Cheryl James

I didn't want to get back into the whole industry. I left overworked, overwhelmed, and not having any control over my life. I was bulimic and needed to heal.

'None of Your Business.' It's the only Salt-N-Pepa song that I regret.

I've changed my life in a lot of ways. I'm a mom, a wife, and a Christian. Some of the things I expressed in my early 20s aren't what I care to express right now.

There were times in my career I went a little further than I wanted because of expectations. Doing certain things onstage when children were in the audience, wearing certain clothes, singing certain lyrics.

I don't want to give the illusion that one day God came down and I was healed.

I remember feeling all right with myself until age 13. Then, I was getting off the bus one day and this guy called me Miss Piggy. That was the first time I ever really felt like I wasn't okay.

There are a lot of good things that we can do. Maybe my example can help someone.

I'm really open to doing music. We just have to figure out what kind of music it's going to be - something where I don't feel compromised.

For the moment, I'm concentrating on my own stuff.

Christians often want to hide behind the walls of the church, where we are comfortable, but sometimes we have to come out of the box.

I'm not really into the fashion thing.

They keep telling me that my flow's up to date, you know. I guess they thought I was gonna come back sounding... old.

We're feminists. We're doing something that only guys are expected to do and doin' it right! At our concerts we'll do one hard-core rap song and then do one where we'll be real sexy.

I don't like the fact that there are so few women in rap.

The part you don't expect when you start out is all the people who come into your life wanting a piece of you, not caring about your wellbeing. The insane schedule is very difficult. Touring looks very glamourous but it's hard and gruelling - the travelling, the meet-and-greets - it was too crazy.

One of the speakers asked how many women had been harassed or abused sexually in their life? There were thousands of women in the audience, and almost every one of them raised her hand.

There are different kinds of people in the world.

We're not hard people.

Rap is hardcore street music but there are women out there who can hang with the best male rappers. What holds us back is that girls tend to rap in these high, squeaky voices. It's irritating. You've gotta rap from the diaphragm.

I got to that desperate place where nobody could help me but God.