Mackenzie Sol: Mastering Personal Branding: Lessons from a Viral Creator | DSH #1508

People aren't realizing how crazy it is.

Like, if you go back to the 1960s and you show them ChatGBT,

imagine what they'd think.

You know, it's insane.

Like, this artificial intelligence is going.

I don't know what.

I'm scared to say where it's going to go.

I don't even know.

But, you know, we have self-driving cars.

We're not where Back to the Future was yet, but soon.

We're getting there.

All right, guys, we got Mackenzie Soul been making a name for himself out here in Vegas.

How's it going, man?

It's going well.

Thank you for having me on the show, dude.

Big fan.

Yeah, you've been crushing.

You've been crushing.

Formed with Shin Lim, all these big shows.

Congrats.

Yeah, dude.

It's it's just it's just crazy, man.

Coming from such a small place in the UK to living out here in Vegas, doing this, that, the others.

It's pretty wild.

Yeah, you said you grew up in a thousand square foot home in the UK.

Yeah, bro.

We, you know, we didn't really have anything back home.

I had working-class parents, you know.

We didn't really come from anything, and we just did our best to just keep rising.

We're still not where we want to be, but that's life, bro.

You know, you just got to keep going up and up and up and up.

That's the goal.

Yeah, so you had really high expectations when you were a kid on where you wanted to be.

100%, dude.

I always wanted to be a music artist and you know, performer, social media, all that thing.

That's that's always been who I've wanted to be.

Respect, and that's a tough space to crack, though.

All right, 100%, bro.

Like, kids at school and stuff, like, no one liked me when I was.

I got bullied my whole life at school.

Oh, yeah, no one liked me.

And um, it's just crazy to see now how people can switch up.

You know, now you get all these views.

All these people care.

They all want to be your friends now, you know?

And I think that's just, it's just such a like a funny thing, you know?

And I think that's why social media can be beneficial, but it can also not be beneficial as well.

Because like, you're never going to know if people are going to like like you for you.

For what you have.

You know this out of all people.

You're like 10 million on Instagram.

Yeah.

So I'm sure you get where I'm coming from.

No, 100%.

You got to be vulnerable, you know?

And you don't know what the feedback's going to be.

It's definitely not an easy route.

Yeah, people's opinions is so big to me, bro.

It's so bad, but I really live off people's opinions.

Really?

Yeah, people actually care.

Yeah, bro.

Like, people say, don't read the comments.

Don't do this.

Like, I'm literally sat here, like,

you know, just putting stuff in my head.

But if I can recommend that, anybody, just don't look at comments.

Don't do what I do.

Don't be in your head.

A lot of them are negative.

A lot of them are negative, but a lot of them are positive as well.

And you just got to think, you know, a comment's a comment at the end of the day.

Yeah.

So you're really glued like that because you get 500 million views a month on your Instagram.

So you're reading all those comments.

That's so crazy hearing you say that out loud.

Bro, that's half a billion views a month.

Am I supposed to be here?

Like, is that me?

Like, that's nuts, bro.

That's one eighth of the population in the world.

Well, that's the plan.

Taking that 500 mil and hopefully converting it into music.

You know, that's the goal.

That's what I want to do.

That's my push.

And I just, I really think I can do it, you know?

Give me the tools, which I've got, you know, the following and stuff.

Now I've just got to, i gotta show them who i am and just be me and be organic and don't try and be something i'm not yeah you know dude that's nuts though was it a gradual climb up to that level or were you pulling that for a while

honestly i was you know i i think 100 million i stick around a month yeah which is still ridiculous you know but these past few months the videos have just been absolutely insane you know But now I want to take that comedy content I've done and mix it with the music and try and keep that fan base, you know, and that's something I want to tell everyone watching this as well.

If you want to do something, if something goes viral that you don't want to do, try and incorporate what you do want to do with it.

Don't just fly straight to doing what you want to do because you'll take that fan base and you'll lose them.

Slowly incorporate it together.

Like say I do comedy, right?

So maybe I do like a video being pranked.

Someone has a whole like band in my bedroom waking me up, like a six-piece band with electric guitars screaming in my ear, you know?

And then you're incorporating two different things into one.

And I think that's where social media can be your best friend for what you want to do.

Yeah, that's smart, you know, hitting them from multiple angles, right?

Rather than just music.

Yeah, and that's, that's the thing as well.

Like, I'm not going to just say, I sat with Jason Darulo in his dressing room and he told me this because

in my head, I was like, oh, I just need to stop doing the social media and do music.

And he's like, no, you've, you've built this platform.

You want to keep that platform.

You want to keep these people.

Just mix it together.

Show them who you are, but keep being who they want you to be and mix it together as one.

Yeah, he does a great job with that, Jason.

He's killed it, man.

You know what it is with Jason?

He took being a music artist and he learned the social media game.

I'm the opposite.

I've grown in social media.

Now I want to take on the music.

So I'm pretty much doing what Jason did, but the other way around.

Yeah.

But nah, he's a huge inspiration of mine.

Knowing what he's done and seeing the videos he's done is genius.

His songs are still in my head, bro.

Yeah, bro.

They're great.

They're so addicting.

