Damon Dash

Lee Daniels, even though he owes me $2 million, I picked that. I put him in business.

I might have companies, I might have buildings, I might have art. But money? No, I'm not holding that.

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 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.

If you give a bipolar man a mic, I don't know what you expect.

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.

I was in 'Fiesta,' but only because Aaliyah said she wanted me to do it that way.

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 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'm gonna direct, like, a real movie. At least an hour and some change.

I got cribs all over the place and offices all over the place, and sometimes I lose track of my stuff.

Those people are corny. You think I'm rolling to a club with Lyor Cohen or John Meneilly?

No one's taken anything from me.

I'm not one to be paying too much attention to what another dude's doing.

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 monetized my life so I never do anything that I don't like or that I'm not participating in 100 percent.

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 have been diabetic since I was young.

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 think Jay-Z is probably my best student, and I can say that he listens, and that's what always made him special.