Once You Figure Out What Your Own Thing Is It's All About Trying To Develop Shows, Programs That Can, I Guess, Enhance What You Already Have And What You Can Add To Hollywood.

-Ice Cube

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Once You Figure Out

Ice Cube

Once You Figure Out What Your Own Thing Is It's All About Trying To Develop Shows, Programs That Can, I Guess, Enhance What You Already Have And What You Can Add To Hollywood.

Topic

Trying

Hollywood

Add

More From Ice Cube

I Think [director] Malcolm Lee Is A Real Master At Being Able To Make You Laugh While Bringing Serious Subject-matter, So The Movie Doesn't Hinge On Silliness, But On Real Life.

Real

Thinking

Laughing

Nowadays, You Can Be Yourself. You Don't Have To Put On Façade. You Can Be Who You Are And Still Be Just As Successful As The Ones Who Put On The Fake Façade. You Know, It's Like Reality Is Just As Important As Fiction.

Being Yourself

Successful

Reality

I Want To Do More Drama. Comedy Is The Path Of Least Resistance For My Company. People Know We Can Do Them. People Know They Get A Good Response. People Want To Make Them. Who Am I To Push Up Against That?

Drama

People

Want

We Have To Step Up As Adults And Try To Guide Our Youth.

Trying

Adults

Steps

If You Really Look At My Lyrics, Nobody's Exempt. Nobody's Exempt From Observation, Criticism Or What I Think Is Correction.

Thinking

Criticism

Looks

Sometimes When You're Relegated To Your Neighborhood, You Forget That There's More Important Things Than Your Neighborhood Going On Out In The World.

Important

World

Sometimes

America Eats Its Youth Like Reptiles...educat E Yourself Before They Dumb You Down.

America

Dumb

Reptiles

I Would Love A Shot At A Lead Role, But It's Not Up To Me Right Now. I Just Try To Make The Most Out Of Every Opportunity I'm Given, And Hope Somebody Will Get On My Side. Until That Happens, I'm Just A Working Actor.

Opportunity

Trying

Roles

I Love Godzilla, But My Favorite Was On This Tv Show, Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot. I Used To Love The Idea Of Having A Giant Robot Under My Control. That Was Like A Dream Come True For A Kid.

Dream

Kids

Ideas

The Devil Made You A Slave. Your Waitin' For The Devil To Come From The Ground. Take A Look Around. Just Look At The Cross That The Priest Is Holdin'. A Beast, In Sheep's Clothin'. You Are The Prince Of Darkness. Hell Born, Demonic.

Sheep

Darkness

Devil

When I Was In N.w.a. And Didn't Get Paid All The Money I Was Owed, That's When The Business Side Of Showbiz Hit Me. I Thought, "half Of This Is Workin'. I'm Famous, But Now I Need To Be Famous With Some Money." That Got My Brain Started At Trying To Figure Out The Business End. And Once I Figured Out The Business Side, I Next Came To Understand That Success Really Comes Down To The Product, Not To Me, My Personality, Or What Club I'm Seen Going Into Or Coming Out Of. None Of That Matters.

Personality

Brain

Trying

To Be The Cream Of The Crop Is No Easy Feat. It's A Big Deal.

Easy

Crops

Bigs

I'm Not Really Into The Political Game As Far As Paying Politicians And Stuff Like That, I'm Not Into That. You Do Your Job, And I'll Do Mine.

Jobs

Games

Political

Snoop Dog Is The Phil Jackson Of Youth Football Coaches. He Ain't Going To Accept Nothing But A Winner.

Football

Dog

Youth

[make A Sitcom] Was Really The Idea Of Executive Producer Joe Roth Who Owned The Property Over At Revolution Studios And Said He Was Thinking About Taking It To Tv. And After He Said That He Already Had [writer/director] Ali Leroi On Board, And That He Was Going After Terry Crews, To Me It Was A No-brainer. I Said, "let's Put This Together!"

Thinking

Ideas

Together

I Don't Get Nothing But Love. In Every Ghetto All Over The World. Nothing But Love. They Respect That I Came Outta There And I'm Doing It The Right Way. You Can't Do Nothing But Respect That.

Ghetto

World

Way

Most Actors Have To Sit By The Phone And Wait For Somebody To Call Them Up To Audition And Stuff. I Don't Think I Can Exist In Hollywood Just On That. I Think I Need To Be Proactive And Making Sure That Things I Really Want To Do Are Being Developed To The Point Where Somebody Wants To Make Them?

Thinking

Phones

Waiting

The Police Don't Look At You As Long When They Drive Past. Sometimes They Don't Look At You At All. In South Central, You've Got Them Looking And Lurking. I Think It's Basic Harassment. It's Part Of Their Tactics To Have Everybody Nervous Of Them. In The Valley, At Least I Don't Feel It The Same Way.

Past

Thinking

Long

I'm Always The "less Is More" Guy When It Comes To A Scene. So I'ma Be The One Who Will Keep It Grounded. Even If I Let It Go Off And Go Crazy, I'm Still The Voice Of Keeping Things Grounded In Reality.

