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

I think black people have to be in control of their own image because film is a powerful medium. We can't just sit back and let other people define our existence.

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.

He revolutionized music videos. Before Michael Jackson, MTV refused to play African-American artists.

Music is, for me, a great tool of a filmmaker, the same way cinematography, the acting, editing, post-production, the costumes are. You know, to help you tell a story.

You gotta make your own way. You gotta find a way. You gotta get it done. It's hard. It's tough. That's what I tell my students every day in class. I've been very fortunate. Some people might call me a hardhead, but I'm not going to let other people dictate to me who I should be or the stories I should tell. That doesn't register with me.

Violence is a part of America. I don't want to single out rap music. Let's be honest. America's the most violent country in the history of the world, that's just the way it is. We're all affected by it.