I did Are We There Yet? because I wanted to do a movie for my fans' kids. Black kids don't really see movies on this budget for them, starring them. And there's so many white kids that love that movie.

For me rappers and dancers are poets and artists and often times the most interesting performances are given by them.

I think hip-hop has changed. When I first came out, hip-hop was more of a kind of way to learn about new places, new things. What are kids doing on the East coast, what are kids doing here. Then it left that and is like a party mode. I think it's going back to people wanting to get messages and wanting to learn things from the music.

I feel like I got a whole lot of living to do before I think about summing it up in a book.

With comedies, I like to be a producer, because comedies can get corny and go off track real fast.

I like to deal with things I heard about, ... People are always getting their house broken into around the holidays. That's when the crime rate goes up.

I care about what I look like on the red carpet.