Like, I'll still bump that shit in the car.

Which one?

Riding solo.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, that one's a classic.

He's got a few, though.

I'm blanking out on the other ones.

You know, trumpets?

Trumpets, you go.

Trumpets, there you go.

That's a banger, too.

So, I don't know if you know who this is, but a guy called John Bellion.

I didn't heard of him.

He wrote that song.

And John Bellion's written so many songs for so many different artists.

He did half of the songs on the Justin Bieber album, the past previous album.

He's written so many bangers.

So when you get home, have a look because he's a legend.

He had that song.

I'm at an all time.

Lolo,

that's that's him that's a good one but he's he's so much more than people know what he is but no yeah that's that's the goal man music that's that's gonna be the you know the end all of everything you do you write all your own stuff right now yeah man oh we actually have a single i'm about to release um called other side which i'm extremely excited for what's the concept of that song it's pretty much about

just you know it could be about anything in in my sense it was about a girl who

you know just every time i was around her she just took me to the other side and like the other side's like god and heaven like every time you look at her

she just takes you to the other side and um I don't know I feel like it's a song a lot of people can relate to but relate to it in different ways you know like you know your grandma could take the other side when she makes you cookies or you know you're

anything really it's just about some finding somebody that makes you feel a whole different way about life respect and that's what the song is about Do you feel like the music industry has changed a lot recently?

Because I was watching Adam 22 like interview someone and he said like it's changed like a lot in the past few years 100% it has and that's that's what's so sad about this industry in my opinion is

like I'm not I'm not gonna call people out but labels and all these people they don't really care about the talent anymore yeah you know and I'm not just I'm not saying this about me I'm saying this about there's probably a hundred people in the Philippines for example that have the best vocals you've ever heard in your life they'll never be seen you know why

They don't have 100 million impressions on Instagram.

And that's where the money is now.

It's you have to have this following.

You have to.

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It's sleek, portable, and honestly, I don't go anywhere without it.

You have this amount of lights, you have to have this amount of fan base.

And back in, you know, Motown Records, back in the day, it wasn't like that.

It was strictly about the talent.

And that's what I miss so much about this music industry.

And I'm hoping that's going to be brought back.

And I really feel like people like, you know, Teddy Swims, you know, have really, have really brought that soul in Motown back into music.

And I hope it just keeps doing that because it's way better, in my opinion.

I wonder what caused that shift.

Do you think it was a business decision?

I think they just saw social media and they saw how successful it was yeah and business wise it just made more sense maybe it's it probably is less risky if i'd imagine yeah yeah and i i feel like

i i don't know i just i just i don't see people who have pure talent just being picked up anymore and it's you know it's sad yeah is that a reason you went on american idol because you felt like that was talent-based so my american idol story is funny i um

I got spotted at a karaoke bar.

I was just hanging out with my friends and he's like, all right, would you want to audition for American Idol?

Wow.

And I was like,

yeah, but I didn't know if this guy was for real, you know?

Because

American Idol in a karaoke bar,

you're a little bit skeptical.

So I said, yeah, I'd love to.

Can't wait.

Whatever.

He got my number.

Amazing singer as well.

His name's John John.

Huge shout out to John John.

And he connected me with a guy called Kyle who was like, hey, you want to get on a...

a Zoom with the, you know, casting producer of American Idol.

I'm like, okay, yeah.

And still, I'm like slowly getting a little less skeptical about everything then it happened i had the call i sang that they loved me and then uh i got asked to go to santa barbara katy perry's hometown and there they just walked in the room in front of katy perry uh luke brian and lionel richie holy and just so imagine standing there with those three satin step like chairs just staring at you the intimidation yeah but i loved it man it was it's probably the best intimidation in the world so you delivered yeah i did my best man You know, I mean, I made it further than I thought I was going to go.

In my head, I was like, all right, I'll do the show, try and get a little exposure ready for my music.

But no, it all worked out, man.

And I just wanted it more and more and more and more.

And to be a finalist on the show, it got my career started back home here in Vegas.

I have a residency at the Virgin Hotel.

Now, the ARIA, like you said, Shinlim.

I'm seeing in Shinlim every night at the Palazzo.

But yeah, bro, we're busy, man, and that's all I care about.

I just want to stay busy and stay active.

Off from the from the karaoke bar, that is nuts.

I know, and I also work for a candy company as well on the side.

Oh, you do?

SP's candy.

Yeah, I do, I do social media with them.

Which candy company?

They're called SP's Candy.

I don't know if you remember, they have the

little gold mine gum, you know, the little yellow nugget pieces

that you'd like chew on for hours.

They tasted like little banana-ish.

I remember those.

Yeah, they live really good, but um, no, yeah.

Shout out to SPs, but uh, no, I love them to death.

They're like my family.

Nice.

So, yeah, I do a lot, dude.

And then soccer, I told you about earlier.

I just, I think my ADHD, we were talking about us both having adhd i feel like i can take on so many different things at one time but can i is the question or is it just in my head that i can and realistically i'm just a complete mess yeah you know i don't i'm still figuring it out i just got diagnosed like literally a year ago so i didn't know i had it my whole life oh no wait you found out that late well official diagnosis okay when i was a kid they told me but i never like got it confirmed yeah but now i got a brain scan to confirm it and it got confirmed yeah wow so for me it's like i can focus on things i I like.

