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

It hurts when you have to smile and you don't want to smile, but the best thing to do is to smile.

It's challenging to find an identity as a young person if you don't have the sustenance of love, because you're being shipped around.

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.

My journey continues, because I've, you know, conquered a lot. And I know how to conquer the rest.

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.