Quotes from Andra Day

'Rise Up' is definitely my baby. I think it was a gift because, you know, it's like God just spoke to me and wrote that song. It's very powerful.

I decided to see how my voice sounds on different type of records. So I did Eminem and the Biggie, Florence and the Machine, and Muse covers. A couple of them just came from some jam sessions between me and my sister in her bedroom at my father's house in San Diego.

My family wasn't in the music business, but they loved music.

I want people to know my truth. Unconditional love of God and each other.

My sister and I - she's a musician - we jam all the time. We always play around for giggles with stuff that seem unconventional or stuff that seems funny. A lot of the stuff sometimes is just a response from jam sessions in her room, so she'll be on the guitar or the keyboard, and we'll just start singing and doing stuff.

For the record, I am not Stevie Wonder's wife, and no, I am not his child.

I get people today who say, 'I first heard about you through the Stevie Wonder commercial.' The power of advertising in that way is incredible.

The most amazing thing is being onstage and watching the audience sing every song lyric for lyric.

I struggled academically in high school because it was hard to focus. It was hard to focus on those things that were other than artistic stuff.

I am happy that I can challenge myself in various fields.

I'm very obsessed with pop culture of the mid-century and it goes hand-in-hand with the music that I studied in school.

I knew that I could sing when I was young. I would listen to a lot of jazz; I'm a big jazz fan. When I first got to high school and studied musical theater, I could sing. But I added certain things to my voice, and I realized after graduating high school that this is the kind of voice I had. It's not very nimble, but it's heavy.

I play with doing a forehead bun a lot, just a bantu knot right in front of the forehead and keep it in with a clip. And I like doing real pinup styles but based on my natural hair.

What I wear onstage is so stylized and bold.

I feel like fear is a very real thing, a very ubiquitous thing, and it can be very subtle.

I like things that are over the top and subtle at the same time.

Once you see how powerful music is and how it can affect people, then you want to use it to impact the world.

I like the Victory rolls, beehive, pompadour - all of that stuff. It's just cool. And actually, with ethnic hair, oddly enough, it works so well because I don't have to tease my hair to get body.

I search for items that have history, like vintage finds - I love fur kitten-heel house slippers from the 1950s - and pieces from fashion houses that have been around for a long time, like Chanel and Dior.

I always felt more comfortable with a full face of makeup.