Look, not embracing the 'Today' show is soooo yesterday.
If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years ago, either the field is dead or you are.
You're always - you're constantly learning things if you're the type of person who stays open and current.
Read, listen to and watch everything you can. Explore the corners of popular culture and the arts. And, of course, these days you have to stay maniacally plugged in to the cutting edge of whatever technology is taking your profession into the future - otherwise you're toast.
I'm old enough to remember the advent of CD. You thought, "What's this piece of space age technology that's in front of me?" Now I ask, "When's the last time you bought a CD?" You see things come and you see things go, and you have to be on your toes and be nimble and stay with it, or you die. It's exciting. I love technology.
I don't compare shows. It's very simple. I don't live in the past. If there's any secret to my longevity, it's living in the future. And a little bit in the present.
Would you like to go to a doctor who had taken his last medical course in 1948? You have to keep changing and keep learning so that you are constantly challenging yourself, adding a few new songs to your program every chance you get. If you don't, the world will pass you by.
My biggest fear is that I become useless or less useful by not being up to date - be it with technology, changing consumers, changing global situations. You continuously have to have a little level of paranoia that forces you to set the bar higher every day.
If you try to hold onto the old trends, then you'll look old.
What can I say? I'm just a relevant dude. It's just natural. My hunger's still there. I still keep my ear to the streets. I record every song like it's my last. I just love music. I'm blessed.
'American Top 40' allowed me to be current without my having to force change to keep up with things. The new songs kept us up to date, so every show sounded fresh.
I don't want to be left in the past. When I stand next to Kylie, Beyonce or Rihanna, I don't want to be a decrepit old lady.
Our sons are the next generation who are more clued into the new trends of music. So if I want to understand the vibe of the new generation, and if I want to stay relevant with time, they are my source of learning.
By the time you do what somebody else is doing, everybody has moved on to something else.
When I come around people, I'm up to date on everything. I know all the new music that's coming out, all the stuff that ain't came out yet.
You can be forgotten very quickly. So I am aware that I need to stay current, keep connecting, and keep bringing things to the table... Otherwise, you can just disappear.
People are really surprised by the fact that I keep in touch with the latest trends rather than retreating to the distant past.
I'm 48 now and whatever I get music-wise, I get from my kids and that's it. I don't think I'll ever be hip again!
If you keep yourself alive and current, funny is funny.
If you're trying to be hip, be hip.
I'm looking, often, towards younger people, listening to how they're working, at least they're trying, and some of the old greats, too. Just to try to remain relevant and off-balance, but hungry and eager.
I think the problem with people, as they start to mature, they say, 'Rap is a young man's game,' and they keep trying to make young songs. But you don't know the slang - it changes every day, and you're just visiting. So you're trying to be something you're not, and the audience doesn't buy into that.
It always makes me sad when someone comments on how much they love my work- from 15 years ago! I don't want to be just another old school guy that fell off.
The technology at the leading edge changes so rapidly that you have to keep current after you get out of school. I think probably the most important thing is having good fundamentals.
Write a lot and hit the streets. A writer who doesn't keep up with what's out there ain't gonna be out there.
