Wiz Khalifa: How to Build Your Schedule to Make You Happy & Strategize Your Life 5 Years in Advance

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Speaker 4 The craziest part of my life, I can go from performing in front of 40,000 people to either being in a dressing room, being in a plane, or being back in a bed all by myself.

Speaker 4 He is a multi-platinum selling recording artist, mini mogo, and an actor. What's your mother?

Speaker 2 Did you feel like a big break was coming?

Speaker 4 I didn't know what that big break looked or felt like, but I knew that what I was doing was working. The gang banging and the drug selling, that's not really for me.

Speaker 4 But the looking cool, the having girls, the making music, I'm like, I like that part of it.

Speaker 2 What's it like to get a record deal and then lose a record deal?

Speaker 4 Oh, there's no bouncing back from that.

Speaker 2 How unsafe was it where you were in Pittsburgh?

Speaker 4 The streets is crazy out there. I remember like one of my first friends getting shot and killed in seventh grade.

Speaker 2 Wow. When was your sibling who passed away?

Speaker 4 She passed away, I think, maybe seven years ago.

Speaker 2 How was that experience for you? Losing someone so close to you that you love?

Speaker 4 I am grateful that I was able to have like the last moments that I had and to be able to prepare for it. And it's something that I'm still dealing with.

Speaker 2 What's a misconception you think people have about you?

Speaker 4 The number one health and wellness podcast.

Speaker 2 Jay Shetty. Jay Shetty.
The one, the only Jay Shetty.

Speaker 2 Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health and wellness podcast in the world. Thanks to each and every one of you that come back every week to listen, learn, and grow.

Speaker 2 Today's guest is the one and only Wiz Khalifa, multi-platinum artist and Grammy nominee who rose to fame with his 2011 debut album Rolling Papers, featuring the hit Black and Yellow.

Speaker 2 Wiz won Best New Artist at the 2011 BET Awards and Top New Artist at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards.

Speaker 2 His song See You Again from the Furious 7 top charts in 95 countries and earned a Golden Globe nomination for best original song.

Speaker 2 Today we're talking about Wiz's newest album, Kush plus Orange Juice 2. Please welcome to the show Wiz Khalifa.

Speaker 4 Hey.

Speaker 4 What's up, man?

Speaker 2 What's up, Wiz? I'm chilling.

Speaker 4 How are you?

Speaker 2 I'm good. I'm good.
It's great to have you here.

Speaker 4 Yeah, good to be here.

Speaker 2 You walked in with this real chill energy today. I was like, it was very calming.

Speaker 4 Yeah, I'm a super chill dude.

Speaker 2 I love that, man. Yeah, yeah.
What's the first thing you do in the morning?

Speaker 4 Smoke weed. Every day? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 First thing?

Speaker 4 Well, I take my dog out outside. I have a Doberman.
He's a puppy, but he's a big puppy. He's like, he's 10 months now.
And he wakes up pretty early. So I take him out and then I smoke weed.

Speaker 2 Do you ever remember a day before that was the case?

Speaker 4 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember the days before that was the case.

Speaker 2 What were those days like?

Speaker 4 I was in school. So I would just get up and iron my clothes and, you know,

Speaker 4 go off to school.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 4 Was there ever a time in your life where you tried to stop smoking or has that ever been a goal nah I never I never really never really fell back off of it I never had a reason to yeah yeah what does it do for you that you feel it needs to be your first habit of the day for me it just kind of gets me in a relaxing mood uh I have a lot of things on my mind like as soon as I wake up so it's like I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere.

Speaker 4 But if I smoke, I kind of chill, relax, put everything into its place. I write my goals down.

Speaker 4 i start to you know make some text messages or phone calls or whatever depending on what the situation is so everything just starts to come into place yeah you write your gold goals down regularly is that like a regular habit a consistent habit yeah yeah yeah definitely walk us through what that looks like it's really like me kind of like just spitballing stuff whatever it is like short-term goals of mine whether it be about clothing music family uh visuals, content,

Speaker 4 just kind of like just writing the first ideas, like really short, really just to the point, nothing really crazy. I have a blackboard, so I'll sit in front of the blackboard and physically write it.

Speaker 4 Or if I'm in my car or something like that, I'll write it down in my notes. You know what I'm saying? Just to like little reminders and things like that.
Yeah. I love that.

Speaker 2 How long have you had that habit for?

Speaker 4 It goes on and off just due to like necessity, like how crazy my life is.

Speaker 4 So I just, i feel like i don't know how long it's been because i do it like so regularly and then i look back and i see how much i've done and i'm like wow i've been doing this for a long ass freaking time yeah so i think it's kind of like um

Speaker 4 like a second nature type of thing for me yeah what do you find is the craziest part of your life the craziest part of my life i think the entertainment part is the craziest part and i think it's because i can go

Speaker 4 performing in front of 30 000 40 000 people to either being in a dressing room being in a plane or being back in a bed all by myself and it's like to go from like that much energy to just be all by like back by yourself i think that's pretty crazy walk us through what that feels like mentally like you just described two polar opposites and the majority of people on the planet will never really experience those extremes.

Speaker 2 They might experience the loneliness in a room, but they won't experience the 30,000 people screaming your name, wearing your merch, you know, whatever it may be singing along to your music.

Speaker 2 What are you feeling in the in-betweens and the transition of that to that?

Speaker 4 You have to have this thing, this thing where you kind of wind down and you know what is for where.

Speaker 4 Like you can't bring the stage home because eventually you have to, you know, wind down and go to sleep and wake up and do it again and you can't be you know too turned off when you're on the stage because you have to bring enough energy to where somebody is way in the back and they can feel you so it's really just like a projection of like you know your energy and how you feel and

Speaker 4 the majority of the times I'm in a great mood I have great interactions with my fans and the people around stage and things like that. So it goes good.

Speaker 4 I'm in a great mood, but it's just a lot of, this goes from really, really intense and then it could just all just be shut off at one second. And I think that that's like the craziest part to me.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I can relate, you know, I'd heard that before and I can relate in a small, very small way comparatively, but I remember doing my first ever live show in 2019. It was at the Ace Theater

Speaker 2 or maybe 2018, something like that, in the Ace Hotel. And what, it's like, I don't know, 1,500 people, 2,000 people, maybe.
It was my first ever show.

