Even where the game is today, cats don't really focus on necessarily what it is that you're saying so when people say, "Oh, you can't rap," I play into the joke. That's why I'll challenge anybody; anybody rapping, let's go just because I know what the art form is and even when you see these battle rappers in here, they're so skillful. It's actually a skill.
Nick CannonIf you want to be in the automotive business, you go to Detroit, and you figure it out. If you want to be in entertainment, go to where it's at. Go to Hollywood, go to New York.
Nick CannonHaving children obviously changes your priorities, but when you start to see life through these innocent eyes and seeing everything for the first time, you appreciate the small things.
Nick CannonI always try to be optimistic, but not to the point where I'm getting on people's nerves.
Nick CannonIt's fun having songs about parties and gigolos, but I really wanted to use my music as a form of art. Art is supposed to spark conversation and make people think, and I wanted to do that with this song
Nick CannonThe beautiful thing about acting is that you can just dive into the character, strip yourself of everything, and just get in there and perfect your craft.
Nick CannonYou have to be vigorous. That's the only way you are going to get it because everybody has dreams and everybody has goals, but the only people who achieve them are the ones that go after it and don't take no for an answer.
Nick CannonI'd love to do a film with Mariah. But it would have to be a comedy. She's the funniest woman in the world, she just cracks me up all the time.
Nick CannonI am always the first to say that fame and entertainment is one of the best and easiest occupations to ever have, but one must know how to navigate through the matrix or you may find yourself in a very dark hole.
Nick CannonI was actually raised around a lot of children. So, I'm very comfortable around children.
Nick CannonI was 16 years old, driving to LA, and sleeping in my car, just trying to make it happen.
Nick CannonOne thing about being a stand-up is it's a one-man show. You gotta do everything. You're the producer, writer, director, and the actor. You just gotta be out there and perform and give your all. It's such an honest form of art that it just taught me so much, and it kind of prepared me for manhood at an early age.
Nick CannonWe are already expected to be the goodie two shoes. I went through that during my junior high schools where I wasn't allowed to watch television. I wasn't allowed to listen to the radio.
Nick CannonWhen you don't have those types of things, fashion and all that stuff, it helps you find yourself because you don't have those things to rely on.
Nick CannonI think it takes a strong man to be in a relationship with a strong woman. A lot of people hear the word "diva" and think of it as a negative. I see it as a positive. I want somebody who knows what they want out of life and isn't afraid to show it.
Nick CannonMy father...made us shop at Goodwill. I found things to wear and got Best Dressed (in the yearbook) two years in a row. I had lemons, so I made lemonade.
Nick CannonI'm not geeky but I have my geeky, corky moments, and then I've got some aspects of cool in me, I guess.
Nick CannonIn the hip-hop community, it's about how real are you, or how strong can you be, and really my music just reflects me. If you can accept me, then you can accept my music
Nick CannonI am not worthy to be on a Mariah Carey record. She's a true artist, so I just step back and watch the genius occur.
Nick CannonWe're gonna do it like George Foreman. We're gonna name all of our kids Mariah no matter if they're boys or girls. Mariah No. 1, Boy Mariah, Man Mariah, Tall Mariah. It's gonna be a house full of people named Mariah.
Nick CannonI'm a musician. I play instruments. I dabble in the hip-hop field. That doesn't take vocal ability necessarily.
Nick CannonA lot of people don't know the first time I was ever on national television I was a 'Soul Train' dancer.
Nick CannonPeople think that as a celebrity, you have to have this sort of mystique about you, but I'm probably the realest person you'll ever meet.
Nick CannonImagine if you've got the diva of all divas. If we've got to be somewhere at five or six o'clock, I tell her its time to go at noon so she gets those five hours to do what she needs to do. But were both kids at heart. She is the funniest person ever and she has a great sense of humor. We connect at a spiritual level.
Nick CannonThis is my chance to get out there and appease the fans of my music as well as show people that I do do standup comedy because a lot of people don't know that's where I started.
Nick CannonIt's blasphemous, don't get distracted by these lottery tickets and statues. It's just fake gold and plastic... We crying for votes but how many of us is on the board. Better yet, when's the last time you showed up and supported the NAACP Awards?
Nick CannonI take my spoken-word stuff extremely seriously because I feel like that's true writing, true lyricism.
Nick CannonA lot of the girls my age were impressed by silly stuff like money and fame. I wanted to be able to have intellectual and spiritual conversations with someone who was on the same page as me.
Nick CannonI just work - however people feel about it, I mean, at the end of the day, if I'm waiting for accolades, I could be waiting all my life, but I don't need that stuff to validate me. I just do what makes me happy.
Nick CannonMost aspiring child actors or child stars have a passion for it. But as easy as it is for me to say that I wouldn't put my kids in it, if I saw that they really, really wanted to do and they had the drive, then I would fully support it. As long as there's balance at home, then they could do whatever they wanted to do.
Nick CannonIn so many areas, when you think about it, you never really see an actor cross over to music. It always music to acting and it's receivable because when music gives a form of entertainment of art to where it's very personable, it's a passion, it's an intimate type of art to when you hear it, it's them.
Nick CannonI was raised by my grandmother. She instilled everything into me. She taught me right from wrong from day one. I remembered everyday, being 4 or 5 years old, and walking to school, she would be like, Raise your right hand and stay on the right side of the street and make sure you do the right thing in school.
Nick Cannon