Musician

I'm a long way from Ike Turner.

I love rap.

I was angry about the fact that my father would beat my mother on a daily basis, that my mother would take it in turn and beat on me. I was an abused child. I was mad about all those things, very bitter and very angry.

I'm finally locked into the now, and it's great.

I just live one day at a time.

I went to India, lived, and studied.

I'm really not tailored for responsibility.

I think rap definitely has its place in the art world. I think it is an art form. But, just like any art form, you can misuse it.

I was going to get drafted, but I didn't really want to go into the Army.

I wrote and produced millions and millions of selling records, so my publishing company alone was worth millions of dollars. I didn't have to work anymore in life because when the rappers started sampling... I'm the most sampled artist in history.

I believe everything happens under God's plan anyway.

If anything I consider myself non-violent, I'm from the hippy era, peace, love, groovy.

I'm too old to do crazy things anymore.

I don't have aluminum foil on my windows anymore.

I had always been a free spirit and always gotten what I wanted.

You can't have rock and roll without drugs, you can't have rock and roll without sex.

I'm trying to change the root of funk, trying to make it more progressive, more melodic and more lyrically structured.

After I saw Kiss on stage, I wanted my show to look like the fourth of July. The persona of Rick James was wild and crazy, sex, drugs and rock and roll.

I mean, Rick James was just a man-made image, the image I created. Just trying to live Rick James almost killed me.

I wanted to play the Apollo because I didn't think I was going to be on the earth long.