CHERYL JAMES

'None of Your Business.' It's the only Salt-N-Pepa song that I regret.

I don't want to give the illusion that one day God came down and I was healed.

I remember feeling all right with myself until age 13. Then, I was getting off the bus one day and this guy called me Miss Piggy. That was the first time I ever really felt like I wasn't okay.

I'm really open to doing music. We just have to figure out what kind of music it's going to be - something where I don't feel compromised.

Change is not an event, it's a process.

I've changed my life in a lot of ways. I'm a mom, a wife, and a Christian. Some of the things I expressed in my early 20s aren't what I care to express right now.

We're not hard people.

Christians often want to hide behind the walls of the church, where we are comfortable, but sometimes we have to come out of the box.

One of the speakers asked how many women had been harassed or abused sexually in their life? There were thousands of women in the audience, and almost every one of them raised her hand.

For the moment, I'm concentrating on my own stuff.

I'm at a point in my life where I have something solid now. I'm a peaceful person, and I want to be surrounded by peace no matter what I'm doing.

There were times in my career I went a little further than I wanted because of expectations. Doing certain things onstage when children were in the audience, wearing certain clothes, singing certain lyrics.

I'm not really into the fashion thing.

I don't like the fact that there are so few women in rap.

Rap is hardcore street music but there are women out there who can hang with the best male rappers. What holds us back is that girls tend to rap in these high, squeaky voices. It's irritating. You've gotta rap from the diaphragm.

But one thing that's constant is we've always appreciated fans. They put us on the map and they keep us on the map. I always put myself in their position. If I loved someone and had their posters all over my wall and met them and they were rude it would be very hurtful.

I didn't want to get back into the whole industry. I left overworked, overwhelmed, and not having any control over my life. I was bulimic and needed to heal.

I got to that desperate place where nobody could help me but God.

They keep telling me that my flow's up to date, you know. I guess they thought I was gonna come back sounding... old.

For me, the bulimia was about stuffing my emotions. So I stopped suppressing my feelings.

Our attitude is that we want to cross over. You can't go on making records just for your own hometown.

The part you don't expect when you start out is all the people who come into your life wanting a piece of you, not caring about your wellbeing. The insane schedule is very difficult. Touring looks very glamourous but it's hard and gruelling - the travelling, the meet-and-greets - it was too crazy.

There are different kinds of people in the world.

We're feminists. We're doing something that only guys are expected to do and doin' it right! At our concerts we'll do one hard-core rap song and then do one where we'll be real sexy.

The best form of flattery is to be admired, imitated or respected. I've always felt proud our fans look up to us or feel we are inspirational.