But if I'm not interested in the conversation, my brain will have that's me.

Like butterfly is gone.

I'm away.

But

yeah, you told me four hours you sit here?

At least.

This is a light day for me.

Yeah, I usually do five hours.

How many guests today?

Four today, yeah.

An hour each guest.

See, that's having ADHD and doing that.

I don't think people watching this understand how impressive that is.

I'm struggling.

We've done this for like five minutes.

I'm like, I'm ready to move around.

But no, yeah, man.

I feel like it's a blessing and a curse.

I feel like a lot of creatives have things like ADHD, autism, and you know, just stuff like that.

I would notice that, especially with music, right?

With music.

And, you know,

every creativity, I feel like the people that are diagnosed with something are the people that think outside the box are the people that are so creative, you know?

Yeah.

You know, just like, just look at all these people that, you know, like have made it, you know, something, something is wrong with them.

Yeah.

But it's made them who they are and the reason they have the success they have.

Absolutely.

And I know with these mental conditions, there's a disconnect with the older generation because they didn't get these, right?

No, no.

Was that an issue for you?

With your parents or with your people that were older than you?

No, not really.

I wouldn't say so.

No.

I don't know.

How about you?

My mom, I mean,

I guess it's hard to believe, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, I have anxiety.

Their generation never got taught that word.

No.

So from their point of view, I get it, you know?

That's another thing as well.

I feel like this generation just like, like, every, like, I feel like it's just changed so much.

Not just the music industry, I feel like life in general has changed so much with this new generation.

But like, I think I'm part of it.

Am I part of Gen Z?

One in 2000.

I am.

Yeah.

Yeah, you're Gen Z.

Yeah.

I'm a millennial.

You're millennial.

Right.

Yeah, but it's just like everything's changed, doesn't it?

And I think it's just going to keep changing.

Attention spans are dropping.

Dating's getting harder.

Friendships.

Friendships are getting harder to maintain.

100%.

A lot of people base their identity on either followers or money these days or both.

I'm guilty of that, too.

Um, so yeah.

But look at what you've done though.

You like, do you ever look around and just be like, shit, like, damn, I did this.

Certain episodes, yes.

You know?

Yes.

Why certain episodes?

Like, if the guest is huge, I'm like, what the fuck?

I grew up watching Howie Mandel and Deal or No Deal.

Yeah, so Howie is.

Yeah, I grew up watching this guy, this athlete playing basketball.

It's like, damn.

And you're just looking, you're like, oh, my God, these guys, like, you just have that realization moment.

They're on my podcast for me.

It is nuts.

That's insane.

Yeah, but you can't get caught up in the ego.

No, dude, that's the thing.

My mom's my best friend bro and she'll never ever ever let me get an ego no matter what man that's good like we were talking about having 500 million impressions in this room she's like all right whatever

just to keep me grounded and i i appreciate it you know because it's it's it's helping me just just always stay grounded and always be grateful for what i have and i think that's the most important thing i've got a lot of friends that have uh or people that i know or heard of that have ruined their career because of ego yeah yes it's it's it's tough though isn't it like i still don't think i'm at the you you know, at the highest of highs.

And I don't know where the highest of highs will take me.

I pray to God, and I don't think I'll have an ego, but you just,

you never know, you know, you don't know, you don't know what people are going through.

And I remember I was doing a little podcast, and Justin Bieber, I don't know if you remember the whole Pabarazzi incidents.

Yeah, I do.

I had an argument.

I was like, I bet he's doing this to promote something.

I bet something's about to happen.

And then look what happened two weeks later.

He released swag, the album.

Wow.

You know, so you never know what someone's doing to, you know, to promote or whatever so kanye is a master of that too kanye is a master yeah dude but there's a lot of controversy on kanye but as a businessman he's he's just a genius isn't he one of the best i've seen in business yeah man he's just he's just so intelligent um another another person who's actually a friend of mine who i see the same well not as kanye but the same kind of success as jojo seewa you know start off with the bowls people thought she was annoying annoying voice couldn't stand her she's the She had the mindset of a 35-year-old businesswoman, you know, and she was like probably the most genius girl I've ever seen.

Yeah, she built a huge brand off it.

Insane.

You know, and then she did the Switch show, the whole Miley Cyrus thing, and it worked.

People followed, people cared, and I haven't seen anybody else do that in this, this generation like she has.

Yeah.

You know, and that's why I respect JoJo so much.

People need to give credit on stuff like that, even if you dislike them personally.

When they create campaigns like that, it's not easy.

No, 100%.

100%.

It's just,

I just, I don't know like how you do a whole life like that, you know, and that's what's so impressive is taking your life and just just building it into an empire.

Yeah, it's incredible.

Yeah, it is interesting.

People are so out there with their lives, too.

Yeah, yeah, I'd say so.

I'd say I'm, I guess I am as well, you know, but I'm still working towards getting where I want to be, man.

Yeah, you know, my impressions and all that stuff, it's great, but you know, yeah, I told you what the goal is.

