LEDISI

Whether I do jazz or R&B, there are always complaints. I would just listen to the complaints about what I do instead of celebrating what I do, and that I'm different and in my own lane. It took a while for me to just ignore the doubts.

When my time ends, I want people to say, 'Man her music made me smile; it just enlightened my life; it inspired me; it made me feel good every time.'

I know who I am and I've always been comfortable in my own skin.

I'm not focused on radio or whether I'm going to get all the audiences... all I wanted were great songs that were universal to any listener - Black, White, Green, Yellow; any kind a age difference.

I love opera so much. I would never go back to doing it, but I love to listen - I'm grateful for it.

I'm everything I'm made of. So a part of me is made of classical music. I'm grateful for it.

I'm not competing with anyone, or begging someone to love me. I feel like I'm loved and I deserve to be where I am.

I'm known for long colorful locs but I still don't take my hair too seriously. Changing it helps express who I am.

I am very proud of Zendaya for standing up for herself, her generation and her ancestors. Her response was classy. Locs are a lifestyle for some and for others an artistic fashion statement..In either case, the images express power, natural beauty, and a boldness that always stands out. It is when you truly spend time with a person that you know who they really are on the inside, and not by what you see on the outside.

I've had great people come in my life, meaning not just men, but women, support me and empower me. So that has lifted me to be the woman I am.

Just be open, life is about a constant journey and I'm very spiritual, but I'm also in touch with what's going on around me and who I am, and you have to know yourself. So for me, that's what keeps me going is just being interactive.

It takes a while to really love yourself...

Any success matters to me.

I'm just happy that I'm able to take care of what I need to take care of, live, and do the thing that I love the most and that is to sing. People want to hear it, buy it, see it, hold it, record it, bootleg it. It's fine with me as long as it's good but when it's bad I'm in trouble!

Although I'm known for my long, colorful locs, I still don't take my hair too seriously. I experiment a lot, dyeing it and constantly switching styles to grab attention. My hair is one of my best accessories and changing it helps express who I am.

I'm always doubting because I've been told so much that, you're not the right look or you're not the right sound, and, you know, whether I do jazz or R&B there are always complaints.

I study a lot of the greats; I study the current people out now and what people are listening to now. I don't shun anything away; I just check it all out and make my own judgment.

Ledisi means to come here, to bring forth. It’s a Nigerian word and it’s from the Yorubu culture, I believe, and my parents named me, my dad and my mom, and really my dad, and I had no choice in that. That’s my real name and that’s what it means.

If love found me it can surely find you. I ain't even got one sad tear left in me.

I love energy and people; gosh I love people even when they got on my nerves.

There ain't a wrong time or a wrong place to flaunt. If you feel good, then go on and show it off!

Know the business you're in for whatever you do, know it and understand how it works so you can be successful.

I'm very open, I love music and I love people so you need to know what's going on.

So in every sense, from an independent artist to a major label artist, you just have to have great product, great faith and great people, they all go together.