I was raised on pork... steak, chicken, everything... And everyone in my family pretty much of the older generation has diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cancer.
I'm the oldest in my family, and I grew up with brothers, so we would be on the front lawn every day playing football, whether it's tackle or tag.
I've gone through relationships, gone through the normal things that a normal person would go through.
Life is too short to hold on to the past and grudges.
When your back is against the wall, and you feel like you're losing faith and hope because so many things are coming at you at once, hold on.
Positive energy and attitude is sexy to me.
I think the 'R&B singer' title came from me entering the business at a time when R&B chick singers were the trend. I was fine with that, but I have a lot more to offer.
'Damage' is about taking risks, stepping into new territory regardless of the outcome.
I function properly, feel better, do better, look better, and treat others better when there's less clutter.
I went vegan because it was a willpower challenge. I've been vegetarian, I've been pescetarian, and vegan was the next thing.
This thing we call love has always been tricky, and as beautiful as it can be, we can potentially lose ourselves in it.
I can't always get to the gym, but I make a gym wherever I am: on the floor or on a yoga mat with bodyweight-bearing exercises like sit-ups and crunches, push-ups, lunges, squats.
Trying to please so many people can definitely cause a lot of stress.
I grew up with brothers in real life.
My family thinks I'm crazy and weird.
I've been able to become an entrepreneur and an independent artist.
I started dancing when I was about four, and my mother put me into dancing school, and I did every type of dance there is.
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.
I was captain of the pom-pom team, which was still dance, but we were athletes. We trained on the track and did workouts every single day after school.
My family is filled with amazingly talented painters, musicians, vocalists.
I'm not wearing leather shoes, and I have not worn furs since a long time ago. I have to be very conscious when I'm making decisions and saying I'm vegan because I have to be about it all the way.
When I go to the spa, I'm a girly girl. I'm pampering myself. But on a regular basis, I'm a very tough tomboy - I have to remind myself that I'm still a woman!
I was very protected by my family. But at the same time, I was free to explore womanhood. I was taught that it's okay to be sexy and smart and beautiful.
Exploring many different avenues, especially setting new challenges, has always fueled my passion for learning something new.
People will always have an opinion. Even if you're over here saving the world, there is a group of people that will love you and a group of people that will always hate you no matter what you do.
Music makes me love life, and without it, I don't know if I'd be happy.
I'm very patient with life.
Music dictates culture, and culture dictates music; they go hand in hand.
I'm not Britney Spears, so I still have a life. I can go certain places without getting hounded by little 5-year-olds. So I'm very sane as a person.
It took time for me to step away and become an independent thinker so that wherever I am in the world, I understand who I am and that nothing's impossible.
The definition of success, for me, was to have my family involved in everything that I did. But that got stripped away from me due to a very ugly divorce between my parents, who are also simultaneously my managers.
People have linked me to a lot of people. But people also project what they want to see for you.
I've always been the girl with a go-getter attitude.