That's, that's where we want to get to.

We want to get to, you know, selling shows out, people enjoying the music.

That's going to be the goal.

Filling stadiums.

100%.

That's that's the end of all.

Obviously, that's the end of goal.

Yeah.

Right now, even a 50-cap venue would make me me happy yeah you know but no yeah man i just i just want to show people what i'm meant to be doing nice why do you think you want those big stadiums like do you think it's some childhood dream or i think yeah i think any any anyone who's dreamed of being an artist or even wants to be an artist that their end dream is obviously to fill out madison square garden right i think that's definitely one of the ogs for me it's wembley because you know it's the uk it's like actually it's not my home stadium in the UK, Stadium of Light.

My team, Sunderland, play.

I don't know if you follow football, soccer.

heard of it.

Okay, well, Sunderland just got promoted to the Premier League, which is the biggest league in the UK.

And the stadium is called the Stadium of Light, and my last name is Sol.

So I was named after the initials of the stadium.

Wow.

So that's a fun fact people might not know.

That's cool.

Your whole life is about soccer, huh?

Yeah, I can't get away from it.

I still play every Sunday.

Even with the 20CL, you still play.

Even with the 20 CL for a brace on, and I still play.

Nothing's stopping me, dude.

What's your position?

Right midfield.

God damn.

Right midfield.

Do you know what it is i don't think i'll ever stop i feel like if i have to get my leg amputated i'll be running on the field with a crutch damn you know i don't think there's stopping i think once you love like football soccer whatever you want to call it there's always a love for it you know and you're never going to lose that love it's just one of those sports that just stay with you you think it's the best sport in the world

i don't want to say it because then it gets into an argument with people in the comments like

but to me it is To me it is because, you know, it's all I know.

People in the UK, I think it's one of the main sports.

Obviously, basketball is growing a lot.

And American football is actually growing a lot.

Yeah, like Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium have NFL games and stuff.

Yeah.

They've had a few NFL games in the UK, which is really cool.

I didn't know that.

But no, yeah, football is a big part of my life, definitely.

Yeah, I played a little growing up, but you're probably way better than me.

What you?

Basketball was my sport.

Yeah.

How tall are you, brother?

Six, six.

Six, six.

Yeah, nah, I couldn't.

Yeah.

I try to shoot hoops, but I'm terrible.

I have one of those things in your bedroom that you just

the mini hoop that you hang over the door still couldn't even make that yeah that was bad x factor uh four years old um

that's pretty crazy what the hell that was the start of everything honestly um my mom was auditioning for the x factor with her band and uh she took me with her and in the waiting room there was cameras filming people waiting to go in me i think it was sharon husband louie walsh and simon cow

um

and she she went in the room and i was just waiting and apparently i was singing i don't really remember it fully, but I was singing and dancing around the room.

And the camera spotted me and they said to my mum, would you mind if we get him in there to do audition?

But not, you know, legally auditioned to be in the show, but just for TV purposes.

And it went viral.

It just recently went viral again.

And that was kind of the start of everything, really, man.

And then after that, you know, I took on musical theater classes.

singing everywhere, going to as many gigs as I could with my parents.

And that was just the start of everything, really, you know?

So you grew up in a household just in a very musical environment you couldn't go anywhere when there wasn't music going around because my mom and my dad they're both singers

so it was kind of like i i hate when people say they were born or something i always use this phrase i hate i hate when people are like oh i was just born with it but i genuinely think i was just born into it that was just what i wanted to do yeah you know were they kind of guiding you pressuring you or were you just all about it no they would never pressure me i'd think if i wanted to be like even like i don't know like doctor or something i don't know why i could be with my brain, but

they'd support anything I wanted to do.

But I think music was just

everything to me, you know, and it just always has been.

I think it always will be.

That's awesome.

As well.

Did you watch Hoppy Gilmore 2 yet?

Yes, I have.

I think I've watched it.

I'm on seven times now.

You watched it seven times?

I've been on seven times.

Why do you watch it so many times?

I'm obsessed with it.

Wow.

I almost know every single line.

I don't know.

So many people had so many different things to say about it, too.

I honestly thought it was better than the first.

if you're a diehard happy gilmore fan you'll understand every reference people thought the maxi remember the maxi golf yes the maxi golf how people were like why is there a maxi golf like it was stupid when maxi became involved in the movie it's mimicking uh live live golf oh wow that's that's what that's what it was that was the joke wow pga versus live that's what maxi was and that's why it was so funny holy and that's why you know people who are golf fans and you know happy gilmore fans they got it but um i don't know.

Cameos were great.

I think, you know, I think Bad Bunny stole the movie.

He did watch.

I thought he was unbelievable.

Even the golfers, man, like,

every golfer was hilarious.

I thought they were great.

Who was your favorite?

I'm curious, your favorite character was.

Oh, it might be Bad Bunny.

He totally.

I didn't even know that was him at first.

Eminem was funny, but yeah,

he was great.

Yeah, Bad Bunny crushed it.

Bad Bunny killed it.

I got to give it to him because Adam's always going to deliver.

So I can't just say him.

No, he's Adam Sandler, you know.

