Nick Cannon: Behind The Steel Curtain (Q&A)

Behind The Steel Curtain

VIBE kicks off Comedy Week with the multitasking funnyman Nick Cannon, who shares how he balances business deals, music, television, comedy and a (very) active sex life with his better half Mariah

Words: Gregory Johnson

After two critically-acclaimed Showtime comedy specials, Mr. Showbiz (2011) and last November’s F#ck Nick Cannon, it’s clear that Nick Cannon can both make jokes and take a few as well; but take a close look at his work ethic, ambition and longevity, his climb from a tough, gang-infested neighborhood into the spotlight of mainstream success, his legendary courting of and marriage to global superstar Mariah Carey and his ever expanding business empire–the man is definitely no laughing matter.

Still, Nick strives to keep close to his working-class roots and stay San Diego classy even as he navigates Hollywood hype. He has his mentors—everyone from Viacom President and CEO Phillipe Dauman, who he breaks bread with monthly, to hall-of-famer emcees like Slick Rick, with whom he might roll to a comedy show just to scout talent and keep up with his comedic competition. (“Talking about how much jewelry and diamonds I’ve got, or how many girls, or doing fun storytelling stuff, that’s always been my vibe,” says Nick of Rick, his favorite rapper.)

A family-friendly actor and comedian, a family man, a former miscreant who decided to stop dodging police and gang violence and focus on conquering the world, a wildly successful businessman—it’s not easy to pigeonhole Nick Cannon, and he’d like to keep it that way.

VIBE: You’ve got Wild ‘N Out and The TeenNick HALO Awards, the Incredible Crew situation with Cartoon Network, America’s Got Talent with NBC, and you’re relaunching Soul Train with them as well as Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with Style Network. You’re doing your business like Wu-Tang, all over the place!
Nick Cannon: Just being someone who watched how people get themselves tied up for a small check, I was like “I’ve got money, so unless you can afford my exclusivity, I’m gonna work with everyone.” I’d rather be free and not take a check, or take a smaller fee and operate on many different levels. Im not out there searching for a check. I’m trying to be one that can provide checks.

I always give myself an out. If you have that much demand, you can walk in those rooms and negotiate from a place of power. As long as you’re savvy, dedicating the amount of time and effort you need to provide, it doesn’t have to be a competition. I cross a lot of different demographics. If I’m doing children’s entertainment as opposed to more urban content….it’s beneficial all the way around, they can feed from all those different audiences.

So one of your first opportunities was as a Soul Train dancer?
The first time I was ever on nationwide television, I was dancing on Soul Train at 15, 16 years old. I used to drive up from San Diego, just trying to get into the game, so I’d be standing outside of Paramount Studios, trying to get chosen. You’re supposed to be 21 in the first place, but you know I hustled my way in. I had the first opportunity to meet Don Cornelius. Over the years as I became more successful, I performed on Soul Train, hosted the Soul Train Awards, licensed some footage and the brand for projects, and created a relationship. At one point [Cornelius] asked me if I wanted to host the show and bring it back. At the time I was in the middle of a film, and the timing just wasn’t right. To be able to fulfill that request, it’s full circle. I get the opportunity to make him proud.

You’re a recording artist who has his own roster of recording artists. Does having been on both sides help you develop their careers?
It’s interesting; I helped Nickelodeon start Nick Records; we took it to Jive [Records]. As the only artist on their record label, that gave me a way to see it as an artist and an executive. From there, having been in all the major systems—really I’m an independent label, but a full-fledged label. I have so much access to marketing tools. I’ve had executive jobs at Def Jam, I’ve learned from Doug Morris, L.A. Reid, Jimmy Iovine. Where the music game is now, there’s this 360 mentality where the labels are signing everybody up, taking all of their money, but not giving them a 360 opportunity. You come to Ncredible, you get to be involved with music, film and television, consumer products, touring, and then we’re not gonna stick you up like a major label would.

Lots of folks start T-shirt lines or liquor brands, but you’ve got different consumer products going—the NCredible headphones and tablets, the necktie line with Macy’s…
Just to produce consumer products is a dream come true. Physical, actual product, I handle it the same way that I produce content. It started off with investing my money in a couple of clothing lines, then I had a store on Melrose [Avenue in Los Angeles]. got involved with retailers [and saw] how lucrative it can be. Since 2011, we’ve sold over $45 million of headphones and the NCredible brand has moved on to tablets, next thing is mobile and our own network in a user-generated format. It all gets back, full-circle, to the content.

