Pop Singers

"Now, the funny thing about growing up in Texas is that people who aren't from there just assume we ride horses to school and do all this weird stuff, like we're living in a rodeo every day of our lives, when of course that's not true. Or at least that's what I always thought. And then I moved to La Vernia, which is like a scene out of a country song. All you can see on the road are trucks, and everyone wears Wranglers and a can of dip in their back pocket and cowboy boots and hats- not just on special occasions, but every single day."

"There were some dark days in school. Some people still made fun of me for my videos. I tried to hold on to the positive feedback, but sometimes it was impossible not to let the negative stuff get to me. Maybe they're right, I thought, when I heard some dudes talking about me. Maybe I am stupid for putting myself on YouTube. But luckily, there was something inside of me that wouldn't let me believe that. People are going to give their opinions about you, I thought. Some people are going to make fun of you, no matter what. So you might as well do whatever you want and enjoy it. So that's what I did."

"One day when I was twelve or thirteen, I was hanging out with some friends, and I heard T-Pain for the first time. Immediately, I was like, Oh, man, what's this? This is different from what I'm used to listening to, and I love it. By this time, I wanted something new, so I started listening to more R&B and hip-hop. From there, I started listening to Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Drake, and all those guys. At the time, I thought country and R&B were totally different worlds, but now that I actually spend most of my life singing and writing and thinking about music, I can see they're kind of similar. Before you say I'm crazy, think about this: In country music, the singers are really soulful, and you can just hear all the emotion on their voices. They mean everything they say. And R&B is the same way. It's like every note, every word, is telling you exactly how the singers feel about what they're singing about. It's just that in country music, all that feeling is usually about a truck, and in R&B, it's more often about a girl. And for me, girls are a lot more fun to sing about than a truck. All joking aside, I feel like all music is the same, when you get down to it. It's about communicating emotion. And that's what I love about it so much. I wouldn't want to spend my life any other way."

"I guess I was always looking beyond what was right in front of me. I wanted to listen and play music that wasn't the normal Texas thing. More than that, I wanted to see the world beyond my hometown."

"There was one place I really wanted to go, more than any other: New York City. Maybe it was from watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV for all those years, or because I knew so much amazing music and culture and food came out of there, but that was always it for me, and I just had to see it for myself someday. Finally, in the summer of 2010, my granddad took me on a trip to NYC, just me and him. We had a great time. We walked around, checking out everything, got some classic New York City hot dogs from a street vendor, and saw the Statue of Liberty. Best of all, we spent time with my mom's first cousin Mac Demy. He's a real musician with a small studio in his apartment and an album available on iTunes. I was immediately into learning everything about his musical career. It was like this whole new world opened up for me, and I wanted to find a way to join it. He even said I should write a few songs and come back and record them the next summer. The whole time I was there, I had so much energy. It was like the best place in the world, and I wanted more and more. "I love New York," I told Granddad. "I want to come back again.""

"I was really starting to think of myself as a singer. People who watched my videos treated me like one. They weren't just telling me they liked my singing. They were also giving me tips about what I should sing and how I should use my voice, you know, trying to help me out. It was cool. I realized something was happening. Maybe I can take this further, I thought. So I really dialed in, knowing if I kept working hard at it, and practiced and trained, that I would keep getting better and better."

"I hit play, the music started, and that's when my nerves got the worst, because it was like, There's no going back now. So I just went for it."

"So even though everything wasn't perfect for me in La Vernia, I put all my focus into the things that were going well in my life- my singing, my YouTube channel, my family, AC and my other friends. Luckily, that's the great thing about singing: It makes me forget everything else while I'm doing it."

"I can't now say what it was that originally drew me to performing, because it's very possible that at 6 it was just that I wanted people to be looking at me and paying attention to me. Then it sort of transformed into something that was really meaningful for me. ... It became the way that I learn about myself and the way that I learn about other people."

"No matter what press you're doing, it's kind of a narcissistic exercise. And you start to hate the sound of your own voice and want to talk about anything besides yourself, and that's when you're talking about a movie. It's amazing how quickly the topic of me gets boring. I definitely feel like I get personal a lot more quickly, I suppose because if I were promoting a movie and somebody asked me about my first boyfriend, I would be like, 'None of your [bleeping] business.' But now it's like, I guess we're going there. And that's on me."

"Dancing on the hood in the middle of the woods On an old Mustang, where we sang Songs with all our childhood friends And it went like this, say Oops, I got 99 problems singing bye, bye, bye Hold up, if you wanna go and take a ride with me Better hit me, baby, one more time, uh Paint a picture for you and me On the days when we were young, uh Singing at the top of both our lungs"

"Haven't I made it obvious? Haven't I made it clear? Want me to spell it out for you? F-R-I-E-N-D-S Haven't I made it obvious? Haven't I made it clear? Want me to spell it out for you? F-R-I-E-N-D-S F-R-I-E-N-D-S"

"I've never felt the need to tell anyone that I'm bisexual. I don't feel like I am. I just feel like I'm attracted to who I like. I honestly feel like everyone is like that."

"What I want to do in life is make people happy. Every day I wake up and say, ‘I’m going to make people smile."

"Who the hell even asked for 5G????? Whatever you do. DO NOT GET 5G"

"When we started I was only 15 years old, so we obviously didn’t realise at that point what a long journey it would be for us, but it did feel like we had something special, even back then."

"The first gig we ever played was at a pub in Sydney called the Annandale Hotel to approximately 12 people. It was the best/worst gig of my life. I’ll never forget it."

"I really enjoy meeting our fans. They are incredibly passionate and talented."

"I think at the beginning we all had a joint feeling that something about [the band] was special. Call it delusional or driven but we felt like we would get there with everything we had. When we saw how devoted our fans were (and still are) it was a huge moment to see how much we meant to people."

