When I start something, I have to finish it, and I'm a super perfectionist, too.

I don't operate on fear, and I don't let fear control me.

A lot of people were getting million-dollar deals from music I felt was trash, because their videos were going viral. I wanted to put out music that had soul, because that's what was missing.

While performing, I can't wear anything that I'm not going to be able to dance in or heels that don't have ankle support.

As an artist, you have to work hard for things that you can't really hold in your hand. I work not for money but for my career, to expand myself as an artist. Every video I make, it's not making me any money; it's just because I want to expand.

I was a very creative child. I played the saxophone and piano, and I was always writing poetry and stories, or drawing in my notebook. I just tried to express myself through as many creative outlets as possible. And in high school, I started to get really into photography and videography and would spend hours working on it.

My father is my hero. No matter what, I'll always forgive him.

I didn't want to go to school, because I wanted to be an artist, and they were never going to teach me art. None of my family had ever done that kind of stuff either.

I've always considered myself a person of color.

I really try to balance my feminine and masculine energy when I write.

You're taught that it's not very likely for you to become successful... that odds are you're going to be a struggling artist for the rest of your life.

Back in the day, I used to get really upset when people used to say that I didn't really make all my own things - like my art or my videos or whatever. I work really hard on everything, so it used to upset me when people would try to discredit me or say that I wouldn't have what I had without this person or that person.

I was really grateful for the photography classes, the art classes, and the video classes. They would let me skip all my other classes and stay and work on my projects.

I can only be inspired if I'm working with people that I really respect.

The first time I did a show, I definitely didn't get any money. My friend just let me do this show. I was so nervous: my mic didn't work, and I was like, 'Urgh.' It was terrible. It was a dingy club off of the highway, but all these people came. It was packed out.

I think it's boring when everybody wears the same brands or the same styles, and it's like, 'Oh, this is the new trend.'

I'm Colombian. My family all have different complexions; some are people of color. I've been called every name by white people, been mocked for speaking in Spanish by white people.

No one can decide what you should do, what course of action you should take to get where you wanna go, except for yourself.

It was really important for me to understand that I needed to provide for myself, and I needed to become a provider for my own family, too.

Spanish is such an important language globally.

I was one of those people at one point who was scared to put my foot down and show where the boundaries were. For me, it's really important to stand your ground and know exactly what you are, where you wanna be, and what you're doing, or else people are gonna try you.

Just because someone is your family member doesn't mean they're a good person.

I am very much an artist. I like painting and collaging.

When I was 18 or 19, I realized that everything I was doing was connected to music - writing, doing videos, making my clothes. It all centered around being an artist. So I released a mixtape that I made in my bedroom, and it ended up getting a lot more attention than I expected.

La India's voice is so powerful. It will give you life.

Some of my writing is very subconscious, and that's definitely what happened with 'Body Language' - I looped some basic bossa nova sounds and just started singing.

I like lowriders and music from the '50s and '60s. A lot of people assumed I was Mexican.

You can consciously make a difference with music. Bob Marley is one of those few artists that everyone can say that they love. He makes you feel good. It's very real.

Juanes is one of the legendary, iconic Colombian artists. Growing up in Colombia, you can't really not have him on your radar. His songs are everywhere, and there's a statue of him. He's pretty big for Latin America, and for Colombia especially.

I'm constantly progressing. My style is changing every day.

I really love secondhand clothes. It's fun to turn them into something new.

My first relationship was from when I was about 15 to 19. My second relationship was kind of like a rebound, but also a really important part of my journey - he was very emotionally manipulative and just wanted me to be an accessory.

My dad's job was to manage apartment complexes, so when people would move out or when people would die or whatever, people left things in their apartments, he would always bring me home people's collection of music that they left behind. I was excited because I didn't really have money to go to the CD store all the time.

I've always experimented with my look. Growing up, I thought it was so weird that people dressed alike and all bought the same things.

The constant pressure to be the perfect, ideal female - there's no such thing.

It's really not easy to be an artist. It's not easy to put yourself out there and be honest. I'm making things that are really happening to me, and it's not easy to share that with the world.

You're always taught that the world is so competitive. You're taught that it's not very likely for you to become successful and that odds are you're going to be a struggling artist for the rest of your life.

That's the best kind of music: the stuff that happens based off intuition.

I've always been someone who, without wanting to or without trying to, I draw attention to myself sometimes in negative ways. It made me sharp, and it made me quick.

I love a good old-school reggaeton song.

I was always into music and stuff, so I would always make songs since I was little.

I'm Colombian-American. My father wanted me to have American citizenship, but he wanted to raise me in Colombia.

I'm naturally sort of a sad person, and that comes out in my music, but when I realized how many people were listening to it... I wanted to be a little more conscious about what I was putting out and what people were going to be taking from it.

When I'm making a song, I try not to think about audience or genres. It's free-flowing. Natural.

Being able to incorporate my language into songs is really cool. It's really cool to see that people are susceptible to it. It helps with writing a lot to turn off one language and then go to another.

Diplo kept asking me who styled my 'What They Say' video. I was like, 'No, that's just my clothes!'

We're all born into whatever citizenship, circumstances, or class we happen to be born into. Immigrants and so many people in the working class work so hard every day for nickels and pennies and scraps to just barely get by and then realize that this precious life has been completely drained out of us.

I'm just inspired by life and, growing up, I listened to all types of different sounds, genres, and areas of music.

Music is your way to change the frequencies of everything around you and move your own body, move your whole environment.

N.E.R.D. was also from - not too far from where I was from growing up. For a lot of people who make music, that was a huge influence in teen years.