I did not let people tell me what to do, and I never wanted to be a groupie.
When I was a rapper, the groupies didn't have to try too hard with me. Just show up at the hotel.
One of my groupies gave me a film that they made, and it ended up being amazing, so I got it shown at South by Southwest. If I can help get their stuff out there, then great.
Groupies to me, were people who followed you around. Familiar faces who were always there, asking for autographs. We have more of those now, but they're not sexual.
Did groupies ever interest me? No. I'm a pleasure seeker, and I like going bananas, but that's never appealed to me. I always thought it was a little bit naff.
Experience has taught me that any kind of political grouping is oppressive. It's the blind mass that crushes the individual.
There are a lot of groups that feel a little bit strange around me, because I am inclusive.
Without sounding too pretentious, I was sort of a slave to the narrative. When the narrative cracks in, I have to go where it takes me. I had to go to the Bohemian Grove. It was the obvious end to the book.
I went to Fountain Valley High School. I remember watching Grove Shakespeare productions here. It left a big impression on me.
To me, growing old is great. It's the very best thing - considering the alternative.
The fact is I am growing old too fast, alas! I feel it, and yet work I will, and may God grant me life to see the last plate of my mammoth work finished.
My daughter will find some of the sweetest words to tell you that can make a grown man cry. She still gives me the same inspiration. She still motivates me.
A grown man should always carry cash, right? I don't know who told me, but someone told me that a long time ago, and the biggest turnoff is when a guy doesn't have cash on him.
My very first scrimmage at Kansas, I got dunked on so hard by Tarik Black that I almost quit. Tarik dunked on me so hard that I was looking at plane tickets home. This guy was a senior. He was a grown man. I didn't know what was going on. He got his own rebound and dunked over me so hard that everything went in slow motion.
What you have to understand is that my thing is not glamour. I love stretch marks and C-section scars and all of that. I'm a grown man. You don't gotta put on no makeup with me.
To me, I'll always be the skinny, 5-foot-6 eighth-grader on the YMCA court, trying to get grown men to choose me for pickup games. It wasn't always easy. And that's what drives me.
Growing up, my mother was a very strong woman who was not very big, about 5'1'', but boy, you grabbed a tiger by the tail if you messed with her. I know grown men that messed with her, and through her wit and intelligence and her no-quit, she never lost a fight. That's very influential on me when I'm telling stories. I love exploring that.
Don't get me wrong - it's amazing playing basketball. But being 19 years old, playing and interacting with grown men with families wasn't fun all the time, especially during a grueling 82-game season. That, mixed with Toronto's freezing winter climate, made me miss my buddies back at Tech even more.
I'm just lucky because my kids are grown-up - I love them, very proud of them, and we are in close contact as big-time friends, but they don't need me that much now and I can actually enjoy this wonderful world of music.
I don't want anyone as president who promises to take care of me. I may be stupid, but I want a chance to try to be a grown-up and take care of my family.
