UK Edition
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What's the new single, 'So Human', all about?
"Well, when I wrote it I was stressed out and planning on taking a break from music. It's just me saying that I'm fed up with everything but I'm allowed to have my bad days - if I get upset, deal with it and don't force me to keep going."
In the lyrics you admit that you've sometimes offended people. What did you do?
"Well, I snap sometimes and I've got quite a short temper. I say things that I don't really mean, but they all come out at once and it's like 'Raaaar!' I do feel bad afterwards though. I've made a few people cry before and I didn't mean to - and it was bad because these were people, like, working for me."
Did you apologise afterwards?
"Yeah, I apologised, but the frustration wasn't there for no reason so people can't really blame me for it."
This frustration, from what I hear, built up while you were promoting your last album in the US. What went wrong?
"I just kept doing the same thing. I had this great album but the label only wanted to promote one song, which was 'Love Me Or Hate Me'. I got fed up with basing my life around this one song. It just wound me up and in the end I was refusing to do things. I know it's really clichéd to say it, but I felt a bit like a slave. Now I've got my own label I feel so much more relaxed."
Did you fall out with Def Jam?
"Um... a bit, because I'd just go into hiding and pull sickies all the times. They did get the hump with me. They could clearly see that I was burned out but they still wanted me to keep going. They kept booking in all these unnecessary interviews. People were expecting me to do new stuff at my gigs but I didn't have time to write new stuff because I was constantly doing promo. It just got me really self-conscious in the end."
What was the low point?
"One night I just broke down on stage and let it all out. I was like, 'F** this, this is what America's done to me! I hate America, I hate myself and I'm going to be homeless soon!' That last bit was a lie, but I was just so frustrated at the time. It's on YouTube somewhere if you want to see it."
What happened next?
"I just literally went into hiding and got on with a normal life. I didn't want to make music. It took me about eight months to want to make music again. It also took me a while to come out of my shell again. But when I did get back into it, I was on a roll. I made my album in about a month or two and I was so f**ing happy!"
How would you describe the new album?
"It's really varied - I even attempt to sing! It's not as lairy as my first album and I get a bit more personal. I'm 23 now, whereas when I made my first album I was 18 or 19, so I have grown up a bit."
How are you finding running your own label?
"It's amazing. I know everything that's going on rather than finding things out at the last minute. I make the decisions and stuff. I'm a pretty easy-going boss - as bosses go, I think I'm pretty alright."
How did things end with Def Jam?
"I mean, I walked away from it but they was letting me go at the same time. A few people stood up for me in meetings - Jay-Z said to them, 'You can't let this girl go' - but by then I'd had enough anyway."
So Jay-Z...
"Don't go there! I've banned that question because I got asked it so much before! There's not that much to say really. We weren't bumchums or anything - I only met him a few times."
Are you planning on signing new artists to your label?
"Yeah, but not right now because I'm concentrating on getting my album out. But in the future I'm obviously looking for artists who write their own stuff. I'm not looking for any plastic artists, but in terms of genre it could be anything. I like lots of different types of music. Right now I'm really into La Roux - 'In For The Kill' is such a wicked song. She's got a unique voice, a different look and the music's all different too. She makes people like Katy Perry look stupid."
'So Human' and Jigsaw are both out now.
