I was looking for Quincy Jones, that's who I was obsessed with. Watching Mike [Jackson], I always knew that I had to be a showman on stage, because when people come to you live you always want them to come back. You gotta give them something to remember.

When you find the talent, it's always raw, and when you put the talent in the formula, you get the Knocks.

What I'm trying to do is break the genre from what is rap and what is music.

It's important, when you see darkness, to understand that there's light ahead of that, and I'm the living testimony of that, you dig?

When you're talkin' about a great man, you're not talking more than one person. It's not about how many people are followin' you, it's about the fact that you're a great man, that's all it's about.

I don't see no more Billie Holidays, no more Marvin Gayes, no more Smokey Robinsons. I don't even see no more Nirvanas.

When I lose touch with the audience and the reality of what life really is, I'll be Vanilla Ice or something.