Actor, healing comedian and mogul Nick Cannon is covering this month’s issue of Rolling Out Magazine and by the looks of things, hospital he’s definitely focused with a capital F.  Inside, shop he gets serious as he talks about his life-threatening health scare last year, as well as how fatherhood and marriage has changed his perspective on life and his career.  He also says he has no time to pay attention to what critics have to say about him, because he’s too busy trying to build a legacy that has a positive affect on today’s culture. GUU Nick!Catch a few excerpts below:

On his critics
I laughed at it. I couldn’t care less what people say about me this week or next week. I’m trying to build a 50-year career. [People] like Bill Cosby, Quincy Jones, Sammy Davis Jr. — I know people had things to say [about them] at that moment, but when you step back and look and see what these people did to affect culture — that’s my goal.

People are going to have opinions, but I learned a long time ago [that] what other people think about me is none of my business. Now being a father, it’s not about me, it’s about instilling values into the next generation — my children — and trying to get them to see life in a certain way.

On not being hood enough
I grew up in the ’hood, I could tell you every thug story that you would wanna hear. But what is that going to prove?

On what the critics had to say about his relationship with Mariah Carey and why their relationship works
Being married to my wife is one of the easiest things about my life. It’s so natural and it’s rooted in love, so when you hear stuff, that doesn’t even resonate. It’s laughable at times. Obviously, like I said in my last stand-up special — I get it. I see how [our marriage] came out of left field and people were like ‘Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon? That don’t go together!’ But that’s what love is all about — especially the type of love we want to represent.

On his health scare (he was diagnosed with a ‘lupus-type’ autoimmune disorder), and how that inspired him to do better
My health scare last year was crazy because [when you have] doctors telling you ‘This might be it,’ and they’re preparing your family and saying it can go either way or there’s a 50/50 chance and all of that stuff, it puts life in perspective,” Cannon explains. “I was a brand-new father — my kids weren’t even 1-year-olds at the time. And it was just like ‘If I do get a chance to do it again, I’m going to make sure all of the things that matter, I focus on. And the things that don’t matter, I let ‘em fall by the wayside.’ And because I still deal with the health condition to this day, it just makes me hungry and makes me grind harder, because we’re not promised tomorrow. I’m doing everything I can do to keep myself healthy, but at the same time, in the back of mind I [know] the clock is ticking. I need to leave my mark. That’s what everybody should do. You’ve got to leave this place better than it was when you got here. I feel like I can’t waste one day. That’s why when people say ‘your work ethic is crazy,’ I’m like ‘The clock is ticking.’ I gotta leave something.

On how his marriage helped his career
I’ve definitely become more focused since I’ve been married. You can see it in my business choices and the way my career has gone. I actually purposely stepped out of the limelight for a minute. I wanted people to understand I was a businessman and I didn’t need to be in front of the camera — I didn’t need to be ‘Wild N Out!’ I actually took a corporate job and was running a television company — all of that was on purpose, to grow as a man and see the other aspects of [the industry]. Now I’m jumping back into the game in a real way — jumping back into music, comedy, I just directed my first film for Lion’s Gate with Kevin Hart, Mike Epps, George Lopez and Katt Williams. But I had to take that time to grow as a husband and a father and a true executive and a businessman; without all of the accolades, without people questioning. I knew those things were going to come, but I knew it would make me a better person, a better man and a better entertainer.

On the best thing about being a father
The best thing about being Nick Cannon is my kids. Just waking up every day seeing them and living life through their eyes. It kinda just puts everything in the proper perspective. On the superficial level? I wouldn’t wanna be anybody else! I’ve been blessed with a great hand. … From being able to marry my wife to being surrounded by so many beautiful people before my marriage; I’ve seen every part of the world I could have ever wanted to see. And I feel like now my mission is to help others get that and help others achieve their happiness. It’s not about me anymore because I’ve done everything I could ever want to do.

Nick Cannon’s “Wild ‘N Out” premiered last week and garnered the highest rated telecast in MTV2 history. His list of accomplishments also include starring in and executive producing movies, hosting his own national syndicated radio show, and signing on as the honorary chairman of Nickelodeon’s TEENick Network where he was in charge of creating, producing and directing original programming for the network.

Those guys that people used to label as ‘corny’ are winning right now, okay!