Published: Monday - May 15, 2006
Words by Melanie J. Cornish
Nick Cannon (Photo: Universal)
Ballerstatus caught up with "Mr. MTV," while taking a break from shooting to eat some chicken wings. Life for Nick Cannon looks like a constant party when you see him in his new video, "Dime Piece," and when you catch him on his own show "Wild 'N Out" on MTV. No doubt about it, the 25-year-old San Diego native likes to have a good time, but when you have achieved the success he has and have worked as hard as he has, why not enjoy life and what it has to offer?
Don't get it twisted. Just because we see him loving life, doesn't mean the work ethic isn't present. Nick Cannon works damn hard and ensures that he surrounds himself with creative minds and people who are able to move with him at his pace crucial to his entrepreneurial spirit. With his own record label, Can I Ball, being welcomed with open arms under the Motown/Universal umbrella, the teen idol likes the thought of being behind a desk "making dreams happen" rather than in the booth or behind the camera.
Still keeping the "boy next door" persona intact, Nick Cannon gives it up to Ballerstatus about surrounding himself with greatness, how his family keep him in his place and still humor prevailed as he shared a little joke with us about the "T-Mobile Mafia."
BallerStatus.com: What's going on with the album?
Nick Cannon: It drops June 20th. It's on my own label, Can I Ball Records/Motown/Universal, so I am excited about that, as I got to do my own thing. I helped do a lot of the marketing and stuff. And creatively, I didn't have to have an A&R, so it was a cool experience for me.
BallerStatus.com: How big an influence was Kanye in helping you sculpt this album? Is he executive producer?
Nick Cannon: He is like the ghost executive producer. He helped me a lot, even getting started. I mean he helped a lot with the "My Wife" record, but just the tone for the record, he helped a lot with that. He would tell me how people want to hear you. They don't want to hear the "Gigalo" stuff, which is cool and everything, but people want to hear what your life is about and the things that you go through and everything. He pretty much inspired me and I was taking all the tracks after I had worked on them to him and asking him what he thought I should do with the tracks. He would say, "Slow it down" or "Speed it up" or "I would do this," so he definitely looked out and gave me a lot of good advice...good FREE advice [laughing].
BallerStatus.com: Were you and Kanye friends before?
Nick Cannon: We always been friends. I knew him when he was slinging beats over the 2-way. We been good friends for a long time...hanging out, you know, creative minds politicking together.
BallerStatus.com: You are excelling in all your fields. Just talking about Kanye West and I know you have a management deal going with Blue Williams, do you make a point of surrounding yourself with successful people to encourage your career?
Nick Cannon: Yeah, I mean it is always good to surround yourself around strong creative people because you bounce ideas off each other and you want to be around the type of people that you strive to be. So, I surround myself with greatness if I am trying to achieve greatness.
BallerStatus.com: How do you balance everything, with so much going on?
Nick Cannon: No sleep, I just take naps, that's my motto.
BallerStatus.com: Behind you though, to do what you do, your team has got to be on point.
Nick Cannon: Yeah, I have a strong team behind me, but the management is everything. Having people that believe in your vision, that is a beautiful thing. Like with Motown/Universal, having Sylvia Rhone and Tone from the Trackmasters and having that great support system and even having MTV behind me for "Wild 'N Out" and all the different directors with the films, that's all support systems. Then, having the key people in place -- like you said, the Blue Williams -- that really step up and help you out.
BallerStatus.com: You have been on the scene since '93...
Nick Cannon: Yeah, I mean, I have been doing stand up comedy for a long time. But, the first thing I probably did was '97.
BallerStatus.com: You see a lot of these teen stars from back in the day fall off due to external factors -- drugs, alcohol, unable to handle the fame and what comes a long with it. How have you kept yourself on the right track?
Nick Cannon: Man, my family keeps me grounded. My grandmother is like my personal support system. When she doesn't approve of something that she can't show the ladies at church, then I stay away from it. I mean, I was pretty much grown by the time that I actually had money. I lived a regular childhood and went to school like a regular kid, and I think that a lot of that stuff...when kids miss out on their childhood, they become the breadwinner and no one can tell them what to do, that is when things start going wrong. But, my parents never had to pop me upside my head.