Speaker 2 and I remember walking off stage jumping into the car to get driven back home and it was just the strangest feeling yeah like it's so hard to explain it yeah yeah yeah and I wasn't you know it wasn't like I don't do music so I haven't got even with that experience but I'm feeling connected with my audience yeah then you get into the back of a black you know a black car you you barely know it I didn't know anyone in the car with me I was alone and I'm driving home and I just felt I was like wow I don't even know how to describe

Speaker 2 the juxtaposition and then I went on my world tour last year. We did roughly 40 cities around the world.
And that was like you're in a new place every day.

Speaker 2 And now you're feeling that same thing every day. And so I know it's much smaller compared to what you've done.
But to me, just getting that experience. And I remember that night I was lucky.

Speaker 2 I came home and my wife had planned a surprise party. So all my closest friends were back in my house.

Speaker 2 And that kind of like, it was a relief. Yeah.
But it, but it is a really weird feeling.

Speaker 4 Yeah. I don't think the feeling is smaller due to the crowd or whatever.

Speaker 4 i think the feeling is the feeling yeah it's like when you're on a roller coaster and like you get back and like you're in your bed and you still feel like you're on the roller coaster yeah

Speaker 4 it's like you know what i mean so i i feel like we still have that in common even though it might be at different levels and it's it's not even always 30 000 people sometimes it could be a private event or sometimes it could be an event with some kids or something like that to where it's like you just get really two totally different, you know, parts of life.

Speaker 4 And they're both great. I love my normal life and I love my work life too.
It's just the difference between them is crazy.

Speaker 2 Yeah. What's helped you continue to love them and deal with that paradox with that ease and comfort?

Speaker 2 What's really soothed your relationship with those, you know, challenging or crazy experiences that you mentioned?

Speaker 4 I think it has a lot to do with like my relationship with my fans because I love the people that I do music for, and they give me a really, really great response and reaction, um, not only to my performance, but to my music and just the appreciation that they have for it.

Speaker 4 So, I appreciate them as well, and it makes it easier because I enjoy it and I love to create, I love to be on stage, I love to be in front of people. Yeah, so it doesn't feel like

Speaker 4 I'm like

Speaker 4 doing anything out of,

Speaker 2 oh, I just want the money or this is just for this certain reason is really really enjoyable for me so yeah it's beautiful yeah it's a great experience that's such a beautiful place to be yeah yeah for sure yeah yeah it that that gratitude to your community for for being there for you yeah for being present with you yeah definitely yeah what's what's been a what's been like your craziest fan experience or fan interaction a memory that you have with one of the audience members that I think the craziest stuff is when people like

Speaker 4 come up and get me to like sign my name on them so they can get it tatted. Wow.
Or they show me like tattoos of my face on them. I think those are the craziest interactions because I have tattoos.

Speaker 4 I'm covered in them. So I know how important that is.

Speaker 4 And to be, you know, just me as an artist and doing what I'm doing and to want to have people to want to like tattoo me on them is pretty, uh, it's pretty tight.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Have people ever done a lyric as well?

Speaker 4 Yeah, yeah, they do lyrics. They do song titles.
They do pictures.

Speaker 4 They do autographs.

Speaker 2 They do all types of stuff wow yeah what's your most meaningful tattoo or one that really uh speaks to you

Speaker 4 probably

Speaker 4 uh i got a couple i got you know my mom's name i got my brother's name my sibling who passed away um i got my little sister yeah probably like my family tattoos mean the mean the most to me the rest of them are just like stuff about life that i've learned throughout the way or things that i've called myself throughout life yeah yeah

Speaker 2 When was your sibling who passed away?

Speaker 4 She passed away, I think, maybe seven years ago. I don't remember exactly how many years ago.
It could be like, could be more or less.

Speaker 2 Yeah, and how old was she then?

Speaker 4 She would have been 40 now, so she was probably 33 when she passed away.

Speaker 2 So you had some life together.

Speaker 4 Oh, yeah, hell yeah. We grew up together.

Speaker 4 Yeah, same mom, same dad. Yeah.

Speaker 2 How was that experience for you? Losing someone so close to you that you love?

Speaker 4 I wouldn't say like rough

Speaker 4 because, you know, you get through that type of stuff and you learn how to deal with it. But it's definitely a situation that I never would have expected.

Speaker 4 Like, like we weren't sick growing up or anything like that.

Speaker 4 We were always the same. So it's like when you get to a certain age, you don't plan on losing a sibling.
And it was just something that we had to deal with.

Speaker 4 And, you know, as her health declined, it was something that we knew was going to happen. So it was like, all right, cool, let's get ready for it.
You know what I mean?

Speaker 4 And I am grateful that I was able to have like the last moments that I had and to be able to prepare for it. And, you know, my son has memories of my sibling and things like that.

Speaker 4 And her birthday was actually on Halloween. So we celebrate every year annually.
We throw a party. So yeah,

Speaker 4 it was definitely an experience. But, you know, it's something that I'm still dealing with.
Like, you know, like a lot of the times I'm doing like really, really well.

Speaker 4 And then sometimes it might, you know, it might hit me to a point where it's like, all right, you know,

Speaker 4 let me just slow down and kind of deal with this and or just think about it or talk about it or just whatever it is that gets me through it. But yeah, it's just like a continuous thing.

Speaker 2 For sure.

Speaker 2 How did you prepare for it at the time? You said you kind of knew it was, you know, her her health was diminishing over time. How did you prepare at the time?

Speaker 2 Like, were there specific rituals or things you did or memories you made together that stayed with you?

Speaker 4 No, it wasn't really too many rituals or memories or anything like that. I was traveling a lot at the time, so I did make sure that I went home.
and spent some time with her before she passed away.

Speaker 4 And then my mom was really the one who was like right by her side the whole time. So she was giving me kind of like blow by blow of everything and just how the situation was going to go.

Speaker 4 And I just did my best to try to make her as comfortable as possible, you know, for those last couple moments. And

Speaker 4 yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 I mean, it sounds like you said you're still dealing with it, even though it sounds like you made the most of that time. Yeah.
And now you're saying you reach out to people and talk about it.

