I don't just throw out microwave records.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Music is a male-dominated field.

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.'

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

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

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

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