I treat myself pretty good. I take lots of vacations, I eat well, I take supplements, I do mercury detox, I get plenty of sleep, I drink plenty of water and I stay away from drama and stress.
I actually went to high school with Lil Uno.
J has told me about his past. I know what happened and why. But he is the one person who made me believe in my talent and whatever happened in the past, he's been a wonderful manager to me.
If I hear a song that I like, my first instinct is to find out about who made it.
We laid the foundation before we went to a major label.
My mother, she made sure all of us were treated the same and had the same opportunity to grow and develop, so that when we left the house, we could fly on our own. And she also knew when we got out into the world, we'd treat others that we came across with that same treatment and respect.
I have learned to smile when I wasn't happy, to sing when I didn't feel like it, and to do things just to please my fans.
I've gone pretty high at times so I think the yin yang of that is going pretty low.
When our forefathers put down roots in desolate places, the thing that allowed them to survive was that they had a faith to see them through the tough times.
A lot of what we do in the studio on a day-to-day basis is you try to cast a line as far out as you can out into unknown waters and reel it back in, cut out stuff that isn't working, cut out stuff that isn't connecting to people.
People need to understand that the Lauryn Hill they were exposed to in the beginning was all that was allowed in that arena at the time. I had to step away for the sake of the machine. I was being way too compromised. I felt uncomfortable having to smile in someone's face when I really didn't like them or know them well enough to like.
The way Aventura became successful was so weird. We didn't have a major label. They say everything has a reason, but it's not easy to find. The only thing that was right was the music.
Public school felt like prison - cinderblock walls, fluorescent lights, metal lockers. It was so sterile and unstimulating.
Romeo Must Die came at the right time. It was the right vehicle for me.
Basically, I think you need two things to get by in this world: a sense of humor and the ability to laugh when your ego is destroyed.
For mascara, I'll just use whatever I have in my bag. I'll use anything. I feel like, from drugstores to a Saks, they are all the same to me.
Without a band, I'm much more free to improvise.
I go to correctional facilities and talk to kids there. They have little kids in there who are, like, 12 years old, stealing cars and stuff like that.
I was born in New Orleans, and I wasn't allowed to go to the movies.
It feels good to have your work respected again.
I once took a ride to the beach in L.A., and all along the shore there were all these so-called jazz places. And I saw these college guys and session players playing this fusion Muzak stuff. It was just a lot of notes, and the more notes they played, the more it kept them from expressing anything. So I came back home and got out my Zeppelin albums.
Music is about listening, the more you play, the more the magic spreads.
I was at a Thai restaurant when 'i hate u, i love u' hit the million-listen mark. It was weird because nothing else I released before had gotten that high at all.
You don't need validation from other people. You've gotta find it within yourself and sit in it and roll with it.
Just build your brand from day one, man. Your brand is your name, basically. A lot of people don't know that they need to build their brand, your brand is what keeps you moving.
My Barbie doll is definitely a reflection of me and my personality. My doll is so detailed, she even has my same beauty marks.
This life of ours, this is a wonderful life. If you can get through life like this and get away with it, hey that's great. But it's very predictable. There's so many ways you can screw it up.
I really worked with icons in the music business, which really had a strong effect on me. It wasn't just pick-up gigs.
My secret heroes were Joe Morello, Ray Charles - who is, in my opinion, the most dominant figure in musical history in the 21st century - and Frank Sinatra. Those are my heroes. And as a writer, when Bob Dylan came along, it was a miracle because he gave us all permission to say anything!
I truly believe that women should be financially independent from their men. And let's face it, money gives men the power to run the show. It gives men the power to define value. They define what's sexy. And men define what's feminine. It's ridiculous.
I always believe that the sky is the beginning of the limit.
There's a lot of mountain climbers trapped inside of bodies of people behind the counter at Kinko's.
Somebody said I sound like an old lady, and I was really insulted by that. I'm trying to sound like Skip James and Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye.
I'm very into familiar things, popular things. I'm into things that no one seems to know about or be into. I'm trying to draw a line between those two things and make it clear... that it all makes sense to me. That it's not disparate. That it's all one thing inside me.
I can't wait to meet Jennifer Hudson, Tamyra Gray, George Huff, Ruben Studdard, and I love me some Clay Aiken.
It was my band. I organized the band and Dizzy was in the band. Dizzy was the first musical director with the band. Charlie Parker was in the band. But, no, no, that was my band.