""We were actually really aware of the youthful sound that we made.It wasn’t like it was by mistake or anything, we knew the music we were trying to make and I think we’re always purposefully changing directions slightly"

"I think all artists change their sound because they’re not satisfied in the art they’re making. We started out, very angsty, trying to get out of the hometown, and people called us a boy band, but we played pop punk music, it was written like that. As you get older, your music taste becomes more diverse and you get a bit smarter about it. You just bring in those kind of elements and you want to remain happy in what you’re making."

"Pop as it stands right now, is so broad and it’s so open to so many different types of music that I think we have the best of both worlds. We can kind of live in an alternative space and then we can just live in a pop space as well, you know? We just have never held any boundaries on what we create."

"This band will become whatever we make it."

"When you’re 16 you write about different things to when you’re 21 and have fallen out of love and been on the road for six years and have a house. You live in a different country. You have new friends."

"It doesn’t really matter what genre [our music] fits in, if it’s fitting in an area that works for people who connect to it than that’s all that matters."

"When you make an album, you’re always going to be looking forward to the next one. It’s a never-ending thing."

"I think having fame as a musician is different to ‘regular’ fame. It doesn’t really mean the same thing. Like, if that fame were to leave, you’d still feel the same way. You’d still feel confused about your feelings, you’d still have something to express, regardless of whether anyone listened to you or recognised you. Rather than chasing fame, you’re chasing an unknown feeling inside of you. If we stopped having this level of fame, we’d still write songs."

"I think the term “boyband” embodies youth. And when we’re not a youthful band anymore, that’s when we’ll have problems. Labels are for people who are scared of themselves, and we’re not."

"When the night's here, I don't do tears Baby, no chance I could dance, I could dance, I could dance Watch me dance, dance the night away My heart could be burnin', but you won't see it on my face Watch me dance, dance the night away I'll still keep the party runnin', not one hair out of place."

"Everything that I do is very autobiographical. I’m trying to be as much of an open book as possible and give the audience every single piece of me."

"Feminism to me is not man-hating, it’s just being like "we deserve the same opportunities". “You hear so much about all these strong important men who have changed the world, even in history and the story of mankind, somehow the fucking story starts with: ‘Well, the man did this.’"

"The music industry as a whole just needs more women. There are a lot of men at the top of the ranks."

"Well, Asuka is… a person with a strong sense of justice. As far as things that we have in common… hmm. I wonder. If it was up to you to decide, what qualities would we share? Personally speaking, I think one thing we have in common is integrity. We won’t compromise our beliefs. That’s my answer. In regard to my tastes, recently I’ve been playing social games. I was always a gamer, so I was able to play through all of Senran Kagura. I also enjoy mountain climbing."

"[Senran Kagura]’s an intense, fiery battle. There are also sexy elements. But speaking personally, I get to voice Asuka in each release in the series. As Homura’s best friend, we get to experience these battles as they unfold. This is a story with a lot of heart. That’s why these battles are important."

"Wars, segregation, everything that the entire world is going through, emotionally, mentally and physically, it’s in a sad state right now…There’s segregation going on in the States, and segregation going on in the UK. There’s segregation going on everywhere, it’s still the same."

"From what I was taught at home, I already knew what I was doing and how to act and how to dress and how to speak. I came from a safe, solid home."

"I’m not a marcher, I’m a doer…I believe I was the first [African American woman] to win a Grammy in the pop arena, which was basically almost designated for white people..So it was kind of unheard of. I was probably the first person in a lot of areas."

"Performing. That gratification you get when people are enjoying themselves or you see an arm go around a shoulder or somebody grab a hand. It's nice to know that you're part of that particular moment of their lives."

"I sang it about soldiers, then, later, about gay men. It touches me deeply every time. I used to perform this song at Mr Henry’s and people would be totally silent. I knew it moved them."

"I didn’t try to be a soul singer, a jazz singer, a blues singer – no category…My music is my expression of what I feel and believe in a moment."

"I hope that one day we will be seen for the people we are, not for our race, gender, age or nationality."

"I know what it is to go over the same songs over and over again, and to try to make them perfect. It’s interesting and it’s hard and it’s difficult at the same time…You have to stay on top of things."

"To be moved, to be moved constantly by your own songs. You need it to be in tune with them, and I don’t mean in tune musically, but I mean in tune with the lyrics of the songs, with the words of the songs, and with the meaning. You need to be in tune with all of that, and that takes a little bit of doing."

"I've actually met her before and she was sweet to me, I've only heard nice things about her, and she's awesome."

"Zendaya is more high-fashion. The hair to me on her is making her a little more boho. Like I feel like she smells like patchouli oil. Or weed."

"Too much in my system Money MIA Mama making ends meet Working like a slave Daddy ain't at home, no Gotta be a man Do it for my homegrowns Do it for the fam Ay Just for your love, yeah, I'll Give you the world Mona Lisa's smile Hey Hell, I'll do twenty-five to life If it makes me your king A star in your eyes"

"Zendaya has certainly faced harsh judgement for her envelope-pushing hairstyles. Remember her Grammy Awards mullet? Or her faux locs from last year's Oscars? But that hasn't stopped the young star from doing whatever she feels."

"Zendaya is exceptional at every turn. She adds heartbreaking levity to moments when her spiraling teenager feels invincible instead of fragile, and the way she carries herself, narrates each story, and generally handles the weight of leading a series are all as endearing as they are commanding."

"A dream like this not something you wish for A dream like this not something you ask for When it's a gift worth taking a chance for Then this is something you dance for"

"Light up the floor! Play me one more Let me hear that Click clack on the high high let the base vibrate Feel the room rock Light up the floor! Just like before Let me hear that Base-drop from the boombox, make your heart stop! Feel the room rock"