But even his kids killed it as well.

I think

his time, yeah.

Yeah, now they're getting older.

Well, they've been in movies before, but like just little quick cameos.

I think that's one of the longest Hubby Madison, you know, movies they've done, but they both killed it.

Yeah.

I think the more they get older, the better they're going to become as, you know, actresses as well.

I love how he always involves Cameron Boyce.

I know if you saw the golf scene, he was on the TV.

Yep.

In the corner, he'll always...

have something in his heart for Cameron.

I absolutely love that about Adam as well.

He throws all his boys in there.

He throws it.

It's just a friend group.

Like, grown-ups.

I think Grown-Ups is obviously one of the best.

Grown-ups, too, was unreal.

But that's another thing.

He just, he doesn't care.

The way he walks around, like how much money he makes, he could be walking around in Versace, like Louis Vuitton Bags.

But bro, shows up like he's like, they're just walking in the McDonald's.

You know what I mean?

Like, he doesn't care.

Yeah, bro.

I saw the budget for that movie.

He's making a lot.

What was the budget?

$2.75.

Shut up.

Yeah.

And I feel like there wasn't that much editing in that movie.

No, there wasn't.

They probably made a lot off it.

I love the color grade, though.

The color grade was so vibrant and just like in your face.

I love that.

But 275 million.

For one movie, he probably does a couple a year, honestly.

Oh, my God.

Because he's got a big deal with Netflix.

Jesus Christ.

Yeah.

We might have to get into acting, bro.

Yeah, yeah.

Shit, we're doing the wrong thing.

Oh, my God.

Well, yeah, there's...

I don't know, but people, you know, everyone wants to do different little things.

So let them do their thing.

We're killing it, though, right?

We're doing our thing.

We're having a good time doing this.

But no,

I think Happy Gilmore is one of my favorite actors.

Him and Seth Rogan are my two

tops.

Seth is a legend, he's great.

He's coming on the pod.

Shut up, yeah.

I'll text you when he's here.

You're lying.

I swear to God, I have the DM.

No, hold on.

No, this is the yo, you got a DM of Seth Roger.

Yeah,

all right.

This just took a turn.

This just took a turn.

Seth, it was from a year ago, but let me pull it up.

No,

no, wait, are you

shut up?

He's coming.

He's coming on the podcast.

That was in March 24, so I got to follow up.

But he said, yo, I have nothing to talk to or promote at the moment, but I'd love to come on later in the year.

So I definitely got to follow up.

Oh my

God.

Legend, right?

I'm going to cry.

You are the luckiest.

No, I like that.

Like, I love Adam, but Seth is.

Yeah.

Seth is.

Dude, I know every film of his, every line.

What's your favorite Seth Rogan film?

Honestly.

God,

I've got too many.

Interview was killer.

Honestly, I thought it was so underrated.

Was Zach and Miriam make a b I thought was hilarious.

You haven't seen that one?

You have?

I thought it was great, man.

I just, you know,

long shot, I thought it was great.

Just everything he does.

I just, I love the movies.

I love, I love every movie he does.

Honestly, I think one of his best ones was This Is the End because it was kind of like that grown-ups feel.

Everyone just acting as themselves.

You know, you got Jonah Hill, James Franco, you have all these people just like

portraying themselves.

And I just think, I don't know.

know i just think his mind when he creates and writes movies is just so it's so relatable to like pineapple express another classic you know just just just things that people i think i think he incorporates things that people want to do in life and that's what he'll put in the movie because it's just it's funny yeah you know it's humorous it's hilarious man he does well with that jonah i want to have on too jonah hill jonah hill yeah man he's killed as well hasn't he lost a lot of weight a lot hasn't he a lot good for him bro no for him because he used to get a lot of hate for that i i see i I didn't see.

See, I didn't care.

That's the thing about back in the day, like when he was doing, like, you know, Superbad and all these movies.

No one would, like, be coming on social media back then.

Like, maybe they wouldn't, like, Facebook or whatever, but like Instagram.

Now they would because of this generation.

But back then, people just cared about the, you know, they cared about the love of the actors and the movies.

And that's another thing.

Even the movie world's changed as well now, I think.

You know, I think even viewers have gone down.

Way down compared to what's going on.

Especially in theaters.

That's what's so sad, bro, because all this digital world is just like taking over.

Yeah.

Did you see that Google VL3 video?

No.

Oh, my God.

You need to watch it.

So, pretty much, it's an AI video, but it's they're talking about that they're not prompts.

Like, don't treat us as prompts, but it's all made out of AI, but it looks so real.

It's incredible.

Genuinely is.

So, you can't even tell it's AI.

No, and it just scares me because if that's where we're at, now imagine where we're going to be in 30 years.

Holy crap.

iRobot.

I'm swear, man.

AI actors.

Yeah, probably that's what's next.

Yeah.

They're going to bring back like people that are dead and use AI to like recreate their bodies for movies.

Isn't that crazy?

So their states are gonna license their likeness.

What?

So like actors that are deceased will be in movies again.

Isn't that a little bit

well crazy, right?

It's a little controversial.

Like their actual bodies are just like take images of their bodies and use them as AI.

