Russell Simmons
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Your daughters are very young and already on a reality TV show. How do you manage that?
My kids are on a reality show every week. I haven't seen every show that Kimora [his former wife] has shot, but whenever I see them she has them acting like little princesses. That's their job. They know that the job of the show is to know that the world is watching. That's all right to think the world is watching because God is always watching. Always try to keep your higher self. Your character promotes your own reality. I tell my kids to practice love. With the cameras watching you're forced to practice love. So you never know what makes the kids grow up the right way. Joey's [Russell's brother and Rev. Run of Run DMC] kids have become great givers because of the reality show. The youngest one has gotten better in school because of the show, because their job is to be better — not better than anyone else but better than they were before. My kids don't act up too bad. Their mother is a disciplinarian and she's a good mother. When I'm with them, they're pretty resilient in their goodness. When I take them to a yoga class, Ming Lee, she's eight, and she knows to keep a smile and breathe. She knows to try to do the best she can and I try to do the best I can with spiritual ideas. They've been to mosques, synagogues and churches, I just try to keep them smiling, keep them knowing that their job is service.
What in your book is new and fresh?
[Laughs ] Nothing! The book was written in a language that I think people could digest. Did Muhammad say something that Jesus didn't say or that Abraham didn't say before him? I'm not suggesting I'm one of those people, but [it's about] obvious truths. You already have everything you need. I always say that all the prophets said the same exact thing but they said them in different languages, at different times, they were different colors — same s---, though, same thing.
Why did you endorse Barack Obama?
I'm concerned about a President who really believes in conflict resolution and will go to additional lengths. Promotion of peace is expensive, less expensive than war, but it costs money to empower people. When you empower people you promote peace. Conflict resolution is important. The environment is very, very important so we need to stop the corporate control of our foreign and domestic policy. Fighting poverty is another major issue; when we resist special interests we get better at it, but why can't we fight poverty in America and around the world? It all goes back to conflict resolution. It all goes back to paying attention to the environment. These small things are all consciousness things. Young people are more open-minded and less fearful. Fear is the basis of all these shortcomings in human behavior. So that's the one thing that we're trying to fight off. Young people are more open minded and fearless and will listen and they want change. He's the one that puts faith in politics, no matter how religious any other candidate could be. He's the one that puts hope, young people's aspirations; they use imagination and vision differently from adults, who are kind of stagnant when it comes to that subject. So, that's what Obama is, he's that candidate for them.
Had you initially supported Hillary Clinton?
No. I worked with Senator Clinton on prison reform, on poverty initiatives, on education. She helped me get a couple hundred million dollars put back in the education budget. She did what any good senator with a big name would do — we called her, she showed up. She cut the commercials, she's good, she's a good senator. She could've been a good vice president — still could. President Bill Clinton would be great to run a poverty initiative. If he would focus on fighting poverty worldwide and in America, he'd be good. They could be great. But I'm a little disturbed about the battle [Clinton and Obama] are having, I don't know how much it's really going to affect November. All the stuff she's coming up with and with the things that are coming out about Senator Obama — each one has shown that he has strong character. Not throwing his preacher under the bus and instead giving America insight to race in a way that they have not really "got it" from any politician certainly. That was good. That makes him stronger.
When was the first time you voted? In a general election or otherwise?
I think it was '92 with [Bill] Clinton. [Laughs] I was about 70 when I voted for the first time, but I've been voting every election since. But I wasn't a big voter. I was into my charity work, I run all these charities and I'm on the board of a ton of other charities, but I didn't start that until later.
What is hip-hop's greatest strength and greatest weakness?
It's greatest strength is its ability to inspire young people. Its greatest weakness is the fact that people don't understand their voices. They have powerful voices but many who could be inspired don't understand their voices. The poets have always been misunderstood. They say things about struggle and poverty and people think its somehow attacking them. They make calls for help and people kind of miss that.