Speaker 2 Who would you reach out to when you want to talk about something like that?

Speaker 4 I would talk to like my aunt Rachel.

Speaker 4 We had like, you know, we all just laughed and joked and just had a real good time together.

Speaker 4 Talked to my mom, talked to my dad, talked to my baby sister about it.

Speaker 4 I most recently talked to like just one of my other aunties about it just randomly. Because I feel like we all feel the same and we all have losses and, you know,

Speaker 4 can relate in certain ways, even though it's not the best thing to be relatable about. But, you know, we feel similar about it.
So it's cool to have those conversations.

Speaker 4 and you know feel good about it afterwards yeah i love that you still celebrate her birthday Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2 That's a beautiful way to think about it.

Speaker 4 Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2 Yeah. It's such a hard balance, I find, in terms of mourning or grieving someone's death and then celebrating the life you had with them.
Yeah. And it's such a fine line.

Speaker 2 And often you're pulled in either direction. But I think it's so important that we do celebrate life and memories we had with someone and celebrate their life as well.

Speaker 4 Yeah, absolutely. I just look, I look at it as like if she was still here, we'd be partying.
So

Speaker 4 let's not stop the party.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that's beautiful. Thank you.

Speaker 2 I was diving into a career whiz and I feel like when someone like you becomes as successful as you've become and, you know, is dropping successful hits here and there, you almost forget the journey that they've been on and the graft that they've been on.

Speaker 2 And I was really fascinated by that because it hasn't just been like a smooth, easy, linear journey. I think people think of success as like

Speaker 2 You tried something out, it worked, and now you're this, you know, this big phenomenon. And yours had lots of twists and turns when

Speaker 4 like what was your life like before black and yellow compared to what it is now what was it like before that i would say it was pretty normal like it was pretty regular um i was just you know like any other 20 something year old i think just the way that we were working and traveling and like going on the road and kind of the money that we were dealing with a lot of it was getting reinvested back into the business so i was making money but I was spending money on myself.

Speaker 4 And like, not even in a big way, but it would just be, you know, hotels, travel, things like that.

Speaker 4 So I was putting myself through like courses in business and how to like, you know, make money, spend money, reinvest, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 4 I was doing all of this stuff naturally, but it wasn't on that level yet because we hadn't met. you know, anybody who was in the game.
We hadn't had business managers or anything like that.

Speaker 4 So it was just, you know, me and my friends, we were kind of just really, really hustling and making the best out of, out of what we knew how to do.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 2 I mean, did you feel like a big break was coming or did it feel like, God, we don't know how this is going to go?

Speaker 4 Well, being that I already had a record deal and then

Speaker 4 essentially lost that record deal. I didn't feel like a big break was coming.
I didn't know what that big break looked or felt like, but I knew that what I was doing was working.

Speaker 4 And I knew that the people who were into me

Speaker 4 and

Speaker 4 the movement that I had created, I knew that that was more popular than you know the mainstream and like what was really really popular at the time. So I was really confident in that.

Speaker 4 But I didn't know like a big moment was coming.

Speaker 2 What's it like to get a record deal and then lose a record deal?

Speaker 4 It sucked for me. Like just because in those days, like, if you had a record deal, like, that was it.
And then if you didn't have a record deal, like, you were done.

Speaker 4 So, to have one and then lose it is like, oh, there's no bouncing back from that. Like, I never knew anybody who bounced back from that.
But in my mind, it was never over. I never counted myself out.

Speaker 4 I just never knew what the next situation was going to look like or how long or what that timeframe was going to be like.

Speaker 2 Where did that confidence come from? I love how self-assured you were that like like what you were doing in the community you were building was resonating with what you were doing.

Speaker 2 Where does that come from? Because I think, like you said, so many people today who might be listening and they, maybe they just, you know, got kicked out of a job.

Speaker 2 Maybe they got rejected from their record deal. I remember when I, when I was first coming up with the idea for this podcast six years ago,

Speaker 2 I had a production company and a

Speaker 2 a partner that was going to launch the show with me. I went away for the holidays, Christmas holidays, came back, and then I was told that it wasn't on anymore.

Speaker 2 So I remember that feeling and having to launch the show on my own. If someone's going through that right now, how did you maintain that composure and that confidence?

Speaker 2 Like, no, we're doing something here. We may not know when that break's coming, but we're going to keep moving.

Speaker 4 Yeah, I think it was just by like standing on the things that I believed in and the stuff that made me most comfortable. And if I wanted to show it, I was going to show it.

Speaker 4 If I wanted to talk about it, I was going to talk about it. It might not have been what everybody else would have considered was going to take somebody to the top, but it made me feel free.

Speaker 4 And I enjoyed myself by doing it. And I think just in turn, a lot of people have fun enjoying watching me do it.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 If you could give your younger self any advice before Black and Yellow came out, what would it be?

Speaker 4 I was good. Keep doing what you're doing.

Speaker 4 You got it figured out, fool.

Speaker 4 is there anything you would have liked to have known for how to deal with it afterwards nah nah everything that i've that i learned and that i figured out um along my way i think happened in its time and how it was supposed to and it's positioning me for even greater points in my life as well yeah where did where does that come from because that's such a peaceful thing and and like i said from the moment you walked in there's there's such a peace and ease about you

Speaker 2 in in an industry where people can get jaded,

Speaker 2 people can get ruffled, they get flustered.

Speaker 2 How have you kept that peace and composure for yourself? Where's that coming from?

Speaker 4 Really, like just my goals in this shit. I have my own personal goals, and I've reached a lot of my old goals that I was trying to do.

Speaker 4 And I reached them by being myself and doing exactly what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it.

Speaker 4 So, you know, knowing that that's possible and seeing that it doesn't make me want to rush to the next point or the next situation.

Speaker 4 I'm comfortable waiting for what's mine and, you know, just seeing what, how everything plays out as opposed to, you know, trying to make it be somebody else's story.

Speaker 4 Like, I feel like my whole story and everything as far as my life, if I see it, I wanted it. It's just a matter of time until I get it.

