I know you used to live near D’Angelo. Do you think his album will ever come out?

I’d like to think so. I haven’t talked to him personally in a while, but the last time I called him, he had a long outgoing message on his machine. It was like a Malcolm X speech. And the last part was so intense. He was like, "The price of freedom is death!" Beeeep! I didn’t even leave that dude a message. I just hung up the phone. Like, just listening to D’Angelo’s answering machine puts you on the no-fly list, it’s so militant. When a guy goes away like that, they might not come back for any number of reasons. Yesterday I was watching this YouTube video, and it’s William F. Buckley interviewing Muhammad Ali when Ali was banned from boxing. And one of the guys on the panel asks Ali, "Do you miss being the heavyweight champion of the world?" Ali is like, "What makes you think I’m not still the champ? I’m still the champ." The guy replied, "Wait, no, no, no—that’s not what I mean. Do you miss boxing and blah blah blah?" And Ali is like, "Nah, I don’t miss boxing. As a matter of fact, I could call my sparring partner today. I could box all afternoon. I miss boxing for money." In other words, in his mind, just because he wasn’t in the public eye, his title was no less legitimate. And his capabilities were no less legitimate. He looked at it like, "I’m just being separated from my livelihood, not what I love." So I look at a guy like D’Angelo and I’m like, I’m sure he’s still making music. It’s just a matter of whether or not he wants to share that with us or not.

Do you look at a guy like Dave Chappelle like that?

I know for a fact I’m like that. I mean, I’ve been out here doing comedy the whole time. But if certain people don’t see you, it’s not that you don’t exist, it’s just that they haven’t seen you. Sometimes I’ll do shit and I’ll be like, "Oh, that’s so great." And I’ll think, "I would love to share this." And then I can talk myself out of it for any number of reasons.

What’s the main reason you talk yourself out of it?

Mostly it has to do with just disrupting what my life is now. I have a very good life, a high quality of life. I have both money and time. No one has that. My kids are older now, so when I make decisions within the public eye, it affects more than just me. This year I’ve been way more generous with my time, as far as what I’m willing to share. And it’s been great. People have been very supportive. They’ve always been supportive. But it was good to reaffirm that I actually did have a rapport with the audience and people are still interested. Like when my agent tells me I sold out shows in Lincoln, Nebraska, I don’t take that for granted.

What is it that made you not talk yourself out of it this year? Why do ten shows at Radio City?

That’s a good question. I have a show-business bucket list. There’s just certain things that every entertainer always dreamed of doing. When I was 19, I used to walk up Sixth Avenue and look at the marquee of Radio City. I’d see the lines outside. I’d be like, "Man, I just want to... Radio City!" So then, last year, when I started going on the road, it was just because I wanted to be on the road, at first. There’s something cathartic about touring—it feels good to just engage people that way. But then, as it was progressing, I was like, "Well, this should all go somewhere. Where am I going with this?" It just so happened the venue was open during the same time frame I was willing to play. The venue opened up for an astounding ten days. And I said, "Well, can we do all ten? You know, can I even do that business? I haven’t played New York in so long." I didn’t want to pass up on the opportunity.