“You got to be who you are when you are.”

In the black culture, certain kids are given nicknames that they roll with forever; the nicknames outweigh their real names. I’m one of those scenarios.

My younger son, Cordell, aka Lil Snoop, loves me like a fan loves Snoop Dogg. He’s inspired by making me happy. My older son, Corde, aka Spank, does everything I say, with effort and determination – but he does it for himself. He gets his thrill out of seeing his own results on the football field.

Everybody wants to be a winner. Winning for you is everything, right? Wrong, winning is the only thing!

The more information you have, the better you will be.

Sometimes a loss is the best thing that can happen. It teaches you what you should have done next time.

The message is always going to get through. Me being able to speak is a message in itself.

My mind on my money, my money on my mind.

There’ll be ups and downs, smiles and frowns.

My mama couldn’t give me what I wanted. I had all right clothes, but the people I was with had better clothes. I felt that I had to have better clothes.

Sometimes, if you’re lucky, someone comes into your life who’ll take up a place in your heart that no one else can fill, someone who’s tighter than a twin, more with you than your own shadow, who gets deeper under your skin than your own blood and bones.

I’m taking my skills to different people’s homes that have stoves for it.

Anytime you’re with somebody, you become a reflection of that person. I believe the first five years of our relationship was me grooming her, getting her tough and getting her ready for all of this and how to deal with it. The last was just her being a strong Black woman who has her man’s back.

I’m here to impress only one man. He don’t live here with us. He’s on top. So that’s all I’m concerned about. My work is not for the public or for man to view or make judgment on me, I work for one person.

You don’t know where you goin unless you know where you come from.

Like Ice Cube asks, “Why are more niggers in the pen than in college?” It’s easier to go to the pen than it is to go to college.

That’s why I’m so successful because peace is my main thing, it’s not about money. It’s about making sure everybody is having a good time and loving and living and enjoying life.

You need to know who you want to be.

Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.

Our identity rests in God’s relentless tenderness for us revealed in Jesus Christ.

Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.

But when we came out of camp, that’s when I first realized that being in camp, that being Japanese-American, was something shameful.

I’m proud of my Native American heritage.

Being Native American has been part of my story I guess since the day I was born.

I’ll never forget where I’m from, never forget my roots. It doesn’t matter where I live. I’m English, simple as that.