"On her first check right out of high school:My very first check was for Ruben Studdard’s first album, like $25,000. And my family was like, “What the hell is this? This is what you’ve been doing? Who the hell brings home a check like this?” They’re thinking $2,500 here and there, whatever. It was crazy.

On whether she’d consider herself a gold digger:Not at all. I’m closer to the girl on [Timbaland’s] “The Way I Are.” You don’t have to buy me drinks or bottles, don’t flaunt—take your swag off. We can go Dutch. I’m more into a man’s intellect, more into a guy who can enlighten me. I don’t want to sit here and talk about your bank account. What’s important is that you have goals, and you’re mobile.

On not being on blogs as much as her counterparts:I’m not camera-hungry. That was never part of my dream, to be overexposed. I’d much rather be mysterious."