Crazy

Reality

Voice

You Can Measure Films On Box Office Success, Or People Lovin' The Movie Whenever They See It. That's What I Measure My Movies On. How Much People Love These Movies After They Get A Chance To See Them, No Matter How They Get A Chance To See Them.

People

Office

Matter

You Become A Writer On A Television Show, And You See Yourself Doing Bigger And Better Things, You Don't Wait Till They Tell You, "here's The Way To Do Bigger And Better Things," You Start Writing. You Start Writing That Material That You Might Be Doing Off To The Side. Nobody's Going To Be Paying You For That, But It Could Turn Into Something Big.

Writing

Bigger And Better Things

Waiting

I Never Was In The Nation Of Islam... I Mean, What I Call Myself Is A Natural Muslim, 'cause It's Just Me And God.

Mean

Islam

Causes

I Been All Around The World And I Haven't Found A City That I'd Rather Be From Or Rather Come Back To Than Los Angeles.

Cities

World

Los Angeles

I Care About What I Look Like On The Red Carpet.

Looks

Care

Red

I Don't Listen To Nothing While I'm In The Studio, Because I Don't Want To Be Influenced By Anybody Else.

Want

Studios

I’m A B-boy At Heart. I Still Like Rhyming. It’s Just The Radio Game Is Like Chinese Arithmetic. It’s Hard To Know What Nuts To Crack. But I Still Love Music, Been Dropping Music. Never Stopped Really.

Heart

Boys

Nuts

I Love Makin' Music, So Whether I'ma Make Money At It Or Not, I'ma Still Do It. The Thing Is, I've Gotten To A Point Where I Don't Have To Use Music To Make A Livin', So I Can Do It For Fun Like I Used To When I Was Young.

Fun

Use

Making Money

I'm A Menace To Society, But Girls In Biker Shorts Are So Fly To Me. After The Date, I'mma Want To Do The Wild Thing... You're Talkin' Lobster? I'm Thinkin' Burger King.

Girl

Kings

Rap

I Don't Consider Myself Ever Joining. But I Have Affiliations, For Sure.

Joining

Affiliation

I Won't Lay Down My Principles For Any Kind Of Recognition Or Any Kind Of Position Or Trying To Be More Famous. It's Just Not In Me. I'd Rather Be A Man. And Then To Have All This Crazy Stuff On My Conscience.

Crazy

Men

Trying

A Lot Of Movies Will Deliver On The Promotion But When You Go See Them, Everything You Laughed At Was In The Trailer.

Promotion

Trailers

Laughed

The '80s Was Brand New. It Was Aids. It Was Gangbanging. It Was Starting To Become Big Dope-dealing, And Crack Was Starting To Flood The Neighborhoods. And Then You Had Hip Hop, Which Was Something New, Other Than What We Were Doing, Which Was Sports, Playing Football, Basketball, Baseball. And I Was Excited.

Basketball

Sports

Baseball

I Think Hip-hop Has Changed. When I First Came Out, Hip-hop Was More Of A Kind Of Way To Learn About New Places, New Things. What Are Kids Doing On The East Coast, What Are Kids Doing Here. Then It Left That And Is Like A Party Mode. I Think It's Going Back To People Wanting To Get Messages And Wanting To Learn Things From The Music.

Party

Kids

Thinking

The Moral Is That A Career Can Be Gone In An Instant. And All You Have In This World Are The People You Love.

Careers

People

Gone

My Thing Is, I Know Kids Cuss, They Do Their Thing, But I Tell My Kids, 'don't Do It In Earshot Of Any Adults, Or You're In Trouble.'

Kids

Adults

Trouble

Twerking Has To End. Not For The Ones That Look Good Doing It, But For All The Ones That You Feel, 'you Don't Have Enough To Twerk Back There. Your Twerkin' Look Like Jerkin.'

Looks

Twerking

Enough

My Problem Is That I Never Get Through The Whole Book. I Skim Through This One, That One, And Then The Other One.

Book

Problem

Whole

Our Household Is Built On Love And Respect. And We Don't Really Let Negative Vibes Stay Too Long. It's Worked Out. I Got A Great Family, Great Kids.

Kids

Long

Negative

Sometimes Guys Just Want The Girl And Want To Drop The Kids Off Anywhere They Can. Guys Its A Package. You Like A Woman, Shes Got Kids, Its A Package. You Cant Just Go In One-sided. Its Pretty Cool.

Girl

Kids

Guy

You Got To Get Used To Somebody, When You're Acting Or Going Through A Scene, Somebody Yelling, "do It A Little Louder!" Ok, You Do It A Little Louder.

Yelling

Acting

Littles

While I Had Done The Movies Through Revolution Studios, We Own The Sitcom. It Was A Situation Where, Once The Team Was Assembled, I Knew We Could Create Something Really, Really Good.

Team

Done

Revolution

Any Time There's Racism Somewhere In Sports, We Should Get It Out Of There Because Sports Is A Place Where Everything's Supposed To Be Fair.

Sports

Racism

Should

You Want The Industry To Finally Admit That You're Good. But I'm Still Good Without Their Admission.

