Missy Elliott

“No, because I don't want to hear what's hot and feel I have to copy it. I'll just make up my own thing.”

“If I'm paying people, and they're not handling my business right, I have to check them. 'Cause sometimes you're nice, and people don't jump on what they're supposed to do, but if you go in there screaming at everybody - 'Look, why aren't my posters up?' or 'Why wasn't my single out on this day?' - then they jump right on it.”

“Breaking news: there is only one Missy.”

“Music is a male-dominated field.”

“I felt like, 'How do I fit in'? I'm battling. But then I never fit in!'... I thank God for somebody like Pharrell who stayed in my ear. For him, at that time, 'Happy' was everywhere; he didn't have to share anything with me.”

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

“I try not to be cruel to people. I know there's a karma, and I'm constantly thinking of my blessings. I live and die by being a Baptist. If I can't go to church on a Sunday, I'll get a tape by the Clark Sisters and slide it in for the day.”

“I still don't want no broke dude! I'm open to offers, but he's got to be stable. I see a lot of friends who feel they have to be with a man, but they always pick the wrong one. Are there any right ones?”

“When you turn on your radio, you don't always want to hear about someone shootin' some person. Even if that's the lifestyle they live, people don't always want to hear it.”

“I always said if a man would have done half the records that I've done, we would know about it. But we don't know all the records I've done for other artists.”

“There's that saying: 'God gave you talent, and if you don't use it He'll take it away from you.' And I always said, 'I don't want God to come down and take my talents away.' So, by using all these talents and being successful in all of them, I've always got something to fall back on.”

“I think it's hard for Aaliyah to be duplicated, because she had her own lane.”

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

“Before Missy, there was no comparison to what Missy was doing.”

“When I first started in the business, I spent so much! Staying in a Trump Hotel for two years, spending eight Gs a month just living.”

“'Soul Train' means so much to me.”

“I want to dip my foot in some acting. And most definitely want to mentor upcoming artists and give them the wisdom that was given to me.”

“I know how domestic violence can affect a family, and I want to do everything I can to stop it from happening to others. The most important thing we can do is teach kids that they can break the cycle.”

“When I first started out in the music industry and went to Elektra Records, I didn't go to be an artist, I went to get a record label started. And they said in order to have a label deal, I had to be an artist - so that's what I did.”

“It's just that back then we didn't know that was considered being a coproducer. I would sit on the side and say what I wanted musically, but at the time we thought if you aren't the one playing it, you don't get the credit. Now you'll start seeing my name listed as producer.”