I got the nickname 'Deacon' because I didn't swear, didn't drink, went to church, and did quite a bit of speaking in other churches, youth groups, and so forth.

You sign a contract, and you abide by the contract. And sometimes my turn would come around on Sunday. Even though I didn't like to play baseball on Sunday, it was my job.

We played on a sandlot all summer. There was no little league back then.

We had a lot of different personalities. Hoak was the straw boss. He just would not quit.

I unloaded planes for UPS in Louisville, Kentucky. It only was bad because it was called 'Earn to Learn,' where you pay for your tuition for college, but you have to work graveyard shift - midnight to eight A.M. - and then go to school at nine or 10 A.M. I was a zombie after two semesters.

Ignorance and a narrow education lay the foundation of vice, and imitation and custom rear it up.

I wasn't a happy teacher, but I also wasn't an absolute psychopath like the teachers I portray on screen.

Raphael Saadiq said to me, quite often, that Chuck D was his history teacher. And so he got a lot from the music, things that he wasn't getting maybe in school. And I feel the same way with regards to Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder.