, and if it's not like that, then, "Nah. Don't want it".

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