I'm curious how you feel about DJ mixes and the like that included your songs. For instance, "Like This" was probably kept alive for a long time from bootlegs of Ron Hardy sets. A lot of people may have never bought the original but know it as a "classic" because it's been preserved in Ronnie's mixes.

Exposure is exposure! Yeah, today it hurts the bottom dollar but I think it can even out in the end by more people knowing your name and knowing your talent.

Back then, of course, if someone loved the song so much that they wanted to include it in a set, they had to buy vinyl. And the power of a song could be so great that I don't know how you could feel upset by it. For our generation, this music kept kids off the corner. It kept them out of gangs and gave them something to be passionate about.

So tell me about this new project you have coming out that we'll be hearing on July 4th at Kstarke.

I consider "I Am Woman" the single most important project of my career. It was one of those finished songs that I mentioned, originally about my mother. Then my Godsister Lisa Byers passed away in 2006, four days before Christmas, from cancer. She was only 41. This song, which was about strength, perseverence and everything about being a powerful woman, really struck home when I was thinking about Lisa. I added a third verse to the song and really put my heart and soul into it!

But it wasn't just about me. So I thought that I would ask other vocalists to also contribute, and they did. In addition to myself, it also features my sister Raiyn, who sounds like Lauryn Hill. There's also Dajae, Libby Jones, Martha Wash, Trizonna McClendon, Flora Cruz, Screamin' Rachel and Carolyn Harding. They all come from different backgrounds and they all brought their own style and their own wonder to this track. And you know what's incredible? Every single person associated with this project did everything for free. They donated their time and their talent and not one person asked for money.

Obviously, I didn't just want this to be a charity project - I wanted to make a great track that everyone would want to buy!

Now the important thing is that I wanted to release this track so that 100% of the proceeds went to charity, including the retailer's portion. I began to research who I could work with as far as a suitable charity and I discovered the Women's Cancer Network of the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, which not only focuses on women and cancers that effect women, but also happens to be from Chicago, which is where both Lisa and myself are from.

There are a few different ways you can get the track. You can go to the donation page at wcn.org, click on the online donation link and on the credit card page, enter either I AM WOMAN or the name LISA BYERS and it'll take you to a page where you can purchase and download the track of your choice for $1.99 or all tracks for a discounted price. If you wish to donate without minimum or limit, you can also enter the name of any of the honorees named by the artists who participated in the project, which are people known to them who were diagnosed with women's cancer. You can find the complete list as well as other ways to donate and get this track at sonicbids.com/kjoyiamwoman.

The important thing is that we have kept costs very minimal so all proceeds can go to charity. This is something very important to me. We wanted to make a great track that people would want as well as get the word out that it's for a worthy cause. And Lisa was born in July, so our projected launch day is July 1st.