Musician

There was a time when we had a nice little run: Eve, Lil' Kim, Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, Remy Ma, Da Brat - it goes on. But what I noticed is that a lot of talented females in hip-hop came out of a male camp.

Kids started coming to my concert, and I realized that I had sense of responsibility.

It's tough, with the iTunes and all the downloads... You've really got to make an impact to be heard and be unique and different.

I was a loudmouth rock star when I was still in college. Purple hair this week, green hair next week, blond hair the week after. I was doing that fashion before it was really cool.

AC/DC 'Back in Black' - Those were my punk rock days.

There is nothing that you can't overcome. So it's never too late for happiness.

Our trademark asymmetrical hairstyle came about by accident. My sister was trying to get her beautician's licence, and I was her guinea pig. She permed my hair and didn't wash out one of the sides properly, so the whole right side of my hair was eaten out. After she washed it, I was half bald.

Girls are our biggest fans, I tell you. I mean women; I mean even the big ones. They say things like, 'You inspired me!'

We never said we were hard-core or that we didn't want our music crossing over or being popular.

The guys love us - they think we're sexy - but the girls take us seriously... I've always said that when I was a teenager growing up, I wish I had girls like Salt-n-Pepa to look up to. If I'd had someone I could relate to, a lot of things would probably be different.

At the end of the day, your life is on the line when you're dealing with abusive men, and your life is more important than any man.

We need to say to ourselves 'I'm talented, loved, worthy, and valued.'

When I see a cutie in front at a concert, I say, 'Ohhh, you're so cute! What's your name?' But I wouldn't do that in real life.

We're just not going anywhere. Our songs are here to stay.

We try to keep our audience involved. It is a show, but we want to make sure that everybody - us, them - has a good time.

Ladies, you have to love yourself... you don't always have to have a man.

Peter Jennings came to us and said to make a PSA, 'Let's Talk About AIDS.' But I was naive about how the virus is contracted - until Magic Johnson came out. I'd stereotyped it, thinking it was a gay disease, a white man's disease.

I've always said, if you treat yourself like a queen, you'll attract a king.

For girls who want to get their waistline down a little bit and don't have any weights in the house, they can actually use a broom and put it behind their necks, lap over it and twist and squat. I do all of that if I don't go to the gym.

I do like performing 'I'll Take Your Man,' because that was a hard song.