Want

Admission

Stills

Keep Doin' What You're Doin', Fall In Love With What You're Creating, And Everything Else Will Fall Into Place.

Falling In Love

Fall

Creating

I Feel Like I Got A Whole Lot Of Living To Do Before I Think About Summing It Up In A Book.

Book

Thinking

Feels

I've Been Fighting My Whole Career To Show A Different Side And Prove Naysayers - Not Prove Them Wrong, Because I Don't Think You Should Get Your Energy From Negative People.

Fighting

Thinking

Careers

I'm Not Actually From Compton - I'm From South Central Los Angeles, And My Father Still Lives In The Same House I Grew Up In, So I'm There All The Time.

Father

House

Los Angeles

I'm Not The Type Of Actor Who Is Trying To Do A Whole Bunch Of Different Shit, You Know What I Mean?

Mean

Trying

Different

You Can Go Raise The Money Outside Of The Industry, And Then What You're Doing Is Fighting With Your Money To Get Back Into The Industry, Or For Them To Use Your Money Instead Of Their Own. So, You Got To Figure Out How To Do It Within The Flow Of The Industry.

Fighting

Use

Flow

I Go Light On Breakfast. Sometimes It's A Yogurt, But A Lot Of Times It's Leftovers From One Of My Wife's Dinners.

Light

Wife

Yogurt

Hollywood Is Obsessed With Police Stories.

Police

Hollywood

Stories

I'm Trying To Cut Down A Little On Eating, On Sodium, Keep My Blood Pressure Down, Which Is Tough. Because I Love Food! I Do, But It's Unfair How Everything That's Bad For You Tastes So Good, And All The Good Stuff, Veggies And Green Things, Doesn't Match Up.

Cutting

Blood

Trying

I Love Performing. I'll Never Get That Out Of Me.

Performing

You Know It Ain't No Stoppin' All The Doggs I'm Droppin' It's Friday Night, So Everything Is Poppin.

Friday

Rap

Night

You Can't Boycott Something You Never Went To Anyway,so Why Put Energy Into It?

Energy

Boycott

I Was Given The Name By My Brother When I Was About Eleven Or Twelve Years Old. He Was Older Than Me, And Around That Age I Was Starting To Get Into Girls, And When They Would Call The House For Him, And When He Was Not There, I Would Try To Talk To Them. I Was Trying To Be The Man And Trying To Get Them To Come And See Me, Not Worrying About Him. When He Found Out... He Started Calling Me Ice Cube As A Joke Because He Said I Was Trying To Be Too Cool. I Just Liked It And Started Telling Everybody In The Hood "my Name Is Ice Cube."

Girl

Brother

Men

Can't Step From One Movie Set To The Next. Only Samuel L. Jackson Can Do That. All Us Mere Mortals Can't Do That!

Steps

Mortals

I Definitely Know The Minister Honorable Louis Farrakhan. But I Don't Really Believe In Organized Religion Like That. I Don't Know What It Does For People In The Long Run.

Running

Believe

Long

My Thing Is: Stay Creative. And Just Because Somebody Starts To Pay You, That Don't Mean All Your Creativity Goes To That, And You Don't Save None For Yourself To Be Able To Do Other, Bigger And Better Things And Still Follow Your Dreams Even If You Start Off Inside Of A Box.

Dream

Mean

Creativity

If You Love What You Do, And You Believe In Your Talent, There's Nothing Better Than Breaking Through. There's No Better Feeling Than Breaking Through.

Believe

Feelings

Talent

A Lot Of People Have A Misconception Of What The Ghetto Is All About. You Know, It's Only A Small Percentage Of The People That Are Bad. Everybody Else Is Good.

Ghetto

People

Percentages

They Thought We Were Just Basically Keeping Ourselves Underground On Purpose. And It Was Just Strange For People To Approach Music That Way. And For Rap, Trying To Get Recognition, And Be Seen As A Regular Form Of Music Like Anything Else. I Mean, The Soul, R&b, Rock 'n Roll, They Would Dis The Hell Out Of Rap When It First Came Out.

Rap

Mean

Rocks

I Like To Tell The Streets What The Political Climate Is, And I Like To Tell Any Politicians That's Listening What The Streets Think. And Sometimes People Get Nicked Up And Bruised Up, But I Usually Have A Lot Of Good Medicine For That.

Thinking

Medicine

People

With Film, I Have To Be A Team Player; It's A Whole Different Thing. I Can't Just Be A One-man Show. I Have To Learn How To Use People To The Best Of Their Ability And Motivate Them To Be As Passionate About The Project As I Am.

Team

Player

Men

Early In My Career, People Wanted To Hear Music About Protest, About Trying To Change Things.

Careers

People

Trying

I Could Do An Interview Or Just As Well Not Do One. It's Not Like I'm Looking For Extra Publicity.

Publicity

Interviews

Wells

Rap Is Just Somebody Getting Something Off His Chest. That's All It Is.

Rap

Chests

The Best Thing To Do Is To Write About What You Know, And If You Write About What You Know You Can Always Pull Those Nice Little Tidbits That Hook People, That Shows That You Know About This World And Can Bring People Into A World That They May Not Know Nothing About.

