I work hard, so I surround myself with people that work just as hard. It's important if you want to create a successful brand.
— Damon Dash
I always approach logic without emotion. The math always equals the math. Regardless of whether I discovered the math before anyone else, or I just decided to accept it, I know what logically makes sense, and I'm going to speak on it every time.
God does things and put certain things in front of you to see how strong you are.
If I feel that somebody is hurting other people, then I'm going to make sure other people know - other people know about them.
Lee Daniels, even though he owes me $2 million, I picked that. I put him in business.
It's hard not to be confident when you put in business the biggest black male in comedy, Kevin Hart. I know I took him off a stage and put him in his first four movies. I know I did that.
I was in 'Fiesta,' but only because Aaliyah said she wanted me to do it that way.
You speak things into existence, but there's a gift and a curse with that. You got to be careful what you say.
My thing is to have a good, profitable company, for it to be 100% owned independently.
I got cribs all over the place and offices all over the place, and sometimes I lose track of my stuff.
I'm not one to be paying too much attention to what another dude's doing.
The thing is, I have been diabetic, and I've been saying I'm diabetic; it's just, people don't write about it to showcase it or to bring awareness to it. So those are just the things that weren't spoken about. And, just like everything else, I had to do it myself to be heard.
I think Jay-Z is probably my best student, and I can say that he listens, and that's what always made him special.
I'm sick of talking about it. I wanna talk about something else. No more Jay Z questions. I answered them.
I know how cool I look when I look in the mirror.
I always knew that content was the best way to sell things, but my thing was, why sell other people's stuff if I have a point of view?
I don't think my success or me having the opportunity to have success is from our generation. I think it's from the generations before us. I think it's the fact that people like Martin Luther King and Medgar Evers and people like that fought for us to have the freedom to do and say what we want and have the opportunity to make money.
I've never tried to be accepted. When everyone is doing one thing, I've always had the instinct to go the other way. I don't understand how an individual with their own mind, their own values, and their own beliefs can be so willing to just follow what everybody else is doing. How can you make history doing what everybody else is doing?
When I was young, I read the Bible, and I already knew what it meant to be the good guy - and look what happened to Jesus. So, I already understood that you get ridiculed for telling the truth, and I've always been aware of that. But, I'm a guy with confidence, and I'm not afraid.
I enjoy doing businesses without anyone's help.
There's things that I see that I did on videos when I was younger that I be like, 'Damn, I was bugging.' Champagne Dame, that dude, he was bugging. I don't even know that guy.
I might have companies, I might have buildings, I might have art. But money? No, I'm not holding that.
If you give a bipolar man a mic, I don't know what you expect.
If you remember 'The Best of Both Worlds,' you don't see my name on that... I never wanted no part of that.
I want to be as creative as I want. I don't ever want to have to compromise; I don't ever want anybody ever to tell me what to do, I don't ever want to argue with somebody because of my vision.
I'm gonna direct, like, a real movie. At least an hour and some change.
Those people are corny. You think I'm rolling to a club with Lyor Cohen or John Meneilly?
I'm an authentic person: I can talk about diabetes and how it affects you because I'm actually diabetic, and I know how much help a person needs, whether it's support physically or just understanding and being conscious of what diabetes really is.
I have been diabetic since I was young.
You're only the boss if you put up your own money.
It's important for people to believe in themselves.
Fashion week is always going to be necessary, but it's not going to be for everybody.
I think I'm extraordinarily motivated.
'Hustle & Flow' came out, and I was really rooting for 'Hustle & Flow' because, you know, it was a hip-hop movie, and it was a good movie. It was well acted.
My delivery can be intense, but it's intense because I need to be heard. I know that people don't usually listen, as it relates to constructive criticism, without getting offended. So, I speak my mind with an attitude that I don't care if you get offended; I just want you to get the message.
Just cause you don't agree with a man, 'cause you're black, don't mean you gotta fight, argue. You just have a different perspective.
I enjoy business, being an entrepreneur on every level. I really enjoy it.
When I had daughters, I realized that I wouldn't never do anything to a girl that I wouldn't want done to my own daughter.
Everyone I put in business, I must've taught them something. They all have reaped the benefits of it. A lot of them haven't done right by me, but it's all gravy.
It's funny: when the press knows someone's gonna say something stupid, they're quick to pass them a mic and put a camera on them, and everybody talk about it.
There's certain lines you just don't cross. You know the one thing that will get a man out of pocket is when you mess with his children.
I'm never gonna owe money because every time I get a dollar, I put it into another business, whether it's to buy goods or develop other companies. You don't have money; you have companies. That's one business model. That's mine. And I only associate with other people that are putting up their own money, 'cause they're the only ones that can relate.
I fire lawyers frequently.
No one's taken anything from me.
I monetized my life so I never do anything that I don't like or that I'm not participating in 100 percent.
People have to listen to somebody speak, that the person that you're listening to is saying the right stuff, and that's all that really counts.
I'm not a mogul; I'm a tycoon.
It's important to be enlightened.
What I've been noticing with the milennials is that they'll pay for quality.
Number one, I am a true movie maker. And, you know, I am very much - I don't want to say infatuated, but I'm impressed with the art of making a movie and invoking emotion. You know, when I started making movies, I thought it was easy, and then when I got into it, I was like, 'This is not easy at all.'
