I was angry about the fact that my father would beat my mother on a daily basis, that my mother would like take it in turn and beat on me. I was an abused child. I was mad about all those things, very bitter and very angry.

I can't hang out as loose as I used to, but I can still go down Jefferson Avenue and look in the faces of winos, pimps and junkies, all the things I'm made of.

I don't think the white establishment will ever respect or appreciate a black man who speaks the truth.

I just live one day at a time.

Off stage it's cool-out time. You can't funk and roll ALL the time.

You can't outdo 'Street Songs' and I didn’t even try. [It] had that special magic that comes with timing and good vibrations and you can't even try to capture that exactly again.

Anybody that's old and closed-minded does not like Rick James... They don't like the fact that I'm free and I'm wide open.