AMBER LIU

'Beautiful' was something that I kept really close to my heart, that I kept from a lot of people for years and years. It's my story. And I think that was the first impression I needed to give to people as a solo artist. This is who I am; this is what I'm about.

Sometimes, when I do certain looks, I don't want the intention to be taken out of context or expressed in the wrong way.

I hear that I dress like a boy and that I should be more girly, which I can understand, but I just focus on what I want to do and enjoy my time with fans who love me for who I am.

I finally chopped off my ponytail at the end of middle school, and it was the best decision I made.

I was on an army show, and in the army - especially in Korean culture - there's a very, very strict hierarchy. Obviously, you would not talk informally or disrespectfully to your commanding officer. But me, in my limited Korean, I basically told my commanding officer, 'Thou shalt forget!' The Korean public thought it was really funny.

When I first debuted back in 2009, K-Pop was already starting to get bigger because of the Internet. And that's how I found it, because I'm not Korean.

With anything new, if it's weird or cool, it will catch people's attention. But slowly, that new thing, if it catches on, it becomes a trend itself.

I don't cry that much, and if I do, it's for a really big thing.

I love songwriting, and rap is part of my songwriting, but I'm not a rapper.

I think that, definitely, as I've gotten older, my perspective changes. My love of music has definitely not changed; my love of the arts has definitely not changed.

If I can give something to the next generation, I want to give a message of positivity, to believe in themselves, because I think the world has just a lot of unnecessary stresses to be a certain way, look a certain way, do certain things.

As the human race, let's continue to show love, compassion, and respect towards one another.

I always had good skin as a little kid, but when I turned 25, everything just went south.

My parents are really supportive of everything I do.

My Mandarin is slowly getting worse.

I definitely went through this whole phase of seeing what my seniors or friends would be wearing and just copying that.

I worked at a school supply store as a cashier.

People assume a lot about me. Some people come up and think I'm hard. I'm actually very, very shy. I'm bubbly in the right circumstances. But I'm a big introvert.

My mom was a house mom when we were growing up, and that's all I knew about her. I had a really big disconnect with her because she only spoke Chinese. Her English isn't good at all. Being a typical second-generation, you have the basic stuff, but I never had a deep conversation with her.

There's a blessing that you're in a spotlight, but people follow you and want to keep asking you questions - it's just overwhelming sometimes.

Always SPF! The sun is trying to eat you, pretty much.

I do my taxes. I do my own bookkeeping. I pay rent.

In f(x), when I'm doing K-pop, that's cool - that's our concept. But me, as a solo artist, I'm just me. I'm gonna wear my jeans, my Jordans, and I'm just gonna be a little stupid on stage.

People don't know what it's like being the foreigner until they are one.

I haven't said this yet, but my goal for this 'Beautiful' album is not to say, 'I'm beautiful,' or, 'OK, I'm so cool.' This is, honestly, an album written for the listeners.