How much does what is going on in your life influence you sound?
It's a major influence with all the albums that I've done. Not just musically, but also lyrically.

What has been the main influences for this album?
There's some edgy things lyrically that speak about certain little relationships and one major one. I'm not really wanting to address my recent past, not giving it that much importance, even though it is part of my life, but there is more beyond that. So, that's why the album is so optimistic and so up - because that's what I'm feeling at the moment - very happy.

Do it help to get whatever you are feeling out in the music?
Yeah it is therapeutic. Sometimes you just have to get a few things off your chest, and I do so in some songs.

You are still working with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who are long time producers of yours, what do you think they bring to what you do?
They are very creative, I love the way we work together. I love the chemistry that we have. They are very talented guys, they allow me to be myself and to be who I am. They help me to express what I'm feeling.

Is there anyone else you'd like to work with?
There's a lot of producers and writers who sent in material, but I just felt there wasn't a sense of me within what I heard....I think Timberland does great work, Jay Dee and few guys who do awesome stuff. Maybe in the future, I'm not opposed to working with other producers.

A couple of the tracks are really dancy, is there DJs you know who could remix them?
Definitely, and they are a few that's asked to remix them. DJ Quick, Rockwater (who worked on the album), DJ Premiere. There's a lot of talent out there, and a lot of really cool DJs. I would definitely love to be able to call them up

Have you ever searched the internet for your own name?
Yes to pick up a dirty picture...It wasn't my body, but it was some other girl. I liked the picture, she had a beautiful body

What would you do if you saw a factsheet on a site which had the wrong birth date on it, and it made you older?
Would it bother me? No, not in the fact that I was older, just that I'd want them to get it right.

You are given a movie script by a friend and you don't think it's quite right would you tell them?
Yes it's happened to me before. I just had to tell them. It was my opinion, and that doesn't mean I was right, but just how I felt about it.

You are about to do a kissing scene in a movie with someone with bad breath, would you tell them?
I don't think I'd tell them but do something about it. Like tell someone else to tell them or give them a breath mint. I wouldn't want to embarrass them.

You are in shop and the assistant is being very rude, would you tell them who you are?
No, my friends get upset with me because I don't. What I normally do is call my assistant and have her do all the dirty work

You read in a newspaper that one of your best friends has revealed something big about you, what would you do?
I think that would be the end of our relationship. There's no more trust there.