LL Cool J has spoken about how he bought 10 luxury cars after first gaining success.
The singer first found fame as a rapper when he was a teenager in the 1980s, and admits he splashed out on himself and his family following his receipt of a big pay cheque.
Speaking to the Metro newspaper he said: "When I started out I bought my mother a house and had 10 or 12 cars - BMWs, Benzes, Porsches."
Now, having enjoyed a successful acting career as well as one in the music industry, he doesn't spend money as he once did, insisting new books and box fresh trainers are now his main purchases.
"The luxury I have in my life now is I can buy all the books I want and I can always have brand new trainers on. I remember going to school and having books that were already written in and had pages missing. My thing isn't money. Don't get me wrong. I want £10 million right now, today. I'll take it. But that's not my sales pitch. I'm not trying to show people how rich I am. But I do like diamonds and nice things."
He also makes sure his four kids aren't spoiled, so that they can be taught the value of hard work and money.
"I teach them to be grateful and I don't spoil them. They have things but they won't ever have everything. I won't ever overdo it ... There has to be something in their lives to strive for and they have to learn the value of creativity. It can't only be about money because no matter whose child your are the only thing that's really going to make your life amazing is creativity. If you're not creating in your life, your life won't be about anything. I don't want their life to be about what they can get from me."
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