GOAPELE

Women, goals, empowerment, well-being, and women's health has always been important to me.

I understand it for marketing purposes, but I've always hated defining myself with a genre. Nothing feels broad enough.

Good soul music should make you feel something in your heart, in your body, and in your spirit. That's what I try to do both in the studio and on stage.

I did struggle with what I want to say socially, but it's important to reflect where I'm at mentally.

I didn't want to be taken advantage of and burnt out in the industry. I worked with my family really closely, so I was able to get that respect in the industry. So now I feel that I can let my guard down. People know who I am; I can be myself. I can be more versatile, and I can wear what I want.

My hair story has been unique because my mom's a German Jew, so her hair is way different than my hair. She was always learning on my hair growing up, but I would sit there for hours, and she did learn how to braid hair. Early on, it was a lot of tears while my mom was braiding my hair.

I feel happy with myself when I go to the steam room and steam my face. But truth be told, my ultimate beauty indulgence is lip balm - I can't go an hour without lip balm.

When I'm singing, I can see so many people, and I can see their response and everything. And being somewhere like the Hollywood Bowl, I'm seeing those immediate people in front of me, but other than that, it's just dots, and I'm just imagining who's out there and imagining their responses.

In high school, I started training, singing with choirs, and getting voice lessons and doing a lot of creative writing and decided that that's really what I wanted to pursue as a career, and that's what I was going to study.

It's always liberating to feel like I'm changing my hair and know that my fans are supporting that. I like to feel like I'm really expressing myself, and when people embrace it, it feels like an authentic connection.

I think police brutality has been going on since - I don't know - ever since I can remember and, you know, hearing about it in my childhood.

I did a track with Khao, out of Atlanta, who's worked with T.I. Did a track with Maylay, who did a lot with John Legend's album. I got in the studio with Kanye West; we did a song. The dedication for the career takes a lot of work, but if you love it, it's worth it.

I wanted it to be back to a state where it felt like it was thriving, so I think that my hair's happiest natural, and there's that hairstyle for everyone where you feel like, 'My hair is agreeing with this,' so I just cut it off recently again, and I'm going back natural.

I wash and moisturize my face in the morning and at night. If I have a show, I may even wash before and after the show. I never go to sleep with makeup on my face. At the minimum, I'm at least going to use makeup wipes to take my makeup off.

I want people to feel inspired. I want people to feel good. I want people to feel something. I want people to strive for what they want in their life, and I want them to heal from anything that's hurting them.

Sometimes I'm just like, 'I cannot hold onto this anymore,' and it's time to say something. And at the end of the day, I've just got to let it go and be true to myself. Whatever comes out comes out.

Sometimes it's isolating, but just being in the music industry that is just dominated by men, I think it means I have to be comfortable and confident in myself and not really care that people think I'm bossy and opinionated and also try and balance that energy.

E-40 is another person I love working with because he is so entertaining.

Kanye and I spoke of working together and started an idea that we didn't get to finish.

Get a good lawyer because sometimes it's hard to understand what you might or might not be agreeing to.

I believe in reflecting honesty and reflecting reality in my music and making music that touches people emotionally - music that can bring us together.

'Break of Dawn,' musically, is still soulful and eclectic, but I think I opened up a little bit more vocally. It's a little more intimate. It's a little more sensual than before - and pensive.

I have a lot of family in South Africa, but I grew up in California. I feel like my name keeps me connected to a long line of people that have been through a heck of a lot. It reminds me to stay grateful, and it reminds me to try and step my game up if I'm slacking.

There are some parents who always have their daughter's hair whipped. Mine wasn't always like that, but I appreciate that both my parents were into me having natural hair, so they did find Anota Scott, who I was going to for my cornrows and wrapping last year and a couple years before that.

Africa doesn't look like it's changed that much to me since I first went in '94. There is still a major economic divide, but the rights of Africans have changed and progressed.