Neneh Cherry

For me, making music is about my whole life. The basics, the components, simple things - family, living, just going to the market and getting new fruit and veg. That's what keeps my blood flowing.

Rhythm, that's an essential part of cooking. The sound of a lovely song and the smell of some dish in the oven are equally evocative.

I've never really spent too much or put too much gravity or placed too much importance on being a pop star. It's like, OK, great, does that mean I don't have to do anything anymore except walk around and be a pop star?

Rip Rig + Panic that I joined, they were really influenced by jazz and blues and punk. So I think what happened from punk, which was kind of DIY, was that it created a kind of creative place that was kind of without limits, in a way.

I was a punk when I was 15 - I was definitely into it in a big way and loved it - but I came to London when punk was maybe where you'd say punk is dead.

I've never been very good at fitting into boxes.

Frank Ocean is our modern-day Marvin Gaye. In our house, we have nothing but respect for him.

I found my place when I moved to London, where I chose to live, making my own tribe who were all from different backgrounds and places. The class thing is very dominant there, but in the cultural cross-fertilization, I felt a sense of belonging.

I admire someone like Beyonce. She has amazing commitment. I needed to accept that I probably did not fit into that forum. Doing that 'The Cherry Thing' record was a big part of finding that place where I belong, where I may shine, but I never doubted it was there.

I'm a bit of a rebel, and I always will be.

I love Robyn, not just because we've worked together. I mean, that's why we've worked together - because I love her.

I like Kelela. I like Twigs. I love the more old school; I hate to say old school, but I love Peaches; I love Peaches, I love Cat Power. And there's constantly new things coming up. But there's something so beautifully powerful - for me being a woman, when there's a woman doing something, it really strikes a chord.

I've never really thought of my real life - you know, the one I wake up to and fall asleep to at night - as being a pop star's life.

I'm quite a particular singer, and I need to feel like I can bite into the song, in a way, to make it my own. You want the challenge of the songs having some attitude.

I'm not an amazingly trained soul singer, so with me it's about feeling and energy and spontaneity - that's a really big part of who I am.

If you want to make God happy, tell him your plans.

My daughters are my Picassos.

When 'Raw Like Sushi' came out in the U.S., I wasn't considered to be black enough. They didn't really know where to put me. The music wasn't 'black black' sounding. It wasn't R&B; it wasn't straight up hip-hop, although obviously in that dimension and world.

The race is your face. Obviously, I come from a mixed background. Who I am and how I look and being black.

I don't live my life through my kids, nor do I expect them to live theirs through mine. But of course, they're everything.