Tyka Nelson

“I'm very quiet. In the beginning, my brother would play the piano, and I would sing, because that's what my mom and dad did. And then along the way, somebody teased me for even thinking that I could get up there. That stayed with me, and I became very shy.”

“I posted some songs on MySpace, and right away people started asking, 'Where can I get a CD?'”

“I love to perform, to give glory to God with my own brand of funky gospel music. I think it's my mission to show people that God, that Jesus, can be cool.”

“Inside of me, it was like my soul and what I had to do to feed my family was always split. I was writing lyrics while I was supposed to be working. I'd look up, and there's my supervisor.”

“My brother, he just thought I was crazy.”

“I was a single mother, and my boys were babies. I sold my body for food, money, and Pampers.”

“I'm definitely not afraid of death. It's like I'm looking forward to it, really. I'm probably a little more afraid of living.”

“For a long time, I didn't want to live.”

“God is the new drug.”

“I was the overweight kid who didn't have a boyfriend. I listened to other people say, 'You're ugly, you're fat, you're stupid,' and I believed it.”

“Being Prince's sister might get me in the door, but it is my own talent that keeps me on the stage.”

“I've always believed there is a better place somewhere. I feel like I'm E.T. and I'm just passing through.”

“I grew up in a bubble. I just watched TV. I thought that's what you were supposed to do in life: sing and dance and act.”

“I'm not really any religion. I still study with Jehovah's Witnesses, so I say I'm Apostolic Pentecostal Jehovah's Witness Seventh-Day Adventist Jew.”

“I love my brother. But I'm not a yo-yo. He can't just keep spinning me in and out of his life.”