BallerStatus.com: Do you like to party?
Nick Cannon: Man, I love to party and I party hard where ever I am at. I like to roll with a lot of women, you know that's the best way.
BallerStatus.com: So, you're video "Dime Piece"...does that depict your lifestyle then?
Nick Cannon: Well, I am always looking for the hottest girl in the club, so absolutely.
BallerStatus.com: Can we expect you to respond to Ms. Milian's diss track?
Nick Cannon: Nah. I mean, I like her music. I think all her records are hot and to me, it is like entertainment. She is giving the people what they want to hear and we are out here trying to see records and whatever makes a good story. You are out here doing your job. We all just doing our job and I understand what it is.
BallerStatus.com: Are y'all still cool?
Nick Cannon: I mean, I am cool with her. I don't know how she feels about me.
BallerStatus.com: Anything to say to T-Mobile?
Nick Cannon: [Laughing] The T-Mobile Mafia? Yeah, they need to get a better security system. [They] breaking into a guy's whole life. I switched over to Boost Mobile now. They got a better security system.
BallerStatus.com: You are very grounded, humble even, how do you maintain that with all the success you have achieved?
Nick Cannon: Well to me, it is just a career. It is not my life. This is what I do 9 to 5. I am still the same cat and the only thing that is different is my jewelry costs a bit more. I still visit my grandmother and sleep on the same bed and take out the trash. I haven't really changed and I think if you look at it that way, you enjoy it more and you can appreciate it for what it is, instead of starting to believe your own hype and all that. To me, that stuff is silly. This is what I do for a living. I have been given a chance to live out my dreams, which is pretty cool.
BallerStatus.com: If you had to choose only one role: actor, artist or business executive. Which one of those roles would you go for?
Nick Cannon: If I had to choose and I really don't want to, I would go for the business man.
BallerStatus.com: Will Can I Ball, your record label, take priority over everything else?
Nick Cannon: Well, I am just trying to launch a few careers, the same way with "Wild 'N Out," where people have been able to create and shine with their own careers. I want to do the same with the music.
BallerStatus.com: So what's on your roster then?
Nick Cannon: First, I got this young kid Izzy, who is an 18-year-old rapper from Washington DC. I think he has the ability to be the next big superstar. He is what I am going to come with first and then after that, we are going to just roll with the punches and deal with the other artists.
BallerStatus.com: What do you think makes a star?
Nick Cannon: Probably the drive, like someone who is willing to work night and day to accomplish their dream. That is what makes a star...you know, you do whatever it takes. A lot of people think that it is supposed to come easy, but to become a star, you have to work hard, and then you have to have that personality that kind of lights up a room.
BallerStatus.com: "Wild 'N Out" is rated the number one watched cable show on TV and it is all your vision. Did you expect it to hit the heights that it has?
Nick Cannon: I just did it to have fun and I never imagined it would turn out to be this big huge hit, so that is kind of cool. I did it just to have fun with my friends.
BallerStatus.com: You have some boxing venture coming up, can you tell us about that?
Nick Cannon: That's a film that I wrote and it will be a year and some change before we get into that. I watched "World Train" through Ali and was watching how he got into it.
BallerStatus.com: You have six movies coming out this year that you star in, so your work ethic is pretty serious?
Nick Cannon: Yeah, I have "Bobby" with Anthony Hopkins, "Monster House"...
BallerStatus.com: How was it working with Anthony Hopkins?
Nick Cannon: It was cool. Man, that was amazing. That's Sir Anthony right there and to be on set with someone like that is crazy. We have a film coming out called "Goal" that I did with David Beckham and then there is an animated film that is coming out in July called "The Adventures of Briar Rabbit." I have been blessed to really have been working.
BallerStatus.com: Anyone out there you still aspire to work with?
Nick Cannon: Halle Berry. I would clean her house, whatever it takes [laughing].
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