The black geeks of the world, we feel like we don't have a home.

I had always had an affinity for series in literature, and I thought it would be really cool to incorporate what I loved about books into the story of music, to pile it together.

I believe I am standing firm as a black woman in this industry in a time that it is hard as an artist period.

I don't take myself too seriously.

Instagram is just something I like to do. I feel it's the best way to portray who you are.

I've grown so much in the music industry. From 'GoldenHeart,' it was just about me and the music and me in this dream. With 'BlackHeart,' its more about me and who I am and what role I play in my own life and in the business.

I can be a little messy and wild and carefree with my creativity as a solo artist. In a group, there's a certain structure, and everyone has a part to play, and being a solo artist, I can do as I please.

'Goldenheart' is like a modern-day Joan of Arc. Think of it like medieval times-cum-2045 or Lancelot and Guinevere in 3025. It's a new version of these battles - age-old stories for the now.

To create and do something no one else has done before - that feeling beats anything else I've felt.

I wanted to make an album that sounded like a release of inhibitions, really getting away from the idea that you have to be anything other than in that moment.

When I look half naked on stage, it's not because I'm trying to be sexy but because I am dancing and want to be mobile enough to move.

I would describe my personal style as putting Twiggy and Yoko Ono together. It is hobo with no rules.

My father's music is all I remember from my childhood.

'Blackheart' is purely falling into the electronic world and pushing the envelope.

I just want to be a storyteller, and I think the way to do that is by your lyrics, by your visuals, by your choreography, by your dance. It's imperative as an artist.

I want to get up and celebrate something - and why not celebrate being a woman?

I couldn't do a record without knowing I'll translate it into something visual.

I write for myself. It's therapy.

Music and dance is part of everything in New Orleans. So I grew up appreciating it all.

Originally, I was set on going to Hawaii Pacific University. We visited the campus in Hawaii. I was gonna be a Rainbow Warrior. I was gonna play softball. I was gonna major in marine biology. Everything was set. Then my dad was like, 'So you're not gonna do music? If you do go to Hawaii, there's no studios there, baby girl.'

Besides music, I was all school, school, school. And softball. I played the game since I was four, and I wanted to go to the Olympics for softball. I got a full scholarship through softball.

When my dad went to college to get his master's from Loyola, he was playing Debussy and Chopin and Beethoven. But he played all that New Orleans stuff, too. I would go with my dad to gigs, pick up the piano and the speakers, and I would be like his roadie.

I think, my entire life, I was a bit different. And I didn't think I was different; I just kinda always stuck out.

I do not have a history in set design. I have a history in art. I draw. But I learned set design when I couldn't afford to have a team and I didn't want to look like I was indie. I wanted to give fans the visual.