Why neckties and why Macy’s?
I guess I’m known as a connoisseur of fashion—my ties, my socks, my shoes. They were like “you should do a clothing line.” I’ve owned clothing lines. I knew it was something I didn’t want to just jump in to, I gotta start in one place and let it organically grow. A lot of people don’t know that Ralph Lauren started in neckties, and from there he built his business. When people see me host on America’s Got Talent dressed fly, they may not be able to get the $5,000 suit but they can definitely cop the $50 tie. Eventually it will be other items and suiting, but I don’t wanna be perceived as a celebrity clothing line. I want this to be a quality brand that’s been around a long time and actually stands for something, like a Ralph Lauren or Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger.

Coming from a tough neighborhood like Southeast San Diego, you could have modeled yourself after edgier guys like Eddie Murphy or Robin Harris. But you initially came out polished and family-friendly…

Coming from a tough neighborhood like Southeast San Diego, you could have modeled yourself after edgier guys like Eddie Murphy or Robin Harris. But you initially came out polished and family-friendly…
The first opportunity, because I was 15, 16 years old, [was] the Nickelodeon opportunity. This was a way out, a job. A lot of people want to portray something that they’re not; it was kind of the opposite for me. I tried to downplay my neighborhood activity and affiliation. I had been arrested, a bunch of stuff. I was worried that Nickelodeon would find out and I would get fired, or even worse, that the police would find out.

I couldn’t even go back to my old neighborhood for a while—there was still drama that hadn’t really passed over, areas I couldn’t go through. People talk about “oh, he’s corny” but people I came up with, who wasn’t so corny, they not here no more—my best friend, my family members serving life in prison, doing the same shit I was doing. I think I made the right decision, like “I embrace that corniness if its gonna keep me out of trouble.” I was on some Keyser Soze stuff. People who knew me before all this are like, “You had the best scheme ever!”

With your “F#ck Nick Cannon” video single and Showtime comedy special of the same name, you’re evolving from family-friendly to more edgy, right?
I’m always gonna be me, I’m never gonna give you anything fake. There’s different sides to everybody. People might only know the Nickelodeon dude, but I’ve been making them moves from the beginning. I’m a man in my 30s, and if I curse or talk about sex, that’s stuff regular people do. When the cameras aren’t on, I’ve always been that dude to speak my mind whether on my radio show or in most of the independent films I’ve done. [“F#ck Nick Cannon”] was a toast to the haters. I hear what y’all saying and I’mma embrace it. Now when anyone says “F#ck Nick Cannon,” they’re promoting my album.

You’re stunting with Lamborghinis and actual diamond shoes in the video, but you’re also self-deprecating at the same time, it seems.
That’s where my humor comes from. Whether me and Kevin Hart on Real Husbands of Hollywood or in my stand-up acts, regurgitating what people say, Mariah jokes, Nickelodeon… I created Wild ‘N Out just to show people that when you make fun of yourself, thats some of the best humor ever. I’ve built an industry on that.

You’ve also admitted that your level of fame, versus your wife’s level of fame, is a whole different category…
Aw yeah, nah, thats a whole ‘nother ballgame. People see her and start crying. I call her the most famous woman in the world. We’ll go to places you wouldn’t think people have televisions or radios, and they know who she is, her whole catalog, songs she wrote that changed their lives. That’s a Michael Jackson level of fame. I don’t even know if I want that kind of fame.

People identify Mariah so much with the holidays…what did you get her last Christmas?
I tried to do something sentimental. I tried to do like in my newest video, “Dance Floor”; I surprised her with photoshopped photos of us as kids, as if we would have known each other [then]. It got to a point, before this past Christmas, where we were just buying each other cars. She don’t drive, so she has all these brand-new cars that have like, two miles on ‘em—big Porsches, Mercedes, Phantoms. Even her jewelry game, she got jewelry that she bought herself, Elizabeth Taylor jewelry, where one ring is what a company’s worth.

There are exemplary celebrity artist couples—the Jays and Beyoncés, Will and Jadas, even Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. You and Mariah are particularly known for having an elite work ethic. What advice would you give aspiring power couples about juggling work and family?
When we’re in the house, I try and focus on family, but you gotta deal with business. I know I gotta get on this plane and make sure I’m on the other side of the country for breakfast. Our common ground is, once we’re in the house, it’s all about family.

