Janina Gavankar

I've always done the safest thing, which is to assume that it's going to feel like that, to assume that you're going to feel like a freshman in a group of seniors - if you expect the worst, then it's never going to be that bad.

You make your first album, you make some money, and you feel like you still have to show face, like 'I still go to the projects.' I'm like, why? Your job is to inspire people from your neighborhood to get out. You grew up there. What makes you think it's so cool?

Being a parent has taught me a lot of things already, you know, though it's only been a year and half, and has made me address parts of myself that I would otherwise live in comfortable denial of, or you know and - you know, for instance, my self-loathing.