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.

I'm not the go-to guy. Everybody is trying to tell their story and have different ways of telling it.

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

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.

I like to work with the same people when I can, and you want to get people with the same interests that you have, and the same aesthetic.

A woman who is very secure in herself, what she's about, what she wants to do, who probably figures that she's a prize catch-sooner or later he's going to come around.

Since the days of slavery, if you were a good singer or dancer, it was your job to perform for the master after dinner.