"Most of the time I sit down with my guitar or at the piano, and I play for awhile until I get a new riff or groove that I like a lot. Then I'll concentrate on building around that line of thought by adding words and textures. At first I'm only trying to please myself, and hopefully what I like will appeal to others."

"She'll turn her music on you You won't have to think twice She's pure as New York snow She's got Bette Davis eyes"

"Her hair is Harlow gold Her lips a sweet surprise Her hands are never cold She's got Bette Davis eyes"

"There can be a new tomorrow There can be a brighter day There can be a new tomorrow Love will find a way"

"If you want the world to know We won't let hatred grow Put a little love in your heart."

"Another day goes by Still the children cry Put a little love in your heart."

"I can feel a something pounding in my brain Just any time that someone speaks your name Trumpets sound and I hear thunder boom Every time that you walk in the room."

"Like a moth to a flame Burned by the fire. My love is blind Can't you see my desire?"

"Seeing that your love's true. Never I'll doubt you. My heart belongs to you. That's alright with me. Worlds could end around me. So in love that I can't see. You and me were meant to be. That's alright with me."

"I'm not a prude, I just want some respect (that's right) So close the door if you want me to respond Cause privacy is my middle name My last name is control No, my first name ain't baby It's Janet — Ms. Jackson, if you're nasty"

"You ought to be thankful for the little things But little things are all you seem to give You're always putting off what we can do today Soap opera says you've got one life to live Who's right, who's wrong?"

"Her father’s white."

"Acceptance is right. Kindness is right. Love is right. I pray, right now, that we're moving into a kinder time when prejudice is overcome by understanding; when narrow-mindedness, and narrow-minded bigotry is overwhelmed by open-hearted empathy; when the pain of judgmentalism is replaced by the purity of love."

"So here's my demonstration A peep show Tonight my body's an exhibition baby Though it's on display don't be scared to Touch It, It said so So come and get it babe"

"I don't know if I've ever felt like this before But I'm sure that the way I feel, I don't want it to go 'Cuz I've cried my share of tears And I've sang my share of blues But to keep you over here, I'll do what I got to do"

"Relax... it's just sex."

"My love for you is unconditional love too Gotta get up, get out, get up, get out, get up And show you that it"

"I feel asleep late last night Crying like a newborn child Holding myself close Pretending my arms are yours I want no one but you."

"I love her, she's such a nice person! I had an opportunity to meet her for the first time at the Z100 concert. Randy [Jackson] was like 'Mariah's here, would you like to meet her?' I said no, I don't wanna meet her! I'm gonna be an idiot in front of her. In my mind, I was saying, 'I'm gonna throw up, I'm gonna throw up!' but the words came out of my mouth. Mariah was laughing at me. It so was funny!"

"Mariah Carey... she is a huge influence on me. I mean, she's amazing."

"I discovered Mariah in my room one day listening to the radio, and as soon as 'Vision of Love' came on, I ran downstairs going, ‘Mommy, mommy - I just found the greatest person in the world! I just heard the greatest new voice!'."

"When I discovered Mariah Carey and "Vision of Love," that was a breath of fresh air. And I adored her from that moment on and idolized her. It's really amazing that in articles I've been compared to her."

"After I first heard "Vision [of Love]" (Carey's debut single) I first started doing runs [singing harmonic variations on scales]"

"She has the voice of an angel."

"When others would have quit, overcome by the negativity, she soldiered on - a phoenix rising from the ashes."

"No one would have believed that Mariah Carey could come full circle. Except Mariah."

"Mariah has an amazing gift from God that has no color, no boundaries and no limitations. You hear the passion and the honesty within her music"

"I love Mariah Carey. Mariah Carey's music saved little ghetto children's lives. Songs like "Vision of Love" gave us hope and we would sing those songs and try to hit every note like Mariah -- which we can't. I don't think she knows what a big part she plays in Mary J. Blige's life. And then to meet her….she's such a beautiful person that you can't do anything but defend her when [the media] starts acting stupid on her. She doesn't deserve that."

"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor, starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean, I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff."

"Why you so obsessed with me? Boy I wanna know. Lying that you're sexing me when everybody knows"

"They can say anything they want to say Try to bring me down But I won't face the ground"

"This is for my peoples who just lost somebody, your best friend, your baby, your man or your lady, put your hand way up high, we will never say bye, mamas, daddies, sisters, brothers, friends and cousins, this is for my peoples who lost their grandmothers, lift your head to the sky, cause we will never say bye."

"For the record, "You'll Always Be a Part Of Me" no matter what you do, For the record, can't nobody say I didn't give "My All" to you, For the record, I told you "Underneath The Stars" that you "Belong" to me, For the record, It's obvious that we just "Can't Let Go" of us "Honey"."

"But instead I kept my tears inside, cause I knew if I, started I'd keep crying for the rest of my life with you, I finally built up the strength to walk away, don't regret it, but I still live with the side effects."

"She'll never be MC."

"By the time you get this message It's gonna be too late. So don't bother paging me cause I'll be on my way. You're gonna miss me baby, hate to say I told you so."

"See, I'm looking for a man that'll rub me slow, make me sing real high when he goes down low."

"Father, thanks for reaching out and lovingly, saying that you've always been proud of me, I needed to feel that so desperately, you're always alive inside of me."

"Please be at peace father, I'm at peace with you, bitterness isn't worth clinging to, after all the anguish we've all been through."

"Suffered from alienation, carried the weight on my own, had to be so strong, so I believed, and now I know I've succeeded, in finding the place I conceived."

"Who's gonna love you when it all falls down? Who's gonna love you when your bankroll runs out? Who's gonna care when the novelty's over? When the star of the show isn't you anymore. Nobody cares when the tears of a clown fall down (I guess your mama never told you what goes around comes back around)."

"I can make it through the rain, I can stand up once again, on my own, and I know, that I’m strong enough to mend, and every time I feel afraid I hold tighter to my faith, and I live one more day and I make it through the rain."

"So many I considered, closest to me, turned on a dime and sold me out dutifully, although that knife was chipping away at me, they turned their eyes away and went home to sleep."

"Standing alone, eager to just believe, it's good enough to be what you really are, but in your heart, uncertainty forever lies, and you'll always be, somewhere on the outside."

"When you love someone so deeply they become your life, it's easy to succumb to overwhelming fears inside, blindly I imagined I could keep you under glass, now I understand to hold you I must open my hands, and watch you rise."

"You look at me and see the girl, who lives inside the golden world, but don't believe, that's all there is to see, you'll never know the real me."

"It seems as though I've always been, somebody outside looking in, well, here I am for all of them to bleed, but they can't take my heart from me, and they can't bring me to my knees, they'll never know the real me."

"We hit it off real well. Every time we get together she is open and she really trusts me. The ingredients are good and there is a chemistry there that you can hear through the music. I can't give her advice on her pop stuff but she will seek it for dance stuff. You know she rarely ever works with a producer. She's a writer and producer in the Lauryn Hill category, she doesn't come into the studio with a superstar attitude, the people around her may give you that impression, but we have a really good relationship."

"She's brilliant in the studio; I don't think I've heard anyone talk so knowledgeably about the music industry like her. She's very intelligent and very funny - it was a great honour to work with her"

"Mariah was really nice to work with. You hear lots of rumours about Mariah, that she's very egotistical and other bad stories but I have to say that they're untrue. We had a lot of fun with Mariah and we found her a very down to earth person."