It's the attitude about life, man. Looking at the light instead of the dark. Looking at love instead of fear.

The process is the most beautiful part.

I got a scholarship to Seattle University and I was writing arrangements for singers and everybody. But the music course was too dry and I really wanted to get away from home.

I guess hip-hop has been closer to the pulse of the streets than any music we've had in a long time. It's sociology as well as music, which is in keeping with the tradition of black music in America.

Count Basie practically adopted me at 13. We became closer and closer and I ended up conducting for him and Sinatra.

I've been driven all my life by a spirit of adventure and a criminal level of optimism. I believed in my dreams because they were my only option. The people who make it to the top are addicted to their calling. You have to honor the gift God has given you. The people who get the call are the ones who'd be doing whatever it is they love, even if they weren't being paid.

Whenever a woman would come too close, I would cut her off. Part of that was vindictive - but that was totally subconscious.