Quotes About Influence

I grew up in a very relaxed environment in one sense, without many rules. My mother had a problem knowing where to draw the line, which caused a chaotic and hectic home life. A lot of people took advantage of my mom.

Like anything, you don't force kids to cook. It just becomes part of life - have them be around it, keep them informed - talk about it. I try to relay my passion for it in these ways. The second you try to force anything on your own kid, they rebel.

I never do releases to try and make or break some contemporary band.

If 'Castlevania' wasn't created next to me, and Capcom didn't release 'Ghouls n' Goblins,' then maybe there wouldn't be any 'Metal Gear,' and I would have created a horror action game, because I really like that genre.

I want to be somebody, a person, first that people remember, but also, I want music that I release to still be around. I don't want it to just be cool for a second and be gone.

I get really, really concerned when I see somebody, taking $600,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs, will not release what they're actually saying. That's concerning.

Stars have no say in the release of a film. There are too many factors involved.

I think one of the things that happens with, especially in the criminal justice system, is that the prosecutor is able to control the narrative from the very, very beginning. The moment an arrest is made, they put out a press release to the media and the media follows that narrative.

Tamil films have to be faster than a Malayalam film but not as fast as a Hindi film.

Somebody once asked me, 'What do you do?' and I flippantly answered 'I'm a cultural engineer.' With hindsight, I kind of am - but if I got too self-conscious about it, it wouldn't work.

I've been blessed to have insanely hip parents who think of me as their little Chris Rock.

Kids will keep it real. If I've ever had in my life a great anchor, it's them. They get in your head, 'don't get too famous.' If you think you're really famous and think you're really hip, go hang out with your kids for an afternoon. That's about as earthbound as it's going to get.

I'm 48 now and whatever I get music-wise, I get from my kids and that's it. I don't think I'll ever be hip again!

I don't know why this concept of what is hip became so important to me.

My parents were fairly young in the city of Compton. So the things that they played - you know, that was the hip crowd. So I was being exposed to all these ideas, from Big Daddy Kane to Eazy-E to the Bay Area - Too Short, E-40 - you know, back to Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers.

I always want to align myself with stuff that's part of doing good. I don't ever want to put myself with something that's not cool and hip. And if you can keep that you can always have fans to support you as well.

As much as I would like to be the one who saved hip-hop culture, it's pretty much nigh-on impossible.

I think Ye is important to hip-hop.

Compton got such a legacy in hip-hop.

If you don't know hip-hop, at least a little bit of it, you can't even call yourself an American.

I grew up around it. That was what my friends were listening to - some of my closest friends are big hip-hop fans.

My era was '90s Carhartt-and-Timberlands hip-hop. That's my rock n' roll.

I don't care what anybody says, there's nothing like the cultural influence of hip-hop. For me, hip-hop culture is involved in everything - it's in me, in who I am, in how I dress, how I talk. It's in my son and my wife.

Since the '80s, Harlem has the place to go. Before the '80s, just as far as hip-hop go, Harlem has always been a strong point, fashion-wise, music-wise, all of that.