I went to the surplus store on Santa Monica and Vine (in Los Angeles) and went and got me a Navy outfit, put the black tape under my eyes. I got me a whistle and went in there with a hat looking like a full-on drill sergeant.

People are in your life for a reason, others are there for a season and it's important to realize when those seasons are over.

I think right now a lot of albums that are out there, they sound like mixtapes.

You have to surround yourself with people who live, breathe and eat something that you're trying to do, and then it becomes a motivating thing for them to want to support and get behind what you're doing - it's all good then.

The beautiful thing about my intelligence is that it doesn't really come in one specific department. So even if something hasn't happened to me, I have information on how to get you through whatever you may be going through.

For me, we've been singing diversity in movies for 16 years, so it's just beautiful to see the rest of the world finally catching on and they're making it a point to do it.

There are a lot of directors who make big money and do big things and then move out of the 'hood