Nice

Writing

People

Run Dmc Brought Us Out Of That Underground-only Feel. They Brought Rap Above Ground And Made It Respectable As An Art Form To Mainstream Music.

Running

Art

Rap

You Pay To Have A Good Time, You Don't Always Want To Pay To Be Schooled Or Sad Or Reminded How Bad You Got It. To Me A Movie Theater Ain't Always The Place For That.

Want

Pay

Good Times

I Think You Have To Find How The Machine Can Work For You. That's What I Mean By "attaching Yourself To The Machine," 'cause The Machine Is Going To Be There, And You Can Rage Against The Machine, Which Is Cool, But There's Ways That You Can Benefit Off The Machine If You're Savvy Enough And You're Sharp Enough, Smart Enough. We All Got To Live And Eat.

Smart

Mean

Thinking

You Really Have To Challenge Yourself To Come Out Of Those Parameters That They Put You In, Even If That's Your Job.

Jobs

Challenges

Challenge Yourself

I Figured, When I Make A Movie, Especially Earlier In My Career, One Thing I Was Going To Make Sure Was That The Movie Doesn't Cost A Lot And That It Has Potential To Make A Lot Of Money. That's How You Get Respect In Hollywood.

Careers

Hollywood

Cost

I Always Say The Movie Came Out Good If They Want Another One. That Always Tells Me That People Really Liked The Movie.

People

Want

Ifs

God Damn, It's A Brand New Payback From The Straight Gangsta Mack In Straight Gangsta Black How Many Motherfuckers Gotta Pay Went To The Shelf And Dusted Off The Ak Caps Gotta Get Peeled Cause "the Nigga Ya Love To Hate" Still Can "kill At Will"

Order

Law

Cop

There's A Lot Of Talent In South Central L.a., In Compton And Long Beach And Watts, And The City North Of Pico Pretty Much Sits Back And Waits For That Talent To Emerge And Then Steps In.

Beach

Cities

Long

My Worst Ever Car Was A Green Datsun B210, Back When They Called It 'datsun' - Now It's 'nissan.' Very Unsexy, Unattractive. Girls Hated The Car. I Was Embarrassed To Even Be In It But It Was My Transportation.

Girl

Car

Unattractive

You Have To Be Able To Give The People What You Want In Your Way. And That's How You, To Me, Become A Person That They Love And Not Just A Fly-by Night Actor.

Night

People

Giving

When I Did 'boyz N The Hood', I Never Thought How We Grew Up In South Central Was Interesting Enough For A Movie.

Interesting

Enough

Grew Up

I Think, To Me, Reality Is Better Than Being Fake.

Reality

Thinking

Fake

Most Of The Problems That We Have Are Brought On By The Government And Not By Music. Music Is A Mirror Of What We're Going Through, Not The Cause Of What We're Going Through.

Mirrors

Government

Causes

Get A Grip, Oreo, And Be True To The Game.

Games

Racism

Oreos

I Still Enjoy Doing Music. I'm Not Going To Stop Doing It, And Doing It The Way That I Feel It Should Be Done.

Done

Way

Should

I Can't Really Attribute My Success Onscreen To Any Formula And Suggest You "do This Or That" To Make It As An Actor.

Actors

Attributes

Formulas

I Remember Wishing There Was Snow In L.a. And How Jealous We Used To Get Of Those Christmas Specials With Kids Playing In The Snow.

Christmas

Kids

Jealous

Don't Get A Movie Confused With Real Life. I'm A Well-rounded Human Being Like Everyone Else.

Movie

Confused

Real

My Son Darrel Could Recite 'straight Outta Compton' At Two Years Old. He Loved It! You Can Expose Your Kids To Anything As Long As You Sit There And Explain It To Them.

Kids

Son

Two Year Olds

Don't Worry About Being A Star, Worry About Doing Good Work, And All That Will Come To You.

Stars

Worry

Good Work

I Think My Fans Respect Me For Bein' As Truthful And Honest As You Can Be And Still Be Rap Music And Not Be Opinion Music. It's Still Rap, Its Still Style, Flavor, Flair, And People Just Kind Of Like How I Present Myself And The Things That I Do.

Rap

Thinking

People

It Never Gets Old. Working With Somebody Like Kevin Hart Is Rejuvenating In A Lot Of Ways. He's Such A Pro. He's So Good.

Kevin

Way

Hart

I Think When Hip Hop First Started, People Were Open To It, And Groups Like Public Enemy And There Was Groups Like Poor Righteous Teachers And All These People Who Were Spitting A Lot Of Knowledge, A Lot Of History, Questioning A Lot Of Societal Barriers Was Starting To Be Super Popular.

Teacher

Thinking

People

I Did Are We There Yet? Because I Wanted To Do A Movie For My Fans' Kids. Black Kids Don't Really See Movies On This Budget For Them, Starring Them. And There's So Many White Kids That Love That Movie.

Kids

White

Black

Young People Are Dying For No Reason All Over The World That Don't Know Why. It's Ugly, Everywhere.

