Snoh Aalegra

I have both Swedish and Iranian cultures ingrained in me, so that's always there. Plus my love of the U.S. began early on. But growing up in Sweden as one of the few people of color around was not easy by any means.

With this career, it's hard for me to have a day to myself, so when I get them I really appreciate them.

I'm definitely inspired by Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, James Brown, Lauryn Hill.

This fragrance 'Parisienne' by YSL was my fave back when I lived in London.

We have a huge immigration population in Sweden, but when I was younger, I grew up in a small town and, at one point, I was the only foreigner in my class. I really felt different, and I thought I looked different. Sometimes it was a good thing, sometimes I felt insecure.

I lost my dad in 2009 and on my album 'Feels,' it's about all different feels.

As long as I don't have to compromise my art, that's the most important thing. It doesn't matter if I'm famous or not, it's all about the music.

I grew up looking up a lot to '90s supermodels like Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell. I just thought those women were such cool role models because they had a good body ideal, too.

I think being in the world of R&B creates a sense of home, and I think it's important to have that sense of home and spirituality within your music.

I don't like flying... it's a fear of mine.

I don't know exactly what genre to put it in, I just know that I grew up listening to a lot of soul music - Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Whitney Houston. I was inspired by all these great big voices, and I try to do music that's timeless.

We have a lot of indie artists coming from Sweden, not so much soul. The closest thing we had was Robyn when she came out, but it's a different kind of R&B.