Like they would have a stunt double, I'd imagine, and then replace that with their features.

Like that's insane.

Oh my gosh.

There's already concerts of holograms of deceased.

Well, yeah, Michael Jackson I know they did Michael.

That was a few years ago as well.

Michael Pack, yeah, Michael Jackson.

10 years ago or something, they did a hologram, so they're probably going to make that a real thing as well.

You know, Universal Studios, the Fast and Furious ride, the holograms and everything.

100%.

They're going to make money.

Imagine where this is going to be.

Like, we'll watch back this video like 40 years from now.

It's like flying cars.

Yeah, I know it's going to be nuts.

It's going to be.

That's why personal brand is important right now.

100%.

A lot of jobs are going to be toast.

the stock market stocks yes the stock trading is gonna be bots in a few years do you do it i used to now you were just like okay i see where this is going i'm done now it might be too late like you could probably still make a little bit but ai is going to be trading in a few years you're not going to be able to compete with that no no yeah that's the thing bro i think chat gbt is my best friend and i think it's half the population's best friend and i think People aren't realizing how crazy it is.

Like, if you go back to 1960s and you show them Chat GBT,

imagine what they'd think yeah you know it's it's insane like this artificial intelligence is it's going

i don't know what i'm scared to say where it's gonna go i don't even know but you know we have self-driving cars we're not where back to the future was yet but soon we're getting there yeah i use chat every day bro yeah every day it's it's the best i'm learning it's my doctor as well yeah i'm learning so fast it's my therapist yeah me too

My doctor for health issues.

Yeah, man, it's great.

And it's accurate.

What's scary is it's so accurate.

It's so right.

You know, stupid accurate.

I still can't get over Seth Rogan.

I'm like, my brain with Hogan, but I'm still like...

I got you, man.

But that's.

I might have to go to LA for that one, but

I'll text you.

Bro, if you have to go to North Korea, like the interview was, to interview him, I would do it.

I'd go with you.

I'll be your assistant.

I do need to hit you up when I go to the UK.

I've never been there.

Yeah, bro.

I know some really

dangerous right now.

Is that true?

Yeah, I mean, there's always stuff going on.

I don't really know the ins and outs.

I I don't like going into controversial stuff and all that.

But

any major city, I think, any major city.

Yeah, we live in Vegas.

A lot of stuff happens here, you know, now and again.

But, dude, but I was just thinking about that Seth Rogan thing and building a following, how much it helps get in with like celebrities and big people.

Because I was looking the other day and Odell Beckham Jr.

followed me.

Holy shit.

And I was just like, bro, I've got DMs.

Like, how he's like, why did you follow me?

He's like, I don't know, but you're funny, lol.

I was just like, casual conversation.

Same thing with Jamie Foxx.

Wow.

He did a, he did Jimmy Fallon.

No, it was Jimmy.

No, it was Jamie Fallon.

He did the musical wheel of impressions.

I don't know if you've ever seen them where they have to impersonate

other singers.

So he did Jennifer Hudson on top of spaghetti.

So he had the song choice and the song.

And I just DM'd him on top of spaghetti.

And he said, Lol, love it.

And then followed me.

And then we just had a full conversation.

Yeah.

Say, come meet me in LA.

Let's grab coffee or something.

I was just like,

what?

And then, you know, I spoke to Shaq.

Shaq always talks about, you know shaq being my manager for a little while and wow everyone just got busy and it's just crazy yeah how and i'm not i'm not trying to name drop i'm just saying when you have a social media following it helps so much with so many different so many different things it opens so many doors it opens doors and that's what's sad bro because like i said earlier there's so many talented people that deserve that in that just don't have the chance and that's what i'm gonna try and do with my following and with what i do with not that famous my brand and stuff is is just help people and that's gonna be my goal so people that want to grow their following, like, just do what I do and hop over the hurdles I didn't have the help hopping over.

That's what I want to do.

I want, I want to help them.

Yeah.

You know, and figure out the right decisions to make, the right deals to sign, and just not.

Because I, dude, I got fucked really bad, dude.

When I lived in LA, I went through hell and back.

Honestly, I don't know if I'm allowed to swear.

Yeah, you can.

Oh, yeah.

I got fucked in LA.

By a label or what happened?

Not by labels, just like people saying they're going to promise me the world and just help me do so many different things in this industry and it just it stole it was so many lies bro and it just it just got me and my mom in such a depression and it just it just killed us you know like we barely had any money to survive we're struggling living in a studio apartment with a murphy bed bro me and my mom holy 16 years old like we we bro we fight like cat and dogs i love it to death but we had so many arguments and fights but um

yeah that was it moving to vegas was my escape bro and learning social media learning the tick tock game learning those viral videos that's what really saved me you know so obviously I'm always going to hold on to those viral videos because I think it's what saved my life.

That's crazy.

Generally, if I kept trying to be a musician, not knowing how the hell Vine worked and all these social media platforms worked at the time, I wouldn't know what the hell I'm doing.

You know, that's nuts.

So, TikTok saved your life

genuinely, yeah, in a way.

Musically, it was musically first.

Oh, so you were on music?

I was on musically.

Got it.

I'm just walked up to a guy, VidCon.