People

Dying

World

I Wake Up At 5:30, 6 In The Morning, But Don't Head Into The Office Right Away. I Like To Hang Out With My Wife, Talk About Things, Get Some Coffee, You Know.

Morning

Coffee

Wife

Sometimes When You're Relegated To Your Neighborhood, You Forget That There's More Important Things Than Your Neighborhood Going On Out In The World. And That Just Gave Me A Chance To See How Life Could Be. And It Gave Me A Chance To Interact With Everybody, Not Just Black People Or Mexicans. It Made Me Just A Little More Worldly.

People

Black

Important

I Think That My "let's Get It Done! Let's Have Fun! Let's Make A Great Movie!" Attitude Helped. I Rarely Have Problems On My Movies With Egos And Attitudes.

Fun

Attitude

Thinking

I Make A Mean Cup Of Coffee, If You Give Me The Right Ingredients.

Coffee

Mean

Giving

Create Your Own Path, Hone Your Talent, Be Ready To Show Your Talent, And Don't Doubt Yourself.

Doubt

Path

Talent

I Really Appreciate Family. I Really Can't Imagine Life Without Them!

Appreciate

Imagine

People Wanted To Have Fun More Than They Wanted To Learn From Their Music, And That's Where The Shift Started To Happen.

Fun

People

Wanted

I Always Want To Read The Script Before I Totally Commit.

Want

Scripts

Commit

I Knew A Dude Whose Entire Check Was Going To His Car. He Didn't Care. This Is Back When The Mustang 5.0 Came Out In, Like, '82. Between Paying The Note And Insurance, I Think He Had Like $40 Left. A Lot Of People Knew People Because Of Their Car, And Not Them.

Thinking

People

Car

When You Have A Good Movie, It's Hard To Categorize It. It's Everything. It Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry And Makes You Think.

Thinking

Laughing

Make You Think

You Don't Have To Be Super Clean To Be A Super Star

Stars

Clean

Super Star

Some People Have A Taboo About Doing Advertising In The States. You Know, Where They Kind Of Make Their Bread And Butter. But To Me, That's Crazy.

Crazy

People

Bread

No Matter What Part Of The Country You Come From, You Can Always Come Together To Make Groundbreaking Hip-hop.

Country

Hip Hop

Together

I Think Rap Music Is The Sole Reason For A Lot Of Black Acceptance In Pop Culture; Because The Music Is Very Popular, It Gets Our Image Out In Other Ways Than In Movies.

Rap

Acceptance

Thinking

I Believe Every Pencil Has To Be Sharpened Every Now And Then To Stay Sharp, Or You Dull Out. So My Records, I Chose To Speak On What Black People Do, What White People Do, What Women Do, What Men Do.

Believe

Men

White

It's Funny How People Who Ain't Never Been Down There Can Think That America Is So Fair And That We Should Be Alright. It's Funny That The People Who Have Their Foot On Our Neck Are Telling Us, 'get Up. What's Wrong With You?'

Funny

Thinking

Feet

I Hear About People Getting Shot All The Time. But Most Of The Guys You Hear About Getting Shot Pulled Through.

People

Guy

Shots

Usually People Who Attack The Rap Are People Who Aren't Even Fans.

Rap

People

Fans

I Know That There Are Obstacles; I Know That There Are Hills To Climb, I Know There Were People Before Me That Made My Journey Easier And There Are People Behind Me That I Have Made The Journey Easier For.

Journey

People

Obstacles

The Silver And Black May Have Another Home, But The Raiders Will Always Belong To The People Of Los Angeles.

Home

People

Black

The Creative Process Of Making A Movie Really Turned Me On. I'd Started Getting Behind The Scenes With A Camcorder And Vhs Tape When Making Music Videos.

Creative

Tape

Video

I Grew Up In The Seventies And Disco Was Big. That Influenced Me The Most.

Grew Up

Bigs

Disco

The Thing Is With Hip-hop, It Has Its Waves And The Waves Crash Against The Beach And The New Waves Come In. So To Stay Relevant You Have To Roll With That.

Beach

Hip Hop

Hips

I Like Obama, But I Understand That His Hands Are Tied, The Way Congress Is Reacting. It's Just Partisan Politics Everywhere, And Don't Know How We Going To Get Things Done In The Future Without Compromising A Little Bit.

Hands

Done

Littles

I Think When Somebody Goes To The Movies And They Spend Their Money And They Take The Girl Out, The Family, They Want To Have A Good Time. You Don't Always Want To Be Hit Over The Head With History Or How Bad Society Is.

Girl

Thinking

Want

To Me, In A Perfect World, You Have The Flavor And The Magic Of Movies Like 48 Hours, Lethal Weapon And Bad Boys.

Boys

Perfect

Magic

Rapping Is Talking And Communicating, And That's Always Good.

Rap

Talking

Communicate

I Definitely Support Cop Acting More Than Cops, But All Of Them Ain't Bad, Just Some Of Them.

Support

Acting

Cop

We Should Love The Fact That We're Not Just Getting One Point Of View. That We Have This Diversity In Entertainment, And People Are Not Scared To Be Themselves, And People Are Not Scared To Make People Uncomfortable, And That's All Part Of It. That's All Part Of Being Free.

