I used to watch 'Top of the Pops' when I was a kid and say 'Yeah!' or 'Boo!' at every single song. So there was nothing in the middle. You brutally put it on one side or another.
Even as a kid in drawing class, I had real ambition. I wanted to be the best in the class, but there was always some other feller who was better; so I thought, It cant be about being the best, it has to be about the drawing itself, what you do with it. Thats kind of stuck with me.
Now that I'm a father of three kids, suddenly the whole world seems different. I don't want to take anything for granted. If you gaze on something and you appreciate it, you become a part of that circle. That seemed to me to be the only relevance I could understand. The space, the time and the vastness of it all was overwhelming. I needed to understand it or I just was lost.
I tend to eat vegetables only when I'm with the kids and the rest of the time, I'm a bit slack. But, I am weight-conscious, so I concentrate on avoiding junk food.
There were only ever two black kids at my school. I never considered myself to be 'a black kid'. I was who I was. Which isn't to say things haven't happened to me that wouldn't have happened if I wasn't black.
For kids it's natural to be competitive.
But if kids take up things like hockey and football they will go back to it.
Kids are starting at such a low base rate in terms of fitness that it's taking them years to catch up to where people like me started from. Every little bit is making it more difficult for kids to succeed on a world stage.
People don't want to serve apprenticeships any more. Kids expect to be paid and treated really well and all that guff before they've achieved anything. It doesn't work like that. You have to spend five or six years being relatively rubbish and put up with it. For that you don't deserve to be getting lottery money.
Ever since I was a kid, whatever situation I was presented with, I always made the most of it.
We had the fun of being outlaws. But there's a whole generation now coming up with new gender identities. For this generation of kids who don't think that being gay is anything special, they might be more interesting than any of us.
I am proud to be part of the Toys for Tots program for a second year. In addition to giving kids the chance to design a special The UPS Store/Toys for Tots car, this contest is a great way for children to learn about the importance of charitable giving.
Kids have to be taught to hate.
Kids take work, effort, love, blood, sweat and tears and are a full time job. You have to commit, for better or worse and then give your all and hope for the best. The one thing you can never, ever do is give up and say, 'Oooops, never mind, my bad, you can take this one back'!
My grandmother was German. She didn't teach any of her children German. She really wanted them to be American. And now, she's since passed away, I get so frustrated sometimes. I'm like, "Oh, Oma, why didn't you teach your kids German?" My dad would have spoken German to me from birth, and I would have spoken German.
I think I matured quite early, but what that does mean is I have moments of complete immaturity. When I come home, I don't want to be an actor. I just want to be a kid. I barely even know what money is.
I don't know that I'd want to do acting as a job, not as a proper job. I'd like to do it as a hobby. I want to be a supply teacher. I'd like to be one of those teachers that kids really like.
Now it was just the three of us: the leader, the warrior, and the kid about to wet his pants. Guess who I was.
People thought I was a really raw rapper that hated everything - a really sour person - but really I'm just a good, all-around music-making kid and I'm really happy. That really, I feel, painted my image to a lot of people. My music now, some people get sour over it because it's really happy, it's poppy, but I'm just telling them that that image from way back then was me feeling uncomfortable and now I'm comfortable.
How do I stay confident? I just look at my accomplishments that I've made so far. It's a very conceited thing to say, of course, but I just look at everything I've done and all the fans that write letters to me. Sometimes I even look at the good YouTube comments and really pay attentions to them. I've inspired a lot of kids, and it's not every day you get to hear about that when you have this kind of career.
I love teaching; I love little kids.
Kids are really tougher than adults, but we tend to forget this in an affluent society that lets kids indulge themselves.
If you make the decision to send your kid to public school don't even look at private schools. Just shut the door. Just turn off the TV. And then you don't even have to worry about preschool. You have to worry about what's good for your kid, but you don't have to worry about how to position yourself.
Don't say "The last one there is a rotten egg": unless you're absolutely sure there's a slow kid behind you.
Hitting the kid with the ball might get you the ball, but it won't get you anyone to throw it to.
