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'm by no means an expert at giving advice on depression, but I would say that a lot of my show is about making the decision to be happy. We all think that happiness is something that just falls into our lap. But it's something you have to really work on.

We need to move into a culture of peace. What I hope to promote is the idea that we all need each other and that the greatest happiness in life is not how much we have but how much we give. That's a wealth that's priceless. You can't buy compassion.

To me, it's always a joy to create music no matter what it takes to actually get there. The real evils are always whatever stops you from doing that - like if your CPU is spiking and you have to sit there and bounce all your MIDI to audio. Now that's annoying!

I have no complaints except for the fact that I get very little time with my family. However, the happiness they feel every time they see me doing well compensates for everything.