Views

People

Diversity

I Used To Game A Lot, You Know, Back In The Day. My Gaming Time Done Got So Short That My Skills Ain't Where They Need To Be To Be Online, You Know What I'm Saying? I Just Got That Xbox One. I Gotta Get My Skills Back, Up The Par To Call Myself A Gamer.

Xbox

Games

Skills

My Movies Work Because Not Many People In Hollywood Are Like Me.

People

Hollywood

Like Me

South Central Is Just Who I Am.

Who I Am

South

You Ask Me, "did I Like Arsenio?" About As Much As The Bicentennial.

Rap

Hip Hop

Ask Me

I Would Love To Meet Bob Marley. I Mean, He's Passed, But That's Somebody That I Would've Loved To Meet.

Mean

Bob

Marley

I'm Just An Entertainer, Man. I Don't Like To Pigeonhole Myself To Anything. I Love To Do It All.

Men

Entertainers

It's Always Been Jewelry, Clothes, Appearance. Those Are Things That Compete With The Car. But The Car Is The Ultimate. Get That Car Right And It Doesn't Matter What You Got On Or What You Wear Once You Step Out Of That Car.

Clothes

Car

Matter

If I Only Had 24 Hours To Live, I Would Spend The Time Telling Everybody I Love That I Love Them.

Hours

Ifs

Doing It Your Own Way, Not Having To Go Exactly By The Book To Be Successful.

Book

Successful

Way

There's Nothing Wrong With Starting Off In A Box, But You Got To Have A Plan To Come Out That Box.

Starting

Boxes

Plans

Cinderella Hoein' For The Fellas, Mr. Roger Was Getting Kind Of Jealous.

Jealous

Games

Roger

It's Always Great When You're Able To Give Fans What They Expect And Even A Little More.

Giving

Fans

Littles

I Won't Do Anything For Money. I Won't Compromise My Manhood.

Compromise

Manhood

If You Really Think Back To The Culture Or Just Black America Before Rap Music Took Off, New York Could Have Been Paris.

New York

Rap

Thinking

Music Has Done A Lot To Enhance The Emotions Of Sports. It's Played In Arenas. Whenever There Is Footage Cut Together They're Always Using Music. And It Goes Together, You Know.

Sports

Cutting

Together

Money Is The Root Of All Evil. Yeah, Money Is The Root. It's Not Racism And "this-ism" And "that-ism"; It's Our Thirst And Hunger For Money. And That's Where All The Bodies Are Buried.

Roots

Racism

Evil

That's Always Been My Approach, To Expose What's Going On And What's Not Being Said. I Could Go The Selfish Route, And Probably Make A Whole Lot More Money, But That's Not What It's About, It's About Speaking For People Who Can't Speak For Themselves.

Selfish

People

Speak

Cool People Still Have A Hard Time Showing What They Got In Hollywood.

Hard Times

People

Hollywood

When You're Spending Your Money For A Nice Outing, You Want To Go Have A Good Time. And I Always Thought Comedies, Laughing, Was Something That Was Made For Entertainment On That Level. And Records And Maybe Tv And Stuff Like That Is Really Made To Be Heavy.

Nice

Laughing

Records

I'm Interested In How Things Are Put Together, And That's More Interesting To Me Than Just Regular Shows, Even Though I Like The Walking Dead.

Interesting

Walking Dead

Together

I've Got A Basketball Signed By All The Greats From Julius Irving To Oscar Robinson. It Was At An All Star Game I Got Them All To Sign It. So That Ain't Going Nowhere. I'm Going To Die With That In My Casket.

Inspirational

Basketball

Stars

You Like A Woman, She's Got Kids, It's A Package. You Can't Just Go In One-sided.

Relationship

Boyfriend

Husband

There's A Lot Of Potential That Goes Unused In Places Like South Central L.a., A Lot Of Brilliant, Smart People Who Just Don't Have That Chance To Show It.

Smart

People

Brilliant

Do Not Turn Into Just Cookie-cutter Producer, Cookie-cutter This, But A Producer That People Say Wow, When They Do Something It's Great Or Just Unique Or Whatever.

Unique

People

Wow

I Think I'm Unique To The Game 'cause Of My Versatility.

Unique

Thinking

Games

I Think The Worst Thing You Can Do About A Situation Is Nothing.

Thinking

Worst

Situation

If You Think About Stuff That Happened When You Were Young, It Stays With You Forever.

Thinking

Forever

Stuff

The Real Is Always Presented. That Hardcore Record Or Movie Is Not Needed In The Hood, Because It's Already There. You Can See It With Your Own Eyes.

Real

Eye

Records

I'm Not Trying To Turn Into Eddie Murphy, And Just Do Kids Movies The Rest Of My Career. I'm Going To Still Do A Wide Variety Of Movies, As Well As Do Hardcore Rap.

Rap

Kids

Careers

The Movie Industry Is One Big Collaboration. Music Gives Me That Freedom To Create Things Straight From My Heart And My Mind.

Heart

Giving

Mind

I Always Said That What I Do Is Street Knowledge, You Let The Street Know What The Politicians Of Today Are Doing, And If The Politicians Are Listening, Let Them Know What The Streets Think.

