When I was growing up, hip-hop was still a pretty specialised thing.

I am a black British female artist, so I must be like Ms Dynamite, I must be like Shystie, I must be like Jamelia, but we're all different.

I'm the female Jay-Z. I never compared myself to other women artists. I compared myself with the best, and the best is Jay-Z.

When my career slowed, I knew deep down it wasn't over.

I believe Jesus Christ is God. I believe He loves every single human being that has ever lived, no matter what they have done, even if they don't believe in Him.

From my early 20s on, I would waver between atheism and agnosticism, never coming close to considering that God could be real.

When we pray to Buddha, we are not praying to a piece of stone, an image of Buddha, but we pray to the soul of Buddha behind the piece of stone. The souls of the people who are dead now are still with us.

I am racing to the studio the moment that God affords me the opportunity to hear again.