Speaker 4 So, you know, I'll just wait that that amount of time and, you know, just keep, just stay down and just, you know, just be very very like

Speaker 4 have a lot of gratitude for where i'm at and what i've done so far and even when i was coming up i was really really happy with what i had so the more and more that i started to get it wasn't because i wasn't happy where i was at and i had to get more it was just because i was so happy it just you know just kept turning into more and more so i just keep it like that yeah there's a there's a beautiful quote that says when you're grateful for what you have you'll receive more to be grateful for and i think it's true that gratitude expands but it's beautiful hearing you say that did you learn that from anyone did anyone teach you mentor you guide you or is this an internal thing that's kind of evolved over time this is definitely something internal that's evolved over time and it's like gotten me really really far dealing with people in business or dealing with the law or dealing with just different personalities in general um as far as like just getting what i want creatively and not you know freaking losing my mind and you know just being able to talk to people and and have clear conversations with an understanding of you know what what works what's real and what's not and what we can make real.

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Speaker 2 What's been the hardest conversation you've ever had to have with someone?

Speaker 4 The hardest conversation I've ever had to have with someone

Speaker 4 I Think the toughest conversations that I have to have are when I have to explain my ideas

Speaker 4 Yeah, yeah, because because I'm so hyped up about it like before it start before I verbalize it and then as soon as I start to say it I just feel like the level of intensity of it just comes down.

Speaker 4 I'd rather just do shit sometimes and like just show you and like, but I learned, you know, by working with so many other people, how valuable it is to like have a team.

Speaker 4 So I learned how to be able to express, you know, what I'm thinking and have that go through a whole process and then and then we make it real.

Speaker 2 That's so true, man. Yeah.
I feel like that sometimes like you can see it in your head.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 2 But then you're like, you can't press play on the projector and then it comes out. And so when you're explaining it, everyone's like looking at you like you're crazy.
Yeah, exactly. And you are right.

Speaker 2 Sometimes I do feel feel we live in a time in an industry where people have heard so many ideas that until you see something,

Speaker 2 you don't even understand it. Right.
And I feel like when you look at music or you look at movies or film or TV or whatever it is, when you watch something, you're like, oh, that was amazing.

Speaker 2 But like someone, when they talked about it, no one wanted to buy it. Right.
Did you find that record labels and people that you've worked with the music always understood you immediately?

Speaker 2 Or no, you kind of had to go prove and show?

Speaker 4 Oh, man, they didn't know what to do with me. Like there was no clue what to do with me early on.

Speaker 4 That's why I lost my first record deal because when I came in, the song was really good and it was a sample from a popular song that people, you know, was really recognizable.

Speaker 4 But after that, it was like, well, what do you do? Do you make like five more of these songs? Or like, what are we going to do?

Speaker 4 And they really didn't understand like me being from Pittsburgh, me smoking weed, me being lyrical, me, you know, being a cross between like, you know, really, really hard hip-hop culture, but then like really cool, trippy, hippie, skating, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 4 Earthy mother.

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Speaker 4 Hey everyone, Ed Helms here. And hi, I'm Cal Penn and we're the hosts of Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club.

Speaker 4 This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Jenny Garth, host of the iHeart podcast I Choose Me, to discuss the new audible adaptation of the timeless Jane Austen classic, Pride and Prejudice.

Speaker 4 This is not a trick question. There's no wrong answer.
What role would I play?

Speaker 2 You know what?

Speaker 1 I can see you as Mr. Darcy.

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Speaker 4 Dude, like there was no cross between that at the time. Like you really had to be like big white T, like Chain, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 4 So like a lot of labels didn't understand what to do with me. And it wasn't until...

Speaker 4 You know, I built my fan base of people who believe the same thing that I believe in. And I was able to, you know, travel and do shows.
And then they would come and see the show.

Speaker 4 And they'd be like, these motherfuckers are going crazy over this dude. Like, it doesn't matter what we say or what we think is dope.
It's obviously, you know, there.

Speaker 4 And I feel like that whole format, you know, has been done a lot, like, especially in rock and roll and pop music, where the act will be bigger in real life than they are, you know what I mean, to other people.

Speaker 4 Like, they're bigger in real life than they are, like, to hype. Like, as far as the hype goes, Once they started to see that, that was my situation.
And that's when people started to pick up on me.

Speaker 2 Was that the way you built this audience that understood you? Was it performing live?

Speaker 2 Do you feel like that was the significant part for you in creating this amazing connection you have with your audience?

Speaker 4 Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 4 Performing live, going to a lot of different colleges.

Speaker 4 festivals before they were as big as they are now. Like stuff like South by Southwest and the really like grassroots underground stuff is like what built, you know, us.

Speaker 4 And we packed into a van and just went on our own tours, just up and down and just drove ourselves. And then on top of that, YouTube had just came around.

Speaker 4 So, you know, I was recording myself and putting my vlogs on YouTube. I call it a day-to-day.
And I still do these to this day.

Speaker 4 They're like a compilation vlog of like a week in my life. And I just started doing it because I was like, my life is so crazy.
Nobody sees it. And it's so much fun.

Speaker 4 And there's so much much like stuff that goes on. I was like, so I might as well turn it into like, you know what I mean, a little 10 minutes short.
Yeah. And it worked.
It worked a lot.

Speaker 4 It helped sell a lot of merch. It helped sell a lot of tickets.
It helped build a really consistent fan base of people who are still here to this day.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Do you remember any of those trips, certain places you went to where something crazy happened that you caught on camera?

Speaker 4 Man, it's all on camera.

Speaker 2 So you can see you can see that. Is anyone that stands out to you?

Speaker 4 Yeah. I mean, I think like there's really classic episodes.
There's like an Australian tour with me and ASAP Rocky.

Speaker 4 You see like me and J. Cole in his early days.
You see me and currency in our early days. You see

Speaker 4 a lot of artists. You see me and Kendrick in his early days.
You see me with Nipsey Hustle.

Speaker 4 Yeah, you see like the whole community of people who we really came up with who are like OGs in the game now.

Speaker 4 But there's really classic footage of us when we all just started out mac miller um a lot of people everybody man everybody who you listen to now was on was in those day-to-days like originally how did you guys all meet each other back then like how did you connect yeah we guess there was no instagram dm maybe there was maybe there wasn't no we would connect through twitter right yeah twitter was the vibe back then there was no ig we weren't like dming each other on there but we would connect through twitter and clothing and if if anybody needed clothes or weed, like we would all hit up the same people's for clothes, weed, and, you know, just vibes and stuff like that.