I'm sure you've been to.

You've heard of it.

I need to go out to one of them.

It's not the same anymore, dude.

I heard that too.

Yeah.

Nothing's the same, bro.

Social media, like, it's just just everything's just slowly dying you know yeah even concerts well not concerts are still live with artists people like but like it just feels like everything's slowing down it's getting harder to get views harder especially on tick tock dude yeah tick tock yeah tick tock's killing me right now i don't know what i used to pull tens of millions on tick tock easy they change and then they i don't know maybe algorithms change i hate people that say they're shadow banned because it doesn't it doesn't exist it really doesn't it just means you just gotta change your content yeah at the end of the day that's what it means but um i've i've said it i'm guilty i'm like i'm shadow banned i've said it too yeah and i'd say i tick tock and i'm like listen we don't have a thing called shadow banned it doesn't even exist unless you like break a guideline we'll just take your account down yeah but um no your account can't be shadow banned i know for a fact though on youtube you can be you can be on youtube yeah because i've searched my podcast episodes from different computers and it won't pop up

maybe because of like you know andrew tate and like people who think episodes i know for sure on youtube you can yeah no i love andrew as well i think he's like he's great also it's another you know he's just here a few months ago.

Yeah, I know.

Power slot.

I'm trying not a fanboy right now.

I've seen a hell of people on this podcast.

I'm just like, oh, cool.

Yeah.

Casually, how he went out, that's cool.

Yeah, every day.

I see him walking down the street.

No, I don't.

But you know what I mean?

It's just so cool, man.

Yeah, legends, bro.

But like we said, the power of personal branding.

I wouldn't have been able to do this if I didn't do the personal brand route.

That's what you did.

So was that what you did first?

You created the brand?

So I spent a lot of money on Facebook ads, built up the following, went to conferences, in-person events, spent hundreds of thousands going to events, conferences, buying the best ticket to meet people face to face.

Cause you also need that.

Where did you get the money from to start e-commerce?

Really?

Yeah, drop shipping.

That was my first bit.

Good for you, bro.

So, back like eight years ago, drop shipping was hot and it worked.

Now it doesn't work.

It's too saturated.

Too many people are doing it.

Too many people are doing it.

Yeah.

It's kind of like podcasts now.

A lot of them are saturated.

Too many people are doing it.

Yeah, but obviously you hit when you hit doing this podcast.

Obviously, you know, you're one of the biggest now.

Well, you need something unique about your show.

100%.

Or else you're going to be in the crowd.

100%.

What's obviously

what's one of the biggest ones in Vegas?

The fighting guy, people are gonna hate me.

Jay Shields, Jay Shield, not JS Shields, um, Dana White, oh, Dana, yeah, is it Dana's podcast, or it's not Dana?

It's he doesn't have his own, but he goes on a lot.

Whose podcast is it?

It's a it's like it's a fighting host, Ariel Hilwani, or no, it's gonna kill me.

Someone called Michelle Sunnin, no, who is it?

Fighting host, I can't think he's big in the UFC, Kamara Usman, no, Henry Cejudo.

I love how you know

he knows Dana really well,

oh Nelk Boys nah well obviously I know Nelk Boys but uh someone coming who I'm talking about because I know there's somebody is he still active or no oh it's not a fighter I'm stupid um Theo Vaughn oh Theo yeah yeah Theo Nashville, yeah, yeah, he's he's another one that killed it as well, you know, you know just stuff that people enjoy to watch just like this, you know comedy shows are actually number one in all the categories really pods, yeah.

It's category then true crime because girls love the true crime stuff.

Oh, shit.

And then I think it's like health and then business.

That's cool.

What would you consider this as?

This is like business education, entertainment, I'd say.

Yeah, it depends on the guest.

Yeah.

I wanted to ask you about one of my previous guests, Jack Doherty.

What do you think about that kid?

It's such a hard conversation because I don't support a lot of things he does.

But then again, I know how social media works.

Is he the guy he is on social media in real life?

Is the question.

No.

That's why I don't want to say an opinion because obviously, you know, I saw the video and I was like, oh my God, this kid's a kid's a prick.

And he did the thing walking like this of the guy and put the security guard in front of him.

Yeah.

I wanted to punch him in the face.

I was like, I don't like this kid.

I really don't like this kid.

And the way he acted.

But then I thought to myself,

what if this genuinely is just for views and this kid isn't really like us in real life?

You know?

Yeah.

And I'm guessing you know him a little better than I do.

So he's been on the show.

I'll say this.

He showed up an hour and a half late.

I didn't like that.

I thought that was a little disrespectful.

Not a good start.

Yeah.

Especially as a podcast as big as this.

It's not respectful.

I had no heads up.

He was just like, my bad, I overslept.

So I didn't like that.

Then we filmed the podcast.

It did well or whatever.

He started being more responsive to me.

So I think it's a case if he likes you or respects you, he will treat you nicely.

But I don't think he'll treat the average person that way.

Yeah, that's right.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, that's why.