You joked on your new Showtime special, F#ck Nick Cannon, that women are freakier than men, and you and Mariah talk about getting in as much sex as possible to keep the marriage poppin’—
You joked on your new Showtime special, F#ck Nick Cannon, that women are freakier than men, and you and Mariah talk about getting in as much sex as possible to keep the marriage poppin’—
Absolutely! [laughs] Older women, their sex drive be on point! Where we’re at in our lives, it’s about embracing each other and spending that quality time. Before I was married, I was in these streets heavy when it came to females. I’ve always loved women, always was a hopeless romantic. My wife had been married since she was a kid, and never had the opportunity to be herself. So it matched perfectly. Grown women know what they want, little girls are still trying to figure it out. I honestly don’t have time for games because we are so busy. We’ve got a great family, we embrace each other, we’re in love with each other more than ever. You’ve got to work to make sure your relationship stays fun and fresh.

Mariah Carey has had some high-profile exes, but you have some very visible exes also! You might find yourself sitting next to Selita Ebanks at a show…
That was crazy right?!

…or running into Christina Milian, or Kim Kardashian, or Meagan Good. Is jealousy ever an issue?
The entertainment industry is like high school. In 9th grade you might be in love with somebody and by the time you get to 12th grade, she’s in love with your best friend. It’s like a small town mentality, and if you focus on who dated who, you’ll drive yourself crazy. I always wanted a wife who I could be open and honest with, who would embrace me for me and I embrace them for them, someone who either knew me before I was famous, or someone more famous than me. My wife can have anybody she wants. She has more money than me, is way more famous than me—she must really love me for me.

Do you bring the kids and Mariah to the hood, is it cool now?
Yeah! I took Mariah to the church I grew up in, in the heart of Southeast San Diego. I showed her the projects where I grew up. I just recently moved my grandparents out of there, but I used to pull the Phantom right up across the street from 45 park, dead center of the hood. I’mma always have a footprint in southeast San Diego. I have a couple artists from the area, we about to build a community center in southeast too. My dad is instrumental in the community, with the council[people] and ministers; Dad was a gang member who became a preacher. My mom ended up marrying [my stepfather], who was really heavy in the streets, got shot seven times right outside our house. Living both those lives was crazy. I’m comfortable in any environment because Ive seen the worst, Ive seen the best.

How did you land the Chairperson of Teen Nick opportunity? Did they approach you after your body of work for Nickelodeon? Did you court them?
I always say I speak things into existence. I remember being 17 years old, [saying] “one day I wanna run this company.” My first jobs on Nickelodeon, I started as a stand-up, warm-up dude. From there, they moved me to writing for shows like Keenan and Kel and The Amanda Show. I got the opportunity to do behind the scenes before I got in front of the camera. By the time I was 19, I was the creator and producer of my own shows. Nickelodeon was my best training ground, my college even, because I was able to learn every facet of entertainment. At 28, I went into the building at Viacom, like “Yo, I’ve been here all my life. Nobody else understands this brand better than me.” I went in with my Powerpoint presentation, speaking to the executives in charge like, “I should be able to have my own network.” They gave me the opportunity, which is kind of crazy, but I was like “I’m gonna dedicate myself to this situation.”

People have called you the next Bill Cosby, the new Will Smith, the black Ryan Seacrest. What’s your ultimate ambition—to be a major CEO like Robert Johnson or Sumner Redstone?
I do wanna go there, man. I sit down every month with Phillipe Dauman, who runs Viacom, or having talked to Warren Buffett, sitting with people who have generated billions of dollars… I wanna be in those conversations. It’s really about affecting culture, like that famous Tupac quote: “I may not change the world, but I guarantee you, I’ll spark the mind that changes the world.” From philanthropic efforts to entertainment to consumer products, thats how Im trying to move.

You’ve said many times that, of all the different ventures, stand-up comedy is the one that is still closest to your heart, that means the most to you. Is that still true?
Absolutely. Its how I started and even to this day its the most open and therapeutic form of entertainment in my life. I’ll just jump up onstage and go in off the top for about 15-20 minutes just to stay fresh. It’s like a sport, you just gotta stay in the gym, especially if you’ve got a big game coming up. To be able to just get onstage with a microphone—nothing else, no music, no actors, just be able to present myself at my most vulnerable and rawest form… it don’t get no better than that.
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