Speaker 4 And we just all clicked. And as we started to like take off on different levels, we would just bring each other with us based off of who we, you know,

Speaker 4 not really liked the most, but were who we were closest knit with at the time or who it made the most sense with.

Speaker 2 Yeah. What's it like watching Kendrick then and Kendrick now?

Speaker 4 It's really dope watching Kendrick then and then now

Speaker 4 because we all came up together. So we were all doing the same things.
We were all speaking to the same crowd and we were at different levels in our career.

Speaker 4 And I just remember performance-wise, Kendrick will kind of like scream on stage.

Speaker 4 Like he didn't sound like he did on the record, but now he's like one of the best performers and he's like one of the, you know what I'm saying? The guys really carrying it for our generation.

Speaker 4 So to see him like just jump up levels and levels and levels through like hard work and branding and, you know, just being around the right people at the right times, bringing people along with him, like baby King and all of them.

Speaker 4 Like, you know what I'm saying? He's just really doing every move to the T of how you're supposed to do it.

Speaker 2 And how's J. Cole evolved as well?

Speaker 4 Cole is the same thing. It's like, you know, we all started out just The homies, like trying to get a verse on each other's tapes.

Speaker 4 And now dudes are like elite rappers up there you know what i'm saying and it's like it's cool to see him have his own festival it's cool to see like he doesn't have to do as much work throughout the year but when he does drop people pay attention how they're supposed to he's he does great tours and like as a as a performance artist and as a substance artist, I feel like he has a type of career like that's all you can ask for.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 2 That's powerful. Where does it feel like you were saying there? Like, in some ways, things have changed.
Like, what's changed for up-and-coming artists today? Like, what are they doing right?

Speaker 2 What are they doing wrong? How would you advise someone if you were starting out from scratch

Speaker 2 today again?

Speaker 2 How would you approach your career differently or in the same way?

Speaker 4 I think that there's levels to it. Um,

Speaker 4 I think that a lot of people aim for like the surface level where it's like you get one or two things

Speaker 4 and you're good, and that's what takes you to the top.

Speaker 4 but usually that that works against you because you'll have that spike but then you'll go back down and you'll have to go back up again it's really difficult to have that spike and to have that feeling of validation like oh yeah everybody's with me blah blah blah and then boom they're not with you and then you got to try to do something to get them back on your team so you know a lot of people are going to want to go that route but it has a lot of negatives that come with it on the back end

Speaker 4 and it's a really good time for artists to, you know, cultivate a real fan base, whether it be in front of people's eyes or whether it be behind the scenes.

Speaker 4 It's a really great time to cultivate a fan base of people that understand you, understand your slang and how you dress and what your lifestyle is about and really push that to the forefront.

Speaker 4 Let that slowly build. And eventually, whether it's a year, two years, three years, or five years, you know, you're always making a little bit of progress here, here, there.

Speaker 4 And wherever you land at, you're going to permanently be there.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Yeah.
There's a lot of people today who get told,

Speaker 2 you've only got 12 months, you had your hit. We've got 12 months to make as much money off of you as possible.

Speaker 2 Like a lot of people hear that, like, hey, look, your career is not going to be that long. Let's make the most we can.
What would you say to someone who feels that fear themselves or gets told that?

Speaker 2 Like, hey, look, you had one hit. Let's just, you know, crush this peak.

Speaker 4 If somebody tells you you that

Speaker 4 you better get some drugs and start selling them,

Speaker 4 use that money, flip it, nah,

Speaker 4 get some real estate.

Speaker 4 Because if I mean, like somebody who only has a year planned in you and they're like, yo, you're only going to be here for this amount of time. They're going to move on.

Speaker 4 They're going to find other artists or, you know, different people to represent. And you're going to be asked out like so any artist or any

Speaker 4 personality who somebody is already talking about like the the limit of the the lifespan of their career they should definitely be worried and

Speaker 4 not try to race to you know do the most in that amount of time but to try to figure out how to extend that lifespan. So let's take what that person just told you and let's try to figure out

Speaker 4 what the next five years looks like instead of the, you know, next 12 months.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that's good advice.

Speaker 4 Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2 How far into the future do you look when you're planning music, work, life?

Speaker 4 I always try to look at least five or 10 years in advance. Yeah.

Speaker 2 How different is where you are today from where you looked at where you'd be five to 10 years ago?

Speaker 4 I'm doing way better business-wise than I've ever done.

Speaker 4 Not just making money, but managing money.

Speaker 4 And I feel like I'm getting better and better at that.

Speaker 4 And, you know, that's what's going to take me, you know, into the future as well is not only just, you know, the making of the money, but the money management.

Speaker 2 What have been your best moves in money management or business that you think people could learn from?

Speaker 4 My best moves in business is just...

Speaker 4 Being accountable for everything.

Speaker 4 I think in rap music, we get so caught up on the lifestyle. And we're like, I have to have this.
Or if it's a new truck, I'm buying that.

Speaker 4 But me, I'm more like, I'm only going to spend this much on clothes this month. You know, if I want a new car, I'm going to wait a year and a half until I get it.
You know what I mean?

Speaker 4 Or I'm going to... move money from this account to spend on this so this is here and that's there and you know we can still pay for tour and you know how much are we spending on tour?

Speaker 4 How much are we making off of tour? How much comes in off a merch on top of the other businesses and things like that.

Speaker 4 But really, the money management, like the everyday type of spending where it's like, you know, you could get carried away buying too many clothes or, you know, getting too many nice rooms or, you know what I mean?

Speaker 4 And

Speaker 4 I, I have a lot of luxuries that come in my life, but I could also do without a lot of that stuff too.

Speaker 4 So the unnecessary stuff and knowing what the stuff that is not really needed, paying attention to that, not letting just those things just slim through the cracks because they all add up and shit.

Speaker 4 So, I think just being way more conscious of that type of stuff.

Speaker 2 Yeah, did you learn that the hard way because you were overspending, or did you learn that because you saw other people before you were overspending?

