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" It's important for any artist - particularly female artists - to feel completely comfortable and to know what they're trying to do. "

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" London audiences have this reputation for being a bit too cool for school. "

" I really love jazz, but I will never be a jazz musician as much as I dream. But, I think that the jazz music I love is there in my music. "

" I respect hippos. They just look the way they do; they can't do anything about it, but they don't seem bothered. "

" I come from an African Caribbean background. I've been influenced by a reggae church music style, contemporary gospel, and rock all fused together. "

" My parents encouraged us to commit to things, so if we wanted to learn an instrument, it was all the grades and all the theory. "

" I've always had this passion to be creative, and wanted to sing or be in bands and make music, but I didn't have ideas as to what format it'd be, or how I'd do it. I'm not very good with plans. I didn't think it would be me at the front, either. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that was something I'd prevent. "

" Limitlessness is important for me; I want to be able to use every opportunity to push me forward onto the next thing. "

" I love church buildings, particularly cathedrals, and I like living in spaces that remind me of music or evoke that creative energy. "

" The first time I sang in church, when I was ten, the applause was so overwhelming that I started to weep. My mum had to rescue me from the stage. "

" Lots of people think I'm telling porky pies when I say how nervous I get about singing. I was good at working out how music was put together, and I was good at being at the back, but if you asked me to sing up front, then I looked like I was going to pass out. "

" Taxi drivers used to ask me what kind of music I did, and I'd say, 'Well, it's kind of jazz, soul, classical' - but that makes no sense to anyone. "

" I grew up playing in youth orchestras, so they were my most treasured memories, so to be in front of an orchestra playing my own material would be incredible. "

" I don't talk about Amy Winehouse as a 'singer.' She's a pioneer. I listened to her endlessly when I started writing. "

" What I wear is everything - from how I carry my hair to what I'm wearing on my feet. I have to feel comfortable on stage, so I like to wear things that have room. My mood changes a lot, so sometimes I wear 6-inch heels, and other times I'll perform in bare feet. "

" My aunt is the director of the acapella group Black Voices. I was so struck by them as a child. They sang with such passion and conviction. By the time I turned 15, I had plucked up the courage to ask if I could join the group. Acapella is a different discipline from singing with an accompaniment - it is much more exposed. "

" I think, when I started writing songs, my voice just became another tool. It wasn't something that I was going to try desperately to woo a listener. As long as I'm using my voice in a way that helps people understand what I'm trying to say, then I feel like I'm doing all right. "

" Topshop is one of my favourite shops, and I love shoes by Giuseppe Zanotti. There's a graduate fashion designer called Kate Falcus who makes me beautiful commissioned pieces - one of my favourites was the white Glastonbury dress she made me with the puffy skirt. "

" I don't think I've ever been chatted up, and I don't think I've ever chatted anyone up. The Fresh Prince has the best chat-up lines. "

" I got into the habit of filtering out all the good in my life, focusing on only the negative. I'm not sure why I did it, but it's a pretty depressing state. "

" You don't have to aim to be the best of everything, thinking that one day you're going to be the top of the world; I don't think it exists. "

" I thought I had to help people get me, but I don't think they need to be spoon-fed. If you connect with me, that is cool. I don't need the whole world to feel like I am a soul angel. "

" Fame hasn't really affected me. I have a really close knit group around me, and my sister is always with me, so it's like a bit of a travelling circus. "

" My parents were quite strict; we couldn't just listen to whatever music we wanted. It was very much like they monitored what we listened to. "

" If I'm playing a gig in London, it feels so important. The adrenaline rush here is bigger than anywhere else. I kind of like the pressure that London puts you under. "

" I envy those who can wear red lipstick or any bold lip colour, really. My top lip just doesn't seem to take colour - there's nothing I can do to change that, so I usually just use a nude on the bottom lip. "

" I'm not like my siblings, who are musical but can turn their hands to other professions! I'd always wanted to be involved in music - I'm a great believer in doing things that fulfil you. "

" If I'm uncomfortable on stage, everybody can see it. I'm not very good at hiding it. I like long, loose jacket dresses - anything that I can literally have room to move in - not that I'm a very big dancer, but because sometimes I'm sitting down at the keyboard, and then sometimes I'm standing. It just has to feel good. "

" I remember listening to Miles Davis in the car with my dad. I had just done my Grade 5 piano exam, and I was quite cocky. I said, 'It sounds like he's played the wrong note there.' I remember the look of horror on my dad's face, and thinking, 'Wow, I have to figure out why that is not acceptable.' "

" I first played the Royal Albert Hall when I was 14. I was a violinist with the Birmingham Schools Concert Orchestra, and we travelled down from the Midlands for the last night of the School Proms. We played some pieces from the Harry Potter films, and the violin parts were really hard. "

" I always said when I was younger, I wanted to write film music, and I think that's what my ultimate dream is. "