Thinking

Listening

Today

[boycott Oscar] Is Like Crying About Not Having Enough Icing On Your Cake. It's Just Ridiculous.

Cake

Oscars

Icing

I'm Always Happy. I've Just Got A Mean Face.

Mean

Faces

Always Happy

We Used To Have Mtv And All These Ways We Can Show Our Videos, And It Was These Rap Shows, And It Was Everything. And Then It Became Not Cool To Be Conscious; It Became Cool To Just Hang Out. Escapism Rap Became The Norm. And, When I Say "escapism Rap", I Mean Getting High, Get Your Cars, Get Your Money, Get Your Jewelry, Go To The Club, Have Your Women, And It Just Became All About Escaping Your Reality And Not Making Your Reality Better On A Real Tip; Not Just On The Have Fun Tip.

Fun

Real

Rap

You Never Get Tired Of Seeing Yourself On Tv. It's Always Extra Cool... Always A Treat.

Tired

Tvs

Treats

Sometimes, When You Want To Laugh, Reality Steps In.

Reality

Laughing

Want

You Can't Pussyfoot Around. When You're Talking To Lions, You Can't Meow Like A Pussycat.

Talking

Lions

I Like To Deal With Things I Heard About, ... People Are Always Getting Their House Broken Into Around The Holidays. That's When The Crime Rate Goes Up.

Holiday

People

Broken

My Advice For Anyone Who Wants To Follow In My Footsteps: Create Your Own Path, Hone Your Talent, Be Ready To Show Your Talent, And Don't Doubt Yourself.

Advice

Doubt

Path

I've Never Really Taken Myself Too Serious. That's Everybody Else, Listening To The Music Or Whatever. I've Always Said What I've Felt, Said What I Thought Was Right, But I've Always Had A Comedic Bone.

Taken

Listening

Serious

I Believe Our Society Has Fell Into A Pyramid System Where There's People Relegated To The Bottom Of That Pyramid And There's People That Feel Like They're Entitled To The Top Of That Pyramid.

Believe

Pyramids

People

With Comedies, I Like To Be A Producer, Because Comedies Can Get Corny And Go Off Track Real Fast.

Real

Track

Comedy

Some Comedians You Work With, They Only Turn On When The Camera Turn On, And They're Like Sad-faced Clowns When The Camera's Off. And Then, They Come Alive When The Camera Come On. And You Be Like, "oh, Damn. You're Not A Depressed Ball Of Depression, But You Are Actually Funny."

Damn You

Comedian

Cameras

I Was A Very Interested Arts Student, I Was Always Into That Part Of School And When I Got Into High School I Went Into Architectural Drafting. It Gave Me An Understanding Of How To Build Things And It’s Really Helped Me Put Things In Perspective. With My Music And My Movies, To Me It’s All Art.

Art

School

Perspective

You Don't Wanna Mess Up What You've Done. It's Like Jordan Coming Back: You're Scared To Mess Up The Legacy.

Legacy

Done

Jordan

Money Comes And Goes, But Your Inner Feelings, Your Gut Feelings, Your Manhood, Your Womanhood, Whatever, That Stays With You. That Don't Go Anywhere. So You Either Proud Of Who You Are And How You Handle Situations Or You Not. If You Handle A Situation Wrong, You, It Will Haunt You.

Feelings

Proud

Situation

You Don't Have To Spend $200 Million Or $100 Million To Make A Great Movie.

Millions

We Don't Do Movies For The Industry. We Do Movies For The Fans, For The People. If The Industry Give You A Trophy Or Not, Or Pat You On The Back Or Not, It's Nice, But It's Not Something You Should Dwell On.

Nice

People

Giving

I Used To Love To Draw. I Didn't Want To Go To Art Class Because I Felt That Would Be Too Corny When I Was Young, But Architectural Drafting Was The Cool Thing To Do Because There Was More Precision. It Taught Me A Lot About Building And Structures And Doorways And Frames And Windowsills.

Art

Class

Want

Today I Didn't Even Have To Even Use My A.k ! I Got To Say It Was A Good Day

Good Day

Use

Today

To Me, It's My Job Not To Laugh, No Matter What's Said. By The Time We Shoot, I'm Ready For All That's Coming. I Probably Do Most Of My Breaking In Rehearsals, When I Know That I Can.

Jobs

Laughing

Rehearsal

Whatever Happened In The Neighborhood. That's What I Was Rapping About. And That Sparked People's Interest. And That's What Kind Of Put Me On That Path.

Rap

People

Path

What I Learned From Architectural Drafting Is That Everything Has To Have A Plan To Work. You Just Can't Wing It. I Can't Get All The Materials I Need For A House And Just Start Building. Whether It's A Career, Family, Life - You Have To Plan It Out.

Careers

Wings

House

There's Things People Say In The Barbershop They Won't Even Say In Their Own Living Room, Because It's Just One Of Those Zones Where Nobody's Going To Judge You Too Much About Your Dumb Opinion.

Judging

People

Dumb

I Think Everybody Likes A Person That Stands Up For Themselves. Nobody Likes A Punk Or A Coward.

