If you are a true fan, you're a fan for one of two reasons. You either support what I do or you support me as a person. If you support what I do, the quality of work speaks for itself. If you support me as a person, my personal and political views won't alienate you. If you find a way to be turned off, that means you were never a fan in the first place. You were just riding the wave.

As long as you focus on your strengths and remain natural, then you come off natural [in your work].

You have to surpass the levels of success that you have already achieved, and that's the challenge. But, it's a welcome challenge. I appreciate it because it brings the best out of me.

This is a time where fashion and style go against what I would rather do myself. So I have to pick and choose from people that share my enthusiasm when it comes to certain things.

People put me on a box, and I love when people think they know what I am capable of or not capable of. I thrive off of that.

I always want to execute and maximize off of potential, and this is a natural progression. Coming up as a youngster, I always wanted to be a rapper, but I knew that if I did everything right as a rapper, I'd end up as an actor, following the models of Ice Cube, Tupac [Shakur] and Will Smith.

I can only hope that one day soon we'll understand our true economic buying power by investing in our own communities and putting our money into businesses that keep our dollars in our community.