NeXT Quotes

When I think of Afropunk, I think of the best of the best. I think of, like, D'Angelo.

I don't listen to my own music, so to me, it's awesome that people really like it. I was afraid that it wouldn't connect with everyone. I'm more appreciative than anything.

My parents are really conservative. My dad is Muslim, and my mom is the most conservative woman you've ever met. They're very aristocratic in the most quaint suburban way.

Wearing a hijab never made me feel any more conservative - it made me feel safe. Then, after 9/11, I became the butt of a joke on the playground, so I stopped wearing it. Kids can be really cruel when you're the only black girl in your Girl Scout troop.

I've always loved playing with hair. I used to want dreads like Lauryn Hill, but my mom wouldn't let me.

I went through this phase of Spandex, high heels, and fur coats when I was in my late teens and early twenties; before then, I lived in overalls and baggy T-shirts.

It's so hard for me to focus on things for a long time that I'm not incredibly passionate about.

I just make music however I feel and pray that it connects, and if it does, I'm super thankful. I think genres are more for other people, not for yourself.

Oh, Instagram stresses me out on a very deep level!

Music, or the type of music that I'm writing, is very personal.

I did some work on Beyonce and Nick Minaj's 'Feeling Myself.'

I always wanted to be a Klingon princess. They were so pretty, and their hair was the fire. My hair is Klingon, I feel like.

I feel like every outfit I have ever planned ahead is trash.

I always used to be like, 'I don't need to meditate.' And it's not true.

Every day I grapple between 'I'm going to get married' and 'I'm going to spend the rest of my life alone with a poodle.'

I feel like when you say 'activist,' you have to have so much clarity, and I don't always necessarily have so much clarity on how I want to help others, I just have this weird, deep urge to help other people. I'm trying to let God guide my body and use it as whatever kind of vehicle or vessel it needs to be.

I love Obama, and I just want to reiterate it again to everyone from every hilltop and every mountain: I love him!