The key to empowerment is no more complicated than what Jesse Jackson said, 'We are somebody.' But the 'We are somebody' I would like to be in the larger sense: not just the urban African-American but homo sapiens in general - We are somebody.

Many times, I get young people asking, 'What do you think about black movies?' And I say, 'What are you talking about? You mean Hollywood movies that have black people in them?' It's gone back to that, and that's not the same thing as a black movie.

If I was just a creator, I would still be back in the Lincoln annex in the Post Office.

When I was a kid, from 10 years old, I worked every day for my dad, huh? Never played basketball. I never played tennis - never did. We worked so that we could eat.

Nothing has come from this whole 'peace industry' except for conferences in five-star hotels and a waste of money.

It's a widely-held belief that Millennials are obsessed with money. And it's also wildly true. Just don't mistake it for a fixation with getting rich.

I went from a playing in a bar on a bar stool for free beer and tip money, where people weren't paying attention to me, to now I've got their attention. It's up to me to what I feed them with my music. It's up to me how I do that. I've put a lot of thought into how great the songs are, and how I want people to perceive me.

Everywhere you look in Washington, you can find examples of financial mismanagement.