Speaker 4 Luckily, I didn't get to a point where I overspent or overspent,

Speaker 4 I just received large ass amounts of money. And with that comes advice.

Speaker 4 And, you know, so it's like yearly or quarterly, you know, we need to have these conversations where it's like, this is what the money looks like. We had to spend for this because of that.

Speaker 4 Or, you know, you had a little bit of fun spending this.

Speaker 4 So let's just bring it back on this, this, that, and the other thing.

Speaker 4 And just throughout time of having those conversations, you start to figure out where the unnecessary spending and the problems come from or even if you start to create little different issues you you be like okay this isn't really working in our favor so we need to wiggle out of this and um you know if it even if it's spending this big chunk over here that's going to take away from the uh continuous spending that's kind of like bleeding and taking away so Just to learn that and have that visual in my head, you know, while I'm making decisions, a lot of people feel like they're being controlled if somebody's telling them that.

Speaker 4 But for me, it's a choice. It's like, do you want to be broke 20 years from now or do you want to be having more money 20 years from now? All right.
Well, this is how you do it.

Speaker 2 So, yeah, it's good advice, man. It makes sense.
And it's hard to do in the moment because you just want to get that thing or you want to buy that thing and it applies across the board.

Speaker 2 What's the dumbest thing you ever bought? And now you look back and go, oh, God, that was dumb.

Speaker 4 Man, I don't think it was ever like one dumb thing. I just used to be dumb how I bought stuff.
Like,

Speaker 4 I would see anything and just like it and buy it. It didn't matter how much it cost.
If it was a car, I wanted it, I would buy it like right then and there.

Speaker 4 Sometimes it'd be a watch or something like that. And like, a lot of these watches, I don't even have no more.

Speaker 2 So I was like, you gave them away or sold them?

Speaker 4 Sold, gave away, lost.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 2 And what was the best investment you've ever made?

Speaker 4 It'd probably be like some stocks or it's like some, you know, like a percentage of a business that I've invested in. Yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 I've had multiple, but there's some really good ones that, you know, I put some money into that is going to come back in some really good ways. Yeah.

Speaker 2 I hope people get inspired by hearing you talk about how sometimes you got to put off those big purchases, wait a year for that card, because I think think when we're young, especially

Speaker 2 and you come into even a little bit of money, which feels like a lot of money, it's so easy to

Speaker 2 spend and just get carried away. And especially now, I feel like with all of us just ordering things off of Amazon and everything else these days, like you have no idea how much money you spend.

Speaker 4 Oh, for sure.

Speaker 2 It's so easy.

Speaker 4 It's just super easy to look up and, you know,

Speaker 4 however much just be gone. And when it's gone, it's gone.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 And to me, like, I feel like you have to go through that. You have to really feel that and understand it.
And whatever, you know, you believe in, I believe in God.

Speaker 4 So it's like, that's God telling me, like, okay, you spent this much, it's gone. You're going to get more, but you need to deal with the feeling of you having it and it being gone.

Speaker 4 And then now we'll see what getting more feels like. But some people.

Speaker 4 when they have it and it's over with, they don't even know what that bounce back feels like or looks like.

Speaker 4 so you know unfortunately the the best way to learn is to go through it

Speaker 4 yeah but you're right yeah yeah but afterwards like you know it's on you after that like you're gonna keep doing the same thing over and over or you're gonna learn from you know what happened what is what does your relationship with god look like my relationship with god is the shit i pray all the time i thank god all the time

Speaker 4 Yeah, a lot of people, there's certain people who don't feel like God is like a higher power or anything like that, but I like to just imagine that my God is just like chilling up in the sky, like with a big deep voice.

Speaker 4 The sun could be going down and I could be driving and the Hotel California could be on. I'd be like, thank you, God.
Like, you know what I mean? Because the situation just feels right.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Yeah.
And what does God say to you in God's deep voice?

Speaker 4 You're welcome.

Speaker 4 You're supposed to have this.

Speaker 2 That's awesome. Has that always been there since you were young? Or is that come with time as well?

Speaker 4 Yeah, definitely since I was a teenager.

Speaker 4 Definitely since I was like, I could remember, you know, being in like 9th, 10th, no, probably even like 8th, 8th grade, just praying every night, thanking God for a wonderful day, asking him to bless everybody that I care for.

Speaker 4 Yeah, just like really cool stuff, like just normal, normal ass shit that I want the world to feel.

Speaker 2 What would you pray for? What else apart from other people?

Speaker 4 To be safe.

Speaker 4 I was in a crazy ass place when I lived in Pittsburgh, so I definitely asked for that safety. The older I get, you know,

Speaker 4 I ask for like patience and understanding and things like that. You know what I'm saying? So just regular shit.

Speaker 2 Wow, that's not regular. That's pretty deep.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah. How unsafe was it where you were in Pittsburgh?

Speaker 4 It was super unsafe in Pittsburgh, man. Like the streets is crazy out there.
Friends of mine started getting murdered when I was in like seventh grade.

Speaker 4 Like I remember like one of my first friends getting shot and killed in seventh grade.

Speaker 2 Wow. And then, when did you leave Pittsburgh?

Speaker 4 I came to Pittsburgh permanently when I was in middle school and I stayed throughout high school. And I probably didn't dip until I was like 23 years old.
Right.

Speaker 2 Because you moved around a lot growing up, right?

Speaker 2 At least, at least as far as I saw, every two years in Japan.

Speaker 4 Yeah, every two years I would bounce around. And my mom was always in Pittsburgh.

Speaker 4 So I would go live with my dad for two years and then I would come back to Pittsburgh then I would go live with my dad and then I would come back to Pittsburgh so I was in Pittsburgh in third grade and I was also there for middle school and then I came back for high school and then other than that I lived like in Oklahoma South Carolina Japan yeah those were a couple of what was your favorite place I think Japan was my favorite place.

Speaker 2 How old were you when you were in Japan?

Speaker 4 I was in like fifth or sixth grade.

Speaker 2 Okay. Yeah.
What was that like?

