Tinashe

It's important for me to put out things that I think are good - I want to be a fan of my own stuff. I also want my live shows to be really awesome, and dance is such an important element for me and my performances.

I love fashion. For me, it's always interesting because I like to be able to mix up different styles and different brands, kind of like how my music taste or personality is. There's lots of influences.

As a person, I have a lot of different sides to me, and I genuinely just embrace them. I don't think, 'Oh, I gotta put on my cool face now!'

The craziest part of being on tour is being overseas and having crazed fans so far away from home. They don't speak English, but they still know the lyrics. That's a trip.

My music is a direct reflection of the eclectic person I am. I don't like to be stuck in an R&B box.

I love to act and put on a show, but you're playing a character all the time. For music, it's really just me being myself.

I really love 'Pocahontas.' Today I was watching 'Aladdin.' It's a classic; you can't beat it.

I think my ultimate fashion icon would have to be Gwen Stefani. I love her persona; I love what she embodies and represents. I love the fact that she was a girl fronting a band of boys in No Doubt.

Part of the reason I fell in love with dance so early was because of people like Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, and Britney Spears. When they would dance onstage and in their videos, that was huge for me. I lived for that.

Fashion is an extension of expressing who you are. I love to entertain and put on a show. And that's definitely a part of that.

I take my craft seriously, of course, but I don't feel the need to always play a certain character or a certain part or persona. I'm not going to cut something out of my life because it's not 'my image.' I want to be open enough that if I love something, I can do it, and it will add to myself as an entertainer.

I was in a competing company and have been dancing since I was four - ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop - so it's a huge part of my life and my music.