Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
My dog and 'right hand man,' who recently passed, taught me that guardian angels and cycles tend to come in every form in the universe. He was 8 years old and saw me through 8 independent projects, from an unsure place to a confident one. And now I'm ready to fly.
Movies remind me of recording. Just the process of it - the intricacies, the technicalities, the days and the long hours, and mastering and mixing and editing. But seeing the final product, it all pays off in the end. That's the rush - when you see things come to life.
The people that I associate with, the circle that I keep, is real simple, and sometimes we think or we're trained to believe that you always have to have more, more, more to make ourselves feel happy or beautiful, but it's the other way around for me. Simplicity is sexy.
I think I'm very proud of the 'Lady Marmalade' collaboration that I did with Christina, Lil Kim, Pink, and Missy. That was the first time and probably one of the only times that I've worked with so many females at once, and we were able to accomplish so many great things.
We had a bond creatively that came out of 'Lady Marmalade.' It was our link. And people don't know this, but P!nk and I actually met when we were both 16 years old in Philadelphia. I was recording my first album, and we were working with the same producers, so I originally knew her as Alecia.
For performances I have my favorite go to's like Prince, Donna Summer, Vanity 6, Sheila E, but it also depends on the type of show I am giving. I could pull references from Broadway musicals, Rock Steady Crew, a Jamaican dancehall or gentlemen's club, etc. all within one show. It truly is a playground with no restrictions for me.
My favorite track from the album Independent is Hold On. Everyone at some point fights battles or has struggles, and in moments of doubt or defeat, this is the song coming from a place of never giving up. It makes me think of the angel on the shoulder voicing understanding but guiding you in the right direction to take you out of that dark place.
The biggest challenge is self-financing 100% of everything. Recording costs, studio time, engineer fees, travel costs are all a part of the creation process. Then after the creation, there are producer fees, mixing, mastering, photo shoots, artwork, packaging, artist feature fees, legal fees, clearances, and so on that must be covered before any music can officially be released to the public.
In many inner cities, there are issues of less economic stability, poorer education, community centers being stripped away, arts being removed from the school system leaving many children imbalanced, isolated from their most powerful self... the independent thinker, the creator, the dreamer often leaving children more susceptible to other harmful things out of boredom or feelings of rejection.
