Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
People grapple with labeling me as hip-hop, R&B, or pop, and it's interesting to me. I'm just making music.
We're changing little girls' lives across the world, and we didn't even know what we were doing when we started.
I have a really strong gluten allergy, and I'm pretty lactose-intolerant, like, in a big way, but I love cheese.
Especially when I'm nervous, my mind is running a mile a minute. My ADHD speaks for me before I can speak for me.
I love when things that I'm involved in really matter and when people like me back and don't just think I'm corny.
I love Obama, and I just want to reiterate it again to everyone from every hilltop and every mountain: I love him!
When your parents regulate everything you hear and everything you intake, it forces you to get creative in other ways.
I always wanted to be a Klingon princess. They were so pretty, and their hair was fire. My hair is Klingon, I feel like.
Every day I grapple between 'I'm going to get married' and 'I'm going to spend the rest of my life alone with a poodle.'
I wear boxers all the time. I don't really move like a girl. I mean, unless it's time for me to get dressed or something.
I don't feel ashamed to be loud, which is an argument I've had with lots of men, who thought I was too sassy and unladylike.
I tell the truth through music. Other people tend to catch on and agree with my truth and it turns out we are all really similar.
I don't have a background in music... and I have a short attention span. If you put me in the studio every day, I'm gonna get lost.
I definitely get inspiration from the 'gram. I mean, Instagram is Google, essentially. I love looking at pictures of beautiful women.
Eternally repeating that cycle of death and rebirth, an existence such as this... truly, mine is what may be called a 'perfect existence'!
I love empowering women. I think it's crazy: if you ever try to belittle women, you're playing yourself - I ride with whoever rides with me.
Don't get discouraged with your skin when it doesn't do what you want it to do... Give it some time. That's the only way to get to know yourself.
My mom was an executive at AT&T, a global account lady. I have no idea what she did. I just know she was never home and speaks several languages.
My mom is a Pan-Africanist. My dad is still Orthodox Sunni Muslim, but he's super fun. He worked in television for years. He was a Black Panther.
Control is not real, and I'm really understanding that every day. It's about the acceptance of relinquishing control that makes it powerful for you.
I just think I have too much anxiety to listen to music. Sometimes it feels like noise, and sometimes it's so affecting that I can't recover from it.
I used to be very revenge-motivated, but that's just because I'm a Scorpio. Now I'm more so, like, practice honesty just because it makes you feel better.
I just make music however I feel and pray that it connects, and if it does, I'm super thankful. I think genres are more for other people, not for yourself.
When you're, like, 190 pounds, dark-skinned, and a new artist that no one really cares about, people don't really take the time to make you look beautiful.
I think we all do: I think we wonder if we're supposed to be here, if we're doing the right thing, if we even want to be here. At least, I do all the time.
I went through this phase of Spandex, high heels, and fur coats when I was my late teens and early twenties; before then, I lived in overalls and baggy T-shirts.
I love the comparison with Aaliyah and Timbaland, because Aaliyah is a legend, and there is a large cinematic feel to Timbaland's sound, but what I do is different.
How many thick black women are there singing whatever I'm singing, surrounded by rappers, but also from the suburbs? I can't really judge someone else for judging me!
I don't have any control over what actually happens except for that I have full control over my will for myself, my intention, and why I'm there. That's all that matters.
My parents are really conservative. My dad is Muslim, and my mom is the most conservative woman you've ever met. They're very aristocratic in the most quaint suburban way.
I don't listen to my own music, so to me it's awesome that people really like it. I was afraid that it wouldn't connect with everyone. I'm more appreciative than anything.
I don't listen to my own music, so to me, it's awesome that people really like it. I was afraid that it wouldn't connect with everyone. I'm more appreciative than anything.
I've been known to wear pajamas onstage for the sole reason of wanting to make sure I'm free enough to execute new things vocally onstage and give my best performance possible.
I learned everything the hard way - like, literally, everything. I know that God does that to people that he has lessons for. I just wish that I had learned less extreme lessons.
I'm a Scorpio with a Pisces moon. I am very critical of myself. I'm actually way less critical of others than I am of myself. I'm in my own head a lot. It's hard and really discouraging.
On Halloween, because we don't celebrate it, my dad would drive me somewhere, anywhere different. Like Little Italy in New York to walk around and teach me all about the food and culture.
As long as you're being honest and there's intention in what you're doing, then I think that energy permeates your field and becomes like a homing signal for other people with like energies.
I've always wanted an office job so I can tell someone, "I'm going to take a long lunch," or "I'm out of the office." I don't know why, but I've always seen so much stability in clocking in.
The album that defined my childhood was probably Ella Fitzgerald's 'Greatest Hits,' whereas my half-sister, who didn't have the same conservative upbringing, was listening to Cash Money and crunk.
I definitely want to get into environmental science and environmental politics, learning a lot more and preserving what's left of the world. That's such a sacred circle to be in. I'd love to contribute to that.
I was born in St. Louis, but I'm from Maplewood, New Jersey. Maplewood is completely different than the rest of New Jersey. It's very small. It's quietly affluent but more low-key. Lauryn Hill is from my town, though.
When I just decided to be myself, that's when you get questions like, 'How do you feel about feminism?' And I have no idea; this is just when I decide what I'm not tolerating and what I genuinely think and a little bit in between.
In the real world, I kind of, like, thrived a little bit. The things that were awkward about me at school, like being hyper passionate... I realized, 'Oh I'm my own person, and I have my own idiosyncrasies and nuances that I don't mind.'
I love food, so having a lot of food allergies now and just having a really sensitive body, it forces me to be very mindful and conscious and eat when I'm hungry, not just when I'm bored, and just really slow down. Everything in moderation.
Singing was more of a hobby, and I was terrified of anyone's opinions. The only reason I kept doing it was because people responded positively, and if they hadn't I don't really know if I'd feel the same. I'm not into fighting for people's affections.
Wearing a hijab never made me feel any more conservative - it made me feel safe. Then, after 9/11, I became the butt of a joke on the playground, so I stopped wearing it. Kids can be really cruel when you're the only black girl in your Girl Scout troop.
Sugar makes me feel crazy - like, makes my body hurt kind of a thing. I don't really eat fruit because it has a lot of sugar. I try not to eat a lot of red meat, but every now and again, I feel like I need iron or something - something that I'm missing.
There's something different about growing up black and Muslim, especially in New Jersey. It's like when I left the mosque and I left my dad, I felt unprotected, but I also felt a weird sense of pride, like I was involved in this other way of living that was cool to me.
I used to be offended when people would compare me to Erykah Badu. Because I'm black, thick, and have large lips? There's nothing similar about us whatsoever, and I felt very disrespected by the fact that people needed to pigeonhole me. I wasn't even raised on Erykah Badu!
When your parents regulate everything you hear and everything you intake, it forces you to get creative in other ways. It sparked the writing bug and the very overactive imagination. Because I've had a lot of time by myself and a lot of time isolated from regular culture, I created my own.