I was ready to get out of the box and play something a little different than what everybody has seen.

I'm trying to cut down a little on eating, on sodium, keep my blood pressure down, which is tough. Because I love food! I do, but it's unfair how everything that's bad for you tastes so good, and all the good stuff, veggies and green things, doesn't match up.

Sometimes when you're relegated to your neighborhood, you forget that there's more important things than your neighborhood going on out in the world. And that just gave me a chance to see how life could be. And it gave me a chance to interact with everybody, not just black people or Mexicans. It made me just a little more worldly.

My thing is: stay creative. And just because somebody starts to pay you, that don't mean all your creativity goes to that, and you don't save none for yourself to be able to do other, bigger and better things and still follow your dreams even if you start off inside of a box.

I never was in the Nation of Islam... I mean, what I call myself is a natural Muslim, 'cause it's just me and God.

It's always great when you're able to give fans what they expect and even a little more.

Cool people still have a hard time showing what they got in Hollywood.