That's why I don't think I like the kid, but but i'm not gonna come on here and be like oh i think he's a prick i want to fight him hit that kid because i don't know him you know yeah you never judge a book by his cover but i i don't like the content he produces but i i did like the fact he was trying to help josh you know the josh block kids

i don't know if it was for views i don't know what it was for this kid jock joe uh there this kid josh block

he um

he's he's a creator now and he is on the spectrum of he's on he has autism yeah

and um i think he's a pretty high level of autism as well.

And I think it's so sad what's happened to the kid.

Because so many people, so many people are like, I don't like this kid.

He's disgusting.

He does this, does that.

This kid wouldn't know anything if it wasn't for the people that surrounded him, teaching him the things they taught him.

You know?

Like, I'm not saying he needs to be put in a home, but

he needs some kind of guidance that is not the guidance he's getting right now, you know?

And I don't think anyone who doesn't have autism can understand where the kid's coming from.

Because we're not in his brain.

We don't know what he's thinking.

and obviously, he says things that are you know wrong, and I don't support in the slightest, but again, it's things that only the people are surrounding himself are saying, you know what I mean?

Like, this kid isn't just waking up saying this because he heard it in a dream, it's it's what he's surrounding himself with, yeah, and that's what's so sad about the whole the whole thing with Josh is because

just just the whole the whole surrounding he has is just wrong.

And I really hope before it's too late because this kid's drinking like ridiculously

for a kid like you know on the spectrum like I don't know what boundaries he has for himself, but just what like like drinking and puking not he like just going again and going again and going again.

Oh my god.

Like I say the kid really needs some help.

Otherwise it's gonna it's gonna be too late.

That's dangerous.

You know, and that's why I really want someone to just step in and just really help this kid because I feel like I just feel like he's had the wrong guidance.

You know,

he hasn't had parents for a long, long, long time.

He hasn't really had guidance, you know?

And I just think the kid just needs some guidance of life that's it that's just my opinion on it that's my take i hope so man i remember when uh you know steve will do it of course yeah i remember when he first came on the scene he was drinking like crazy but he was able to kind of channel he shifted it and that's so and then he sort of given hundreds of thousands to people who needed it right you know uh another one uh is it md motivator heard of him yeah and i think it's md motivator another guy you know makes big bucks just doing it to help other people that's what i respect you know those kind of creators that that are just doing things to help other other people like i i love that right so that's where i'll see the social media side where i'm like all right they're doing something crazy now but are they gonna build their brand off that or are they gonna pivot like

yeah yeah neon yeah neon's doing well at pivoting right now streaming yeah that's his biggest thing he used to be like purposely addicted to people and whatever now he's like way better well the whole thing with the island boys too what are they doing i don't know where they are That's the thing.

They built their brand off controversy.

Yeah, and the people don't want that, though.

Like, they should have started off doing the Island Boy song, whatever the hell, and then then figured out some kind of brand right that's what logan and jake did that's why they worked they did this stupid content they did those viral youtube videos they thought in their head we can't live off this forever let's pivot let's make a brand jake um boxing logan uh wwe yeah they both had

just a genius like mindset of where they wanted to be in life you know and that's what's so scary about these viral videos right now this the shit ain't gonna last forever that i've got no you need to pivot like you said pivoting is is gonna be the most important thing 100 yeah yeah streaming seems to be the the wave right now yeah but the problem with streaming is you got to keep doing crazier to get views yeah that's what i agree that's what's so sad you saw my cheating videos all that stuff i don't want to do that bro i just want to sing a song but no one's gonna get no one's gonna give a shit about singing a song you know right and that 500 million i brought up again i'd rather it's a hundred hundred million streams on a song you know but uh Maybe one day.

Yeah.

Who knows?

Well, dude, 500 is the most I've ever heard.

Really?

Yeah.

Have you heard of anyone ahead of that?

No, that's why I'm wondering what Justin Bieber and all these people have right now on this.

I swear.

Imagine seeing Justin Bieber's insights and mine have more.

Yeah, that would, dude.

And here's why.

Quick.

Obviously, if he posted every day, he would beat you, but I think he doesn't post that much.

So I think you have him beat, bro.

I'd want to know.

Bieber, if you see this podcast, just let me know your insights.

Let me feel good about myself for once.

How many followers does he have?

He probably has like 300 million.

300 mil.

He's a 300 mil.

He definitely has like 700 million impressions 800 million so if he posts at least a few times well the album release he's obviously oh yeah right now he's popping yeah what do you think of the album loved it a lot of good it was great i loved it people i i don't think people understood how i like how

how he created the production of the album there's no crazy massive instruments it's like a bass a guitar live drum it's just that's what i'm saying about um

what uh teddy swims has done it's bringing that back that old feel in music, you know, and I just think Justin's done that really well in this album.

He's brought back that live RB soul feel,

and I really feel like more artists are going to do it.

I feel like it's just going to keep happening, and that's what I love to see and what I love to hear.

I love that, man.

100%, bro.

Where can people find you and find your shows in Vegas and everything?

Um, my only friends is no

play, uh, Mackenzie Soul on all social media platforms.

Yeah, Virgin Hotel, Thursday, Aria, Wednesday, and Shinlim every night.

Let's get it, brother.

Thanks for coming on, dude.

Good to see you.

Have a great time.

Thank you.