I was a happy-go-lucky gothic girl who had an optimistic spirit cos I was suffering a lot at home.

I try not to be overly nostalgic, and I don't use nostalgia to be kitschy.

Men should understand that women are creatures of nature, and that they are to be respected as nature, and that they are interchangeable and complex like nature.

Music has empowered me through poverty, abuse, and mental-health issues.

I was just a queer theater kid from New York City.

It took me a long time to get to where I am, but I am here and it is everywhere I want to be. A place where both my artistic merit and hard work meet. A day where I can say, 'Yeah, I'm a musician. A good one.'

Music is a beauty pageant. When I go put myself out there, I'm going to compete.

I truly have a lot of faith in the universe even when I'm down, I'm always good.

I don't have a make-up artist and I don't need a stylist.

I like to honor my West African and Taino ancestry, I consider it sacred and divine.

My definition of God is the highest supreme feeling of beauty and light and happiness.

I think that brown people are attracted to rock music because it speaks on the spectrum of pain that brown people are predisposed to.

Black people created punk - the band Death was way before The Ramones. Same with Bad Brains. If you think about it, the wool has been pulled over our eyes.

People look down on teen moms and young mothers when they are the most gracious and significant women on this Earth. They sacrifice their freedom and their lives to give life.

Everybody wants to act like I ain't a big deal when I am. I'm one of the most successful, relevant and influential rappers of my generation.

Black people created rock music, it's a fact. Black people created bluegrass and rock and roll way before Elvis Presley and The Beatles.

My ancestors had to keep their customs secret for fear of death or persecution, so it's common to be secretive and discreet about Regla de Ocha. But it's my family's spirituality, so I don't want to keep it secret.

I'm a Puerto Rican woman whose family has roots in Regla de Ocha, also known as Santeria.

I'm 100 percent in control of my artistry, music, and finances.

Everything really came together on '1992.' That isn't to dismiss my earlier works - they were great - but when I focused myself on hip-hop everything just clicked.

I model a lot and I'm very fortunate and blessed to be able to do as many partnerships I do for an underground musician such as myself.

I'm undereducated in politics, and I don't like to involve myself in them because they have dark spaces that I do not want to touch.

I literally have my hand in every aspect of the art world that you could imagine. That's what I've always done.

Growing up, I loved Boy George, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Queen, Freddie Mercury, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross.

Queer culture was introduced to me at a very early age. It was introduced to me with a semi-positive facet because no one in my family is remotely homophobic or closed-minded.

Oh, I never fit in anywhere. I'm a loner. I don't even have many friends.

To me, the music industry doesn't exist, it's like the devil, it doesn't exist if you don't believe in it.

Growing up in the '90s was the coolest thing to me.

The principles of punk-rock culture, of self-expression and DIY culture, that really spoke to me.

I always wanted to make rock music as well or as an element of what I do.

Black people have always loved the blues - they basically created the blues.

My mother picked my name with a spiritual intention: Destiny, 'what was meant to be.' She was a very special woman, and a gifted witch.

The music that I will continue to make will certainly draw upon those experiences of being a loner, of being an emo goth kid, of being a New York City aficionado, of being a witch, a feminist, a brown radical woman.

I think that the power of reinvention is very important.

I feel like I've had a really great time just being able to make all the music that I've always liked to make and listen to and expressing it in different ways.

I like a lot of older rock 'n' roll artists, like legends like Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. They really influenced me to be very, very androgynous and very commanding, and very very - I wouldn't say odd, but I would say eccentric.

That's why I created Smart Girl Club in the first place because I really wanted to combat the non-inclusion that I felt in a lot of places.

When I was little I wanted to be like Kathleen Hanna or Courtney Love or be attached to the X-girls and hang out in downtown culture.

The street-wear and the very androgynous tomboyish girl, that's just not this new persona I'm introducing… it's me 24/7.

My place in New York is very authentic, very old New York. I love old New York.

I'm not a docile, complacent person when it comes to racial aggressions.

I used to go onstage with no makeup on. And then I realised I was looking a little crazy and I had to grow up a bit and look more presentable as a woman.

I had been introduced to rapping in a way where women and people did it, it was structured. It had this very very political structure to it and if you didn't follow the structure, you weren't considered validated or real and that just gave me anxiety.

Every year, I assign myself to make a beautiful art piece which is my musical project for the year.

Jordans? No. I thought mohawks, leather jackets, studs, piercings, colored hair, leopard print, platforms, all the bondage wear, I thought that was the coolest thing.

I'm a big believer in letting your freak flag fly.

I've had a lot of characters and personalities, accents and different aspects from all the walks of my life.

It's apparent that I'm really eccentric and lively.

When white supremacy has you down, honey, go out dancing, have as much fun as you can.

I've written all of my songs, I directed all my videos. Every part of what I've done for music, from the visuals to the business, I did it. And I'm really proud of that.