I've learnt to be happy by myself.

I got caught up in doing records for other artists. I just stayed behind the scenes, and time just kinda passed.

I can't complain. I think when you get to a certain point, you shouldn't complain because there's so many people who would kill to get to this point.

I still don't want no broke dude! I'm open to offers, but he's got to be stable. I see a lot of friends who feel they have to be with a man, but they always pick the wrong one. Are there any right ones?

My blood pressure was always up from just overworking.

I still go on YouTube and watch the old performances and the 'Soul Train' lines. I'm still amazed by how much soul and funk the music and dancers had.

I always have been an entertainer, whether it's been joking or performing for people. And I always thought I had a talent, because I could rap and I could sing, and I did write. And all the other kids were going to college, but I just felt like I had to do this first, and if it didn't work, then I would go to college.

The double chin's not good for the red carpet.

Left Eye is a a rare gem.

I most definitely want kids, but I'll probably adopt kids.

I've always had a lot of creative impact on the music with Timbaland.

Hip-hop is definitely not what it used to be, which was creative, original music.

I want to be cutting-edge.

I want to make something commercial that people can pick up on.

I'm not tryin' to come off as the best lyricist.

I want people to feel the heat while they walk down the street and they're just kickin' it.

When you turn on your radio, you don't always want to hear about someone shootin' some person. Even if that's the lifestyle they live, people don't always want to hear it.

No, because I don't want to hear what's hot and feel I have to copy it. I'll just make up my own thing.

I'm not a person that's walkin' down the street looking mean all day.

My Struggles is a record close to me. It's about what I went through at home living with an abusive father.

You have to be ready to sing and perform at any time.

I got a mother who's very strong after taking the whippings that she took from my father.

What my home life is like now is great.

My first love is writing and producing. So I sometimes put my own stuff off to work on other people's projects.

I'd stand on the side of the road when I was just a little girl singing on trash cans.

I am very scared of wasps; my cousin was stung in the eye once.

I didn't want to be a genius! That ain't cool.

I remember, in school, writing Janet Jackson and Michael Jackson and asking them to come get me out of class. I would imagine them running down the hall and asking my teacher, 'Ms. Daniels, can we get Missy out of class? We're here to see Missy.'

Music is a male-dominated field.

I ain't no icon. It's people like Patti LaBelle, somebody like that's an icon. I'm just Missy. I'm just crazy, that's all.

I have to respect her family, and until they come and say, 'We're ready to do an Aaliyah album,' then I don't really want to come and try to get into that because that's very sensitive.

A lot of times, I walk down the street and listen to people argue, and then I write a song about it.

You don't make any money being an artist. Writing and producing? You get your money from that. You live comfortable.

The fun part of being an entertainer is that you call up Six Flags, and you say, 'I'm coming,' and you get to get on all the rides before everyone. I hate standing in line.

Especially when the expectations become so high of you, you always remember the last record that might have been really successful, and you're trying to outdo that or trying to make something that does not sound like the last record.

I always feel the need to work as if I don't have a deal, because that's what's going to keep me around for a long time.

My father was very abusive, and it was hard for my mother at first to leave because we had depended on him for so long. Sometimes you kind of get adjusted to getting that beating.

I do Dance Dance Revolution. I'm not as good as the little kids that come in the arcade. Their little feet go crazy fast. I'm not that fast, but I'm good on it!

It feels different.... When hip-hop was beginning for me, people weren't making the kind of money that they make now. It was for the love of doing it and having fun with it.

It could be hectic sometimes when you're being an artist and running a label at the same time. But there are times when you just have to say that this my time period to work on my stuff, and then you say this is the time to concentrate on my artists.

No matter what I'm doing for myself or someone else, I'm constantly writing and working on other people's albums.

I believe that tracks speak to me. Some tracks make me write certain music or make me feel sad or inspire me to write a sad love song. Each track has its feeling to me.

Its funny, because for females in general - not just in music, but the corporate ladder as well - anything we do has always been harder for us. When it comes to music, the industry wants you to conform, to look like this and to sound like this and do this or that. It makes it harder. It's harder for us to come out and be bosses and lead the pack.

All of the trials and tribulations from personal to the artist. It shows that I'm human. People see the glamorous stuff, but they don't see the background.

A lot of people don't know that before the artist, I wanted to be a writer and producer. That's always been a love of mine. Its easy for me to do it on myself, but it's fun to create for someone else.

What I love about Kanye is that he doesn't fit the mould either. He does what he feels.

I don't just throw out microwave records.

Things happen in your life, and then you can write something else instead of the same three topics - like, how many times can we write about the clubs?

When I create something, it's got to be special, and it can't just be to throw something out there because I feel like I'm Missy.

I got to feel like what I'm giving the fans is 100 percent and that it's game-changing.