I am so proud to be from New Orleans and to be one of those people who had been displaced. I wasn't there during that time, but that's where I come from, that kind of poverty, and I'm very, very proud of that because it's given me my history.

I was a very poor young black boy in New Orleans, just a face without a name, swimming in a sea of poverty trying to survive.

Don't make a black woman take off her earrings".

I love to see a woman in high-heeled shoes. There's something about the curve of the feet up the leg to the butt that's really, really wonderful, and the right pair of shoes can give you the right silhouette.

Music is always around, and it helps to heighten any emotion.

I'm not suspicious of success, I'm suspicious of the people who want to attach themselves because of your success.

'Madea' is a Southern term. It's short for 'mother dear.' So there are a lot of Madeas out there.