Sade Adu Quotes

"I just aspire to pick people up. That's my ambition."

"I think you only really feel like an outsider if you've been an insider."

"If you're only making an album every 10 years, it better be good."

"I always said that if I could just find a guy who could chop wood and had a nice smile, it wouldn't bother me if he was a thug or an aristocrat, as long as he was a good guy. And I've ended up with an educated thug."

"I'm not anti-fashion, but I've always had a bit of a punk attitude. That's important, I think. I do my own thing."

"I've got absolutely no real perception, properly, of time."

"Whatever I'm doing, I'm in that moment and I'm doing it. The rest of the world's lost. If I'm cooking some food or making soup, I want it to be lovely. If not, what's the point of doing it?"

"I'm not over the top; I'm not wacky. I'm fairly understated, and that reflects in the way I sing."

"I don't get easily bored. I'm not that kind of person."

"I don't like looking outrageous."

"I'm not shy or reclusive. I just spend my time with people rather than journalists."

"To be a mother you must be strong. Even if you don't feel it, you have to pretend."

"When I was young, people were almost identified solely by the kind of music they liked. People fell into categories of who liked what."

"Once a song's out there, it's no longer mine. And that's the whole purpose of music: to belong to people."

"The anxiety I feel when I'm late is nothing like the anxiety I feel when I'm on time."

"When you tour, you regain the music and the connection with the audience."

"I love writing songs."

"I have no technical training and am completely uneducated in music."

"Most of my lyrics are little stories about my experiences or those of my friends."

"I'm uneasy with fame so I do my best to avoid places that will bring me more attention."

"There isn't a class structure in Nigeria; there's a tribal structure and prestige as far as money is concerned."

"I am fairly classless because it is very difficult to class someone who comes from a mixed marriage."

"People are so used to having their lives filmed, they're not even conscious of having cameras around. I still have that sort of suspicion when a camera comes out. I view it as a thing to fear."

"I am a reluctant celebrity, in some ways."

"I always see myself as much more of a musician than a celebrity."

"When you play arenas you can create whatever you want. At a theater the height of the stage and the limitations of the theater can make you feel more separate from the audience."

"I look a lot like my father and his mother."

"I'm always late."

"When I go into the studio, I completely detach. I let my emotions come out."

"I've never associated myself with other singers, certainly not female singers."