Everything I do is collaborative. It's just my way. I'm really very interested in how the other musicians perceive the song.

Miles Davis was a master. In every phase of his career, he understood that this music was a tribute to the African muse.

I'm always imagining some sort of story behind the song, even the ones I haven't written. I'm actively engaging in playacting.

Being black, I'm involved in the reparations movement. It's focused toward the African-American audience. We could begin to heal.

My grandmother sang, too, and she was really loud. It was this wild kind of singing. I count her among my influences.

I'm always looking for ways to develop as a Jazz artist, to find different ways of using my voice.

I know you're supposed to set goals for yourself. I see all that motivational stuff on television. Think about the future, what's next! But I'm all into the journey. It's fascinating to me. So if I make certain what I want moment to moment, I'm cool at the crossroads.

Miles Davis was doing something inherently African, something that has to do with all forms of American music, not just jazz.

I cringed when I heard myself described as a Jazz singer. I've always thought of myself as a Jazz vocalist.