I'm always open to new, innovative stuff and people trying to do stuff in a different way. I knew that the theatrical release would be like getting on the launch pad for Amazon Prime but I was okay with that because I think what Jeff Bezos and Ted Hope are doing is innovative.

It comes down to this: black people were stripped of our identities when we were brought here, and it's been a quest since then to define who we are.

This film [Chi-Raq]is a declaration. It's a scream. It's a warning. And I can really break it down to one scene. That's the scene where we have the eulogy and sermon that is given by the great John Cusack.

All directors are storytellers, so the motivation was to tell the story I wanted to tell. That's what I love.

I want to tell stories, I don't really try to get boxed in by a specific genre.

A spine to my films that's become more evident to me is that many are about the choices people make, and the reverberations of those choices. You go this way, or that way, and either way, there's going to be consequences.

If you can't take a hit, you're not going to last long, that's for sure.