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As far as rap goes, I grew up in Hollis, Queens, so early influences were people like Run DMC and LL Cool J.

I've been a hip hop head forever. So when it turned out that we were gonna start getting celebrity guests for every show, I wanted rap guys from the get-go.

I grew up listening to a lot of Snoop Dogg and the Wu-Tang Clan. Actually, I was a huge Wu-Tang fan.

Over the years, a lot of rappers - Lil' Wayne, Ice Cube - have used my name in their songs. I'm a real touchstone of history.

I was a hop-around. I hung out with the rockabilly crew, the guys who were trying to be rappers, the funny kids.

I'm a huge hip-hop fan from way back in the day.

I always wanted to be one of the hottest rappers.

The rappers have gone in and created a lot of hit music based upon my influence. And they'll tell you if you ask.

They use all of the music that I did in the '50s, '60s and the '70s behind people like Tupac and LL Cool J. I'm into all that stuff.

When I first got into the rap game, I had an early dream of unifying rappers.