Speaker 4 I mean, Japan at that time, but now I feel like everyone's like, japan's the place to go yeah it's cool when you're like exploring japanese culture but i i just realized like as an adult that that shit was kind of fucked up because it was like i'm living on an american base in japan right and like just the concept of like americans occupying japan was like you never find a japanese base in america but like we have the audacity to like go over there and just be like here here's our base we're going to operate as americans we're going to send our kids to school here Don't teach them your language.

Speaker 4 Nothing. It's just going to act like America in Japan.
So that's the end.

Speaker 2 You never learned Japanese.

Speaker 4 I learned a little bit of Japanese, but it was like basic. It wasn't like really any like diving into the culture or anything like that.
Like it's just you live on post

Speaker 4 and you travel from one base to another base. And that's pretty much what it was.

Speaker 2 How do you think that experience impacted you now? Like, how is that childhood experience of moving around, dotting around every two years defined who you are today?

Speaker 4 It was cool because I was able to just be a regular kid and I was able to like meet friends and different groups of friends and run around and play and knock on doors and ride bikes and climb hills and stuff like that.

Speaker 4 So, it was super chill, man. It was fun just being normal and not really worrying about too much.

Speaker 4 I think the older that I got and the more settled that I got in Pittsburgh, that's when I started to like figure out, you know, who I wanted to be later in life.

Speaker 4 But in those early years, it was just all about being a kid and just playing with my friends.

Speaker 2 When you saw all of that around you, how did you have,

Speaker 2 what gave you that feeling to dream and to want something more? When you're seeing like the violence around you, you're saying it's a rough neighborhood.

Speaker 2 What's given you the ability to go,

Speaker 2 there's more to life than this?

Speaker 4 I think it was just like knowing that I had talent with music.

Speaker 4 I always did music since I was younger.

Speaker 4 My uncles and my cousins were older than me. They were like,

Speaker 4 you know, 15, 16, all the way up to almost like 20 years old. And I was like the baby.
I'm 13 years old. So I'm really kind of trying to do what they're doing.

Speaker 4 But I'm picking the parts that make the most sense for me. So it's like the gang banging and the drug selling and the guns and all that shit.
I'm like, that's not really for me.

Speaker 4 But the looking cool, the having girls, the getting money, the making music, I'm like, I like that part part of it. So that's what I always really stuck to.

Speaker 4 Like, just even as a kid, like, I was just like, I'm going to just do what I know is cool for me, which is just making music. And, you know, that's kind of like what led me on my path.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 How could you, how did you stay away from all of the other things? Because sometimes those can look cool when you're young. They can, they can be attractive when you're young.

Speaker 4 Yeah, I didn't really stay away from it.

Speaker 4 I definitely like, you know, the older that I got and the, you know, the more

Speaker 4 fun I started to have, I kind of was in and out of that stuff, but it wasn't for me, you know, like just, there's, it's a lifestyle for some people and for a lot of those people, like they're still doing it now.

Speaker 4 And for me, it was just kind of like, you know, being a kid or like a rite of passage type thing or it's like product of my environment type stuff, you know, like the little stuff that I would get into is like, I'm here.

Speaker 4 So, you know, I'm getting down.

Speaker 4 Like, I'm not going to be the only one who's not down you know you grow out of that stuff too yeah and you learn from that stuff as well so I learned from the the things that I did do and I learned from the things I didn't do as well yeah I mean now you're a father yourself yeah how do you feel looking now from the perspective of being a dad

Speaker 2 you've been a father to Sebastian for a while now right and then you just had a daughter cadence i believe congratulations thank you and like what's it been like to be a father to sebastian and then, how is your views of fatherhood changing now that you've had a daughter?

Speaker 4 Yeah, it's been really good

Speaker 4 having Sebastian and having a boy, especially at his age. He's 11 now.

Speaker 4 And there's just certain instincts that are starting to kick in, you know, where it's like he was a young boy, now he's like, you know, a young man, and he's growing into more of a young man

Speaker 4 every day, really.

Speaker 4 And just that programming of, you know, life and discipline and

Speaker 4 being polite. And, you know, on top of,

Speaker 4 you know, just everyday stuff of like handling his emotions with his friends and things like that.

Speaker 4 It's a really like fun experience going through all of that with him because I'm able to remember what it was like for me as a kid.

Speaker 4 So instead of just like telling him the rules and what you should and shouldn't do, it's more like guiding him of, you know, how to, you know, navigate through these situations, which is really, really fun.

Speaker 4 And I had that with my dad as well. He was always, you know, there for me and talked to me about a lot.
And he was way more disciplinary than lenient.

Speaker 4 And I'm a super lenient parent with my son, but I'm also like really real with him. And he's able to be real with me and he's able to talk to me about, you know, real life things.

Speaker 4 And when I think about the stuff that I did when I was, you know, coming up, you know, by the time I was his age, I was doing a lot more stuff because, like I said, my uncles and my cousins were older.

Speaker 4 And I'm just thankful that I was able to have those experiences and know what's appropriate and what's right and what's not.

Speaker 4 So I'm able to monitor what goes on with him and what will affect his behavior later. And then just having a baby girl, I think it just adds to it now because I'm able to just give all types of love.

Speaker 4 Like I got the tough love with my boy, and then I got like just the sweetness of having a daughter, which, you know,

Speaker 4 helps out a lot.

Speaker 2 Yeah. How do you think you're going to shift your strategy as she grows up?

Speaker 4 I think I'm going to do it pretty much the same. Just like cater to her needs, like whatever she needs.
If she's like

Speaker 4 super girly girl, then we doing, you know, ballet and we doing dance and we doing drama and we doing all the girly stuff.

Speaker 4 And if she's a tough girl, then we doing kickboxing and we doing whatever else to rough her up. We do horseback riding.
We do whatever we want to do. Like, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 4 There's no, the sky's the limit, but, you know, keep her active, keep her entertained, and just cater to her needs.

Speaker 2 Yeah. What's Sebastian into right now, like 11-year-old? What's his obsession?

Speaker 4 He loves basketball. Okay.
Yeah, he loves to play basketball. He's really just now learning the fundamentals of it, but he's good at it.
He's an athletic kid, and he's like,

Speaker 4 It's good to see him like roughing around with the boys, like being one of the boys.