Thinking

Coward

Likes

A Bird In The Hand Is Worth More Than A Bush.

Rap

Hands

Bird

Once You Figure Out What Your Own Thing Is It's All About Trying To Develop Shows, Programs That Can, I Guess, Enhance What You Already Have And What You Can Add To Hollywood.

Trying

Hollywood

Add

Well, For The Transition From Rapper To Actor, I Was Fortunate That Director John Singleton Pursued Me For About Two Years To Be In Boyz 'n The Hood. I Really Wasn't Even Thinking About Acting At The Time, Since I Was Singularly Focused On Being The Best Rapper In The World. So, That Was Really A Blessing, Because I Wasn't Really Taking Him Seriously.

Blessing

Thinking

Rapper

I Have Great People, Smart People That Are Around Me And We Love The Challenge. I Guess It's Like Climbing A Mountain Or Building A Building. It's A Challenge But You Love Every Challenge That It Brings Or Presents Itself.

Smart

Climbing

People

People Associate Clothes With Actual Behavior, And It's Kind Of Crazy. If You Get Shot In Some Levi's You Don't Go After Levi's. It's Not The Clothes. It's Always The People.

Crazy

Clothes

People

I Am Only 33, I've Got A Lot To Do. This Is The First Half Of My Career. I'm Looking Forward To The Future And I'm Proud About The Past.

Past

Careers

Half

Don't Want To Hear My Favorite Rapper Doin' A Love Song. If I Want To Hear Something Soft, I'll Throw On Luther Vandross.

Song

Rapper

Want

Ice Cube Is The Piece Of Me That I Give Away To The Public.

Ice

Giving

Pieces

I Was Ready To Get Out Of The Box And Play Something A Little Different Than What Everybody Has Seen.

Play

Different

Littles

For Me Rappers And Dancers Are Poets And Artists And Often Times The Most Interesting Performances Are Given By Them.

Artist

Rapper

Interesting

When You Go To A Movie, You Don't Care For One Oscar, Really. Do You Care If A Guy Got A Oscar On The Shelf Or Is It A Good Movie? And, You Don't Care How Much The Movie Made.

Guy

Good Movie

Care

I Get Freedom Out Of Hip-hop. I Get To Be A True Artist Without Any Shackles Or Harnesses.

Artist

Hip Hop

Hips

I Hope Everything Works In Our Favor. The Show Is Cool. It’s Family Fare. We Ain’t Aiming At The Cheap Seats. Instead, We’re Making Something With A Broad Appeal That People Of Any Color Or Creed And From All Walks Of Life Can Enjoy And Maybe Learn Something From.

Color

People

Favors

Rap Is Always Evolving. It's Easy For The Old School To Hate The New School, But It's A Music That Got A Little Stifled I Think, By The Internet A Little Bit.

Hate

Rap

School

Everybody Thinks The Grass Is Greener On The Other Side. If You Talk To Most Artists, They Think They Can Play Something, You Know, "if I Had Stayed Playing Football In High School, If I Had Been Doing Basketball..." Everybody's Got Their Fantasies And Thinks The Grass Is Greener. It's Not. It's Not.

Basketball

Football

School

Comedies In Hollywood Is Usually The Path Of Least Resistance When It Comes To Being Black In Hollywood And Putting Movies Together. They Would Rather Make Us Laugh Than Cry, In Some Respect.

Laughing

Black

Together

Never Question The Size Of Ice Cube's Balls!

Ice

Balls

Cubes

As A Husband, I'm A True Partner. I Don't Believe One Person Should Have Dominance Over Another.

Husband

Believe

Should Have

The Best Thing I've Done With My Money Is Buy A House For My Family. You Wake Up To A House You Love And You Feel Like Somebody.

House

Wake Up

Done

I'm The Most Successful Person In My Generation Of Family Members, And That Sucks.

Successful

Generations

Members

Everybody In The World Has To Compromise. I Don't Know One Person That Gets Everything They Want, So The Politicians Are Going To Have To Figure That Out And Stop Pointing Out, "he Shook Hands With A Democrat In 1989. He Ate With A Republican Last Week." It's Petty High School, Even Junior High Stuff Going On. It's Junior High Politics Going On, So It's A Shame.

School

Hands

World

I Love Music. It's Freedom, A Way To Deal With Pent-up Frustration.

Frustration

Way

Music Love

If It Was All About Me, I'd Do A Whole Lot Of Pop Records, Make A Whole Lot Of Money, Just Rake In The Dough. But It's Never Been All About Me. It's All About Being A Voice For The Voiceless. People Who Can't Speak For Themselves, Who Don't Have A Mic, Don't Have A Say.

Voice

People

Records

Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.

2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.

2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.

2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.

3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.

3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.

3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.

4. Proper Usage of Quotes

4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.

4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.

4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).

5. Common Mistakes to Avoid

5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.

5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.

5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.

6. Quotes in Different Contexts

6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.

6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.

6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.

7. Punctuation and Formatting

Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:

Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.

Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.

Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.

8. Ethical Considerations

Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes

Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.

Conclusion

Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.

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