Would you describe your music as alternative soul or rock or something else?
I’d say it’s a mix of all these genres. Pop, rock, jazz, R&B, Hip Hop… these are the things I grew up with. I can’t divide it. I just have to go with what comes naturally out of my soul. I guess it’s by default. My parents are musicians and I grew up listening to all kinds of music. You know from Hot 97 and radio all day and then I go out with them to these jazz clubs. So when I started writing music all of those things came out naturally.
How is your experience with SONY?
It’s great. My album is coming (laughs) August 28th, so it’s great. They are really supportive and they are happy.
What should we expect from the album?
The album it takes you through a ride, I guess. Different emotions, break ups, make ups. Some things on how I feel about the world, my perspective on issues and people.
What do you think of the commercial drive in today’s music, is it hurting the culture or helping the overall scene?
I think it’s a balance. Well, may be it’s a bit out of balance now, but I think there is a lot of great commercial music out there as well as underground music. Its tough, it takes a lot for that to change. It’s a process when you become a signed artist and you have a lot of meaning to different people, its up to those people to change their perspective on music.
Being a woman in the industry, what type of challenges do you generally face, that may be different from those of men?
Hey, baby, yo! (laughs) Shorty! (sharply pronouncing the R) You just gotta hold your head up high as a woman. I found in the process of making the album I had to be adamant about saying positive things about women and not talking about baby daddies and all this other stuff. It’s just important to stay positive.
With R&B music, dominated by female performers, outselling rap music, which is dominated by men performers, do you feel that it is actually easier for a woman to break through nowadays?
I can’t say. I don’t know. I think its all relative. Everybody has challenges that they go through. You can take those challenges and use them as an excuse and be the victim or you can just have your goal in mind and work toward it. I just do me.
A typical female singer is viewed based heavily on her looks and not just voice. Is it just an extension of the entertainment industry or is there something wrong with the picture?
I think it’s definitely a part of entertainment but I think you can look however you want to look. It kind of goes back to changing the mentality of people at a record company and not underestimating the people. I think people would still be buying the artists’ albums no matter what. It’s nice to dress up and look pretty, but just be yourself no matter what.
What would you recommend for a woman entering the music scene?
Don’t be tempted to sell yourself or feeling like you have to do something that goes against how you feel inside. You get a lot of offers for women, like I’ll do this for you and you gonna do this for me. Don’t fall for it. You’re gonna get there no matter what if you are focused. Just be your beautiful self. Women have a lot of power.