My first album is playful.

My first album is playful.

I listen to gospel music.

'My Life' is not an autobiography. It's just music.

'My Life' is soft, with notes of pear and gardenia, but still bold, with a woody base.

As a child I always wanted to be a singer. The music my mother played in the house moved me - Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Mahalia Jackson. It was truly spiritual. It made you understand what God was. We are all spirits. We get depressed. But music makes you want to live. I know my music has saved my life.

As a kid, I dreamed about being onstage.

As a kid, I was in love with Michael Jackson, and I just knew I was going to marry him someday.

As long as I live, I know I'll have feelings. And that's what I'm passionate about.

Believe in yourself when nobody else does.

By the time I was a teenager, when I went outside the house, it was about hip-hop all the time. Nothing but hip-hop, block parties.

Don't give up, be positive and if you know someone who knows someone at a record company don't stop beating down their door till you get heard. Don't ever say it'll never happen or it'll never happen.

Even if you feel someone has wronged you or owes you something, no one is going to give you anything for free.

For the first time in my life, I'm proud of myself.

From being a little girl in the projects, going through all of the mess that I was going through, to ending up at the Inauguration for the first African-American president, I'm speechless right now because I never thought I'd - I never ever - I couldn't even see that far. Even when I ended up in the music business, I couldn't see that.

God comes first - if I don't love him, I can't love anybody, and if I can't love me I can't love nobody.

I always want to be a messenger, a person that, you know, that's not afraid to pass on wisdom.

I barely have time for my own children. To adopt more children and not have time for them, that would be poor parenting on my part.

I believe there are certain things that God uses to get us out of a bad situation, and I believe music was one of the things he used for me.

I believe there should be no more drama, but it's everywhere you go. It's just about how you get out. You've gotta bob and weave because it's everywhere. How do I keep the drama low? It's about using your head.

I believe this generation should know their history and they should know that the struggle's not over yet.

I can go out raw with nothing, and my fans would still be happy, but I feel that I owe it to them to give them almost like a Broadway musical at this point in my life. I have to give them something more, so I do have to think of different ways to do it.

I can have as many bad days as anyone. But I choose to say, 'I'm just fine.'

I can see the music. I know what it looks like. I know what color it is. The words come easy, the tears come easy, and the joy comes easy. The music tells you what to do.

I can tell you I didn't feel good when I could not articulate properly. Getting my GED was important and I want other women to feel that.

I can't just make a song people can dance in a club to... it still has to be real.

I cannot save the world; that's not what I'm trying to do. I guess I'm just trying to walk the walk and be an example to those that want it. Not everybody does, but if Mary J. Blige can come out of that same hole you were in, then you can do it, too - that's my goal: to do that without saying it, but actually live it.

I care about me now. When I didn't care about me, I was, like, 'Why is this going wrong? Why is my life so bad?' But when you don't care about yourself, nobody else is going to care about you. So I learned to love myself, even if nobody else does.

I didn't know how to show my self love, and I didn't want anyone else to hurt me. So my tough girl attitude was like, 'I'm not having it.'

I do consider myself part of black history.

I don't have any health problems, but to keep your health improves your quality of life.

I don't know. Only God knows where the story ends for me, but I know where the story begins. It's up to us to choose, whether we win or lose and I choose to win.

I don't listen to people's opinions. I have people around me who I can trust, but most of all I listen to myself.

I don't think there's anything they can say about me that I haven't said about myself already. And I would be an absolute total liar, and my fans would not respect me, if I said that my life and my marriage are perfect. But we absolutely love each other; we have fun together - it's great.

I felt ashamed about everything. Me dropping out of high school, me not, you know, just not being beautiful enough. I just didn't feel like I was smart enough or beautiful enough, you know, for years.

I grew up watching MTV, when Journey was huge, when Pat Benatar had 'Love Is a Battlefield,' and my friends and I used to cut school to watch this woman in the video. We loved Pat Benatar.

I had to learn how to trust my gut. Trust what I know to be right... not right, but not waver on who I am. Know who I am, know what I want, and know it. Not waver on it and be secure in that. And I still struggle with it. But I really... I can't be moved. You can't move me, and that all comes with loving myself, and I'm like my best buddy.

I hated myself for so many reasons, and I thought so many things were my fault that happened to me growing up.

I have to have lemon and honey. I have to have apple cider vinegar, Braggs. And I have to have either Red Vines or Twizzlers. These things, you know, are the things that help my vocal performance.

I just want fans to walk away knowing that no matter what's going on, no matter how happy you are, no matter how sad you are, we did it. We're strong in this. We've come a long way, and life is not just one thing.

I know who I am. I am not perfect. I'm not the most beautiful woman in the world. But I'm one of them.

I like French fries; I like mashed. I love potatoes.

I like hanging out with me, and I've accepted everything about me good, bad whatever it is. That's why I'm able to, that's why no one can tell me anything negative about myself.

I like to do interior design, I love to quilt, I love to see different colors together, and I love to match things up.

I remember a time when all my fans were crying and sad and going through hell. Now, we're trying to uplift each other and accept ourselves for who we are, even if nobody else does.

I still get nervous about singing. I drink tea with honey and lemon before every concert. And I need to have scented candles in all of my hotel rooms.

I suffered from self hatred so much. It's like I didn't want to look like that any more. I didn't to feel like that any more. It had to be another way.

I used to think I was ugly. I thought I looked like a camel. A person who doesn't love themselves, they will see anything that pops up on their face. I've seen squirrels, I've seen a bird, and I've seen all kinds of animals on my face. But that is the result of self-hate. I've learned to say: 'You know what? I am a beautiful black woman'.

I wish I had an extra day with my mom sometimes. Or another hour in the day with my family, husband and children.