I wear and have worn scarves my entire life while traveling, working out, and now sometimes while performing, and not just on my head - I wear them around my neck and on my bag.

American food is not what I'm used to - everything is like three portions.

Nobody's going to tell me to rap in an American accent.

In order for me to write, I have to experience life. I write the songs based on real life, and I perform them from a very real place.

I am a black British female artist, so I must be like Ms Dynamite, I must be like Shystie, I must be like Jamelia, but we're all different.

I can't stand quitters. My mother is a very strong, determined woman. I was peeling onions when I was seven, but I walked off when my eyes began to sting. She said to me, 'You start something and you finish it', and that stuck with me. I'm persistent.

Me being a black girl in London, whose mom is first-generation African and whose dad is West Indian, gives me a different view. I'm coming at soul from my own place.

I have my family; I'm never alone.

Walking round the Champs-Elysees late at night is the greatest time.

John Legend is a cool guy. He likes to chill, is easy to talk to and hang out with. He's also inspiring on a musical level.

I've fully embraced who I am. I stopped fighting with people and just come to realize, 'This is me. This is all of me.'

I never do a show where the people just sit there and look at me. They always sing along. It's going to be a fun time.

The Grammy snuck up on me. I was on tour. It just hit me. I skipped down the street in Vienna. I kept saying, 'I won. I won.'

The people who have the strongest opinion about everything have never left their city, their town, haven't left their 'hood, haven't left their area, their corner of the world. They don't read. They've never left their house.

Adele ain't soul.

I got into hip hop from my uncle; he was always playing us Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane. He was a bad boy, and my mum was not really happy that I was hanging out with him.

I would say my greatest musical influences have been Ella Fitzgerald and Mary J. Blige.

Americans have their issues with skin colour, even within the black community, with light and dark skin; it's crazy - but no one's oblivious to it.

You can't please everybody. I give up. I'm not trying to. I don't care. Leave me alone with that.

No one goes straight to happiness after a breakup.

Garage music came up when people weren't paying attention.

Sometimes I wake up in the morning and feel like going straight back to bed. But I still have to get up and work, and I still have to take advantage of the chances I've been given in life.

Basically, if you go looking for trouble, it'll come find you.

I actually received a lot of messages from Central and South American artists who complimented my songs and showed interest in collaborating with me.