Marc Bolan had inspired so many people to pick up a guitar and join a band.
Most of the time, it's pretending I'm somebody else to get into a different head space. A lot of times, it's just, 'Who do I want to be onstage tonight? Is it going to be Marc Bolan, or is it going to be Grace Jones, or Roy Orbison?'
It was like treading water all through the '60s, and when 1970 kicked in, I thought "We're here. Right." God, this is exciting. I'm going to go for it now. I really felt it was my time. Then Marc Bolan did it first. That really pissed me off.
You want to embrace what the idea of pop music is. Not necessarily the stereotype of pop music; there was a time when you'd say 'pop music' and conjure up images of the Sweet, or Marc Bolan. That, to me, can be avant-garde still.
Marc Lore has been a mentor of mine for a long time. He taught me how to hire people and how to do the hardest thing in business, which is to make a great culture. I believe Marc is the most innovative and ambitious e-commerce entrepreneur on the planet.
I grew up in a mixed-race family in Bristol. My cousin was this white guy who was interested in Parliament, Marc Bolan, Bowie. His friends were football thugs and while I was getting ready for bed, they'd be listening to all that music. When I was older, I'd go to a Jamaican sound system and there were no white people.
I interned with Marc Jacobs in college, then worked at J. Crew. I learned a lot about how to fit clothes and what kinds of things sell and why.
I learned how to stop crying. I learned how to hide inside of myself. I learned how to be somebody else. I learned how to be cold and numb.
Contrary to popular belief and hope, people don't usually come running when they hear a scream. That's not how humans work. Humans look at other humans and say, 'Did you hear a scream?' because the first scream might have been you screaming inside your head, or a horse backfiring.
I carry Marc Jacobs Magic Marc'er eyeliner and Christian Dior red lipstick to amp up my look in a flash.
I'm not the fastest, not the most athletic, but I learned how to play the right way. I learned how to be a professional. I learned how to win and how to be a team-first guy.
I did know that I could do scream very well. When I was in high school, I got a very strange job one Halloween filming screams for a radio station. I would just go into a soundstage and scream and scream and scream, and everybody would put on ear plugs, so I had an inkling.
Marc by Marc Jacobs was my favorite. The stage was so big, and there were so many people there. I had very bad vision during the show because I forgot to put in my contacts, but I didn't fall or anything.
I learned how to be a pro, I learned how to win, I learned about building relationships with your teammates; it goes beyond basketball. I pretty much learned everything I know from OKC.
I learned how important physical conditioning is. I learned how to focus on an objective in spite of all kinds of hazards. I learned how to deal with stress, too.
I learned at an early age how to traverse the white world, the white-dominant world. I learned, and I was successful at it. I learned the nuances - I learned how to act, how to be - but I always was conscious and aware of my blackness.