In my day, in my era, Ralph McDaniels, just being five and being at his block party, you could just got onstage.

I'm a bombshell, so I'm going to do me. If I want to go platinum, I'm going platinum.

I'm born to do music. I'm born to act. I'm born to dance and all of these things, and I will be respected.

When I was 17 years old, I put out an album while my mother was dying of cancer. That right there alone is a struggle. That's hard. That's tough for anybody.

I like the OMG Girlz. They're real and they're friends.

MC Lyte definitely embraces me. Jada Pinkett Smith embraces me. Those are two people that I can call and get advice. Those are two people that will call me to see what I'm doing.

The jump toward joy encompasses your life with boundless energy.

This is my present, also yours, free to choose. I am here at your side, alive, and no ghost. Let beauty and care forge the weapons tonight.

I guess ice cream is one of those things that are beyond imagination

Glorify what is great not what is important.

Reading gives us some place to go when we have to stay where we are

I begin by writing paragraphs that don’t have an immediate relation to a plot. The sound of the story comes first.

Materials are very important to me, and always have been.

I take the kids to church and Sunday school. They love it. I really think it's important for a child to feel that there are things that are bigger than your life out there.

There's nothing good, there's nothing moral about taking money from people who earn it.