Happy. That’s my motto in life. If you’re not happy, don’t do it. To be honest, there are a lot of people out there with talent but there’s a lot of hard work that goes into it.

Ever since I was a little boy, anything I saw on TV that was kind of flashy—that’s what I wanted to be. All I knew was that I wasn’t going to be a pen pusher. I was never really academically clever in school—I had a short attention span. And I knew I was going to be something like this, but I didn’t know what.

Having a little girl. She’s my biggest achievement.

I like people who are polite. It’s not that hard to be nice. I can’t stand ignorant people, who look you up and down before they reply. There are lots of celebrities like that, but I’m not going to mention names.

Will Smith. He’s achieved so much. He’s gone from Fresh Prince to superstardom, man. I look at him as an inspiration to me. He’s in a country where there are a lot of opportunities, especially for black people. Over in areas such as Europe … it’s the truth but they don’t like to talk about it.

My cause is to help people. I didn’t get here by myself—I had a lot of help. That’s what life is about—some are going to be rich, some are going to be poor. Luckily for me, I’m rich. But I come from a poor background, so I appreciate what I’ve got and I’m forever giving it away too. I invest in kids from the streets.

I’ve just finished Angels & Demons. I’ve only read two books, and they’re both by Dan Brown. They’re different. Both books have the same character, but it took ages for me to get into Angels & Demons. I liked the whole concept of angels and demons and antimatter. But then Da Vinci Code was exciting from start to finish, so I’ll probably go with Da Vinci Code.

My favorite items are my tracksuits. They’re easy at the airport because they don’t beep.

I used to believe I’d be a professional footballer. I wonder if I could see a physiotherapist or a doctor, and he could fix my injury, then I could play again. But I wouldn’t give all this up. Because people have said that my music changes their lives. And that’s a kind of power football will never have.