I am only 33, I've got a lot to do. This is the first half of my career. I'm looking forward to the future and I'm proud about the past.

If you really think back to the culture or just black America before rap music took off, New York could have been Paris.

I think rap music is brought up, gangster rap in particular, as well as video games, every other thing they try to hang the ills of society on as a scapegoat.

Don't want to hear my favorite rapper doin' a love song. If I want to hear something soft, I'll throw on Luther Vandross.

I still want to put together bigger and better programs to work with the community. I still think I could do better on that end.

I'm not sure if music got a future. We have all these electronic ways to download and steal music and get music, but there's no money in makin' music.

I figured, when I make a movie, especially earlier in my career, one thing I was going to make sure was that the movie doesn't cost a lot and that it has potential to make a lot of money. That's how you get respect in Hollywood.