I was a huge Wu-Tang fan, along with Crucial Conflict, along with Do or Die along with Mobb Deep.
I'm a hip-hop head, but hip-hop actually introduced me to other genres of music because I started to wonder where a lot of these samples came from. So I fell in love with Bobby Womack or Willie Hutch because I wanted to know where those samples came from.
When I started comedy, I was a big Eddie Murphy fan. I thought if you did stand-up, you were supposed to know how to act, write, and host. I thought it was all one thing. That's why it doesn't feel like I'm transitioning to acting: because in my stand-up, I do characters all the time.
I want to do more films - not just comedies, because I really want to show my range.
I thought I would hate New York, but I love New York. I almost hate to say that being from Chicago.
I'm all for making a woman-empowering song. I get that, and I think that's dope. I've got a daughter, and I think that's amazing. But when you're specifically picking on guys, that's when it's not right. 'No Scrubs' is the meanest, dumbest song ever made because they need to be specific in certain areas.
Chicago made me. They can treat me however they want to treat me anywhere else in the country. When I go back home, they treat me like I'm a star.
I think when we grow up watching TV, the stars seem like stars. You don't know what they went through. You don't know how they got it. It almost seems unattainable. With social media, we are able to show people if you work hard, that you can literally do the same thing.
My kids are really dope. I was just at home in Chicago, and my daughter Brittany was interviewing me. It was like I was on 'Oprah.'
I think Eddie Murphy is the greatest comedian. I do think that Richard Pryor is the Godfather, but Eddie Murphy, in my opinion, has every comedic category in his arsenal. He can roast you. He can freestyle. He can host. He was LeBron James before we even saw LeBron James.
My comedy grows as I grow as a person.
I'm a student of Comedy Central. It launched careers: Wanda Sykes and even Kevin Hart. The first time I was introduced to him, he was on Comedy Central. It puts you on the map... Hollywood knows now.
Not saying that we are realer than most people, but because Chi is so segregated, first of all, we have to be diverse comedians and be able to make a lot of different people laugh. And Chicago comics, we're OK with who we are in our truth. That stems from Bernie Mac and a lot of other greats who came before me.
What has kept me focused were my kids. My biggest focus is just making sure I'm good to my babies.