Speaker 4 They talk shit to each other they get in each other's faces and like they really get after it so he's he's like gravitating towards basketball more than anything just that and just being with the friend being with his friends like just being a kid were you ever any good at basketball yeah hell yeah i do

Speaker 4 i never had like like official training like what he's going through But if I did, bro, I'd be so much better than I actually am. And I'm really, really good.

Speaker 4 So I would be like, I'll be deadly if I knew how to do what he's learning right now.

Speaker 2 So you could give him some pointers along the way.

Speaker 4 Just like naturally, you know what I'm saying? Hell yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 I love that. And you never did ballet or anything or anything?

Speaker 4 Nah, nah, I never did that. I did like acting classes and shit like that.
I was in like speech and drama and all of that shit, but never no dance, though.

Speaker 2 Did that help speech and drama classes? Like, how did that?

Speaker 4 I think that helped. Yeah.
Yeah, I think it helped a lot because it was like, you know, you learn how to project your voice and all of that stuff. And you learn how to like

Speaker 4 hit cues on stage and, you know, just kind of like get outside of yourself in front of people where you're still yourself, but then you're like outside of yourself.

Speaker 4 I definitely think that helped for my performance.

Speaker 2 Yeah. If Sebastian came up to you and was like, I want to be a rapper too.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 What would you say to him?

Speaker 4 I'd be like, let's go.

Speaker 4 Studio's downstairs.

Speaker 2 What advice would you have for him to find his voice?

Speaker 4 Studio's downstairs. Just get in there.

Speaker 4 Get in there. Start rapping.
Yeah. Yep.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Would you want that or

Speaker 2 you're kind of open to whatever?

Speaker 4 Yeah, I wouldn't mind. Especially the way that I'm implemented in the game.
Like, I do what I want to do. I'm not, like,

Speaker 4 nobody controls me. Nobody tells, nobody's like working me harder than I need to be worked or anything.
So I see the same vision for him, especially in the... the age that we're in.

Speaker 4 So it's like, if you're going to be an artist, you're going to be in complete control of everything. So it starts now.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. The team was saying that you plan a lot of your life around him.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Like they were saying that like sports games and things like that. Like you've, you've really taken that idea of an artist should be in control of their own life.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 Like walk us through that mentality, that mindset.

Speaker 4 A lot of people focus so much on their work and they think like that the work is going to come to an end at some point or they have to sacrifice things that are important for work.

Speaker 4 And I believe the opposite. I think I should sacrifice work for my family.

Speaker 4 And it should just be the other way around because of how much I work and how fortunate I am to be in the situation where I put in a lot of work. I've done a lot of things.

Speaker 4 So I don't have to, you know,

Speaker 4 feel this sense of urgency that things aren't going to go my way if I miss out on something or if I,

Speaker 4 you know, speak up and just try to make sure that everything works out how I would rather at work.

Speaker 4 And, And, you know, I had the point in my life where

Speaker 4 I would be in a studio every day or I would be, you know, a different country every day or I would be, you know, a show

Speaker 4 fitting, assigning,

Speaker 4 TV appearance, blah, blah, blah. I would do all of these things back to back to back to back to back.
So I've done that already. But now it's more important for me to just wake up,

Speaker 4 work out, spend time with my family, make sure that he is at his best because he needs to go to practice. He needs to train every day for him to be successful later on in life.

Speaker 4 And if I'm not there to like motivate that, either he's going to get it from somebody else, I don't know who, or it's just not going to happen at all.

Speaker 4 And that's my job right now is to make sure that he's successful.

Speaker 4 So, you know, if I miss this or if that doesn't, you know, go the way that it's supposed to, I'm cool with that because in the end, he's going to get to be as successful as he needs to be.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that's beautiful, man.

Speaker 2 Because I feel like there's such a it's wonderful to hear because I feel like we're living at a time where there's such a pressure to constantly be relevant, to constantly like keep up with, you know, what everyone's doing.

Speaker 2 And now you've got a million platforms to stay relevant on, and everyone's doing this and that. And so it sounds like you've created like a healthy detachment

Speaker 2 between who you are at your work and who you are at home. Yeah.
And that's, that's quite a beautiful thing.

Speaker 4 Yeah, I I see that better working out long term. Like I said, I look like five, ten years into the future and

Speaker 4 me chilling and me and my family seems way more realistic than me like ripping and running around still. So I might as well get used to it.

Speaker 2 Did you feel your dad was super involved in that way as well? You were saying earlier.

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Speaker 1 Perfect for both small and large spaces, Anibay is the only machine-washable sofa inside and out. Say goodbye to stains and messes with liquid and stain-resistant fabrics that make cleaning easy.

Speaker 1 Liquids simply slide right off. Designed for custom comfort, our high-resilience foam lets you choose between a sink-in feel or a supportive memory foam blend.

Speaker 1 Plus, our pet-friendly, stain-resistant fabrics ensure your sofa stays beautiful for years. Don't compromise quality for price.
Visit washable sofas.com to upgrade your living space today.

Speaker 1 Sofas start at just $699 with no risk returns and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Get early access to Black Friday now.
The biggest sale of the year can save you up to 60% off.

Speaker 1 Plus, free shipping and free returns. Shop now at washable sofas.com.
Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

Speaker 4 Hey, audiobook lovers. This week on the podcast, I'm sitting down with musician, producer, and walking encyclopedia, Quest Love.

Speaker 4 We're talking about about Mark Ronson's memoir, Night People, How to Be a DJ in 90s New York City.

Speaker 4 All right, like we talked about before, Mark Ronson found sanctuary in the DJ booth. What's a tool or piece of equipment in the studio or on stage that gives you the most control?

Speaker 4 So I have two microphones on stage.

Speaker 4 We have the microphone that you hear as the audience. Then we have a second microphone in which we communicate with each other.
I feel like that second microphone kind of saved all of our friendships.

Speaker 4 No band likes each other after 20 years or 25 years.

Speaker 4 The Beatles broke up in seven and a half years and we're going on 35.

Speaker 4 Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 4 Yeah, yeah, absolutely. My dad was super involved with me, especially like through my teenage years.

Speaker 4 A lot of my time that that I spent early in the studio was with my dad

Speaker 4 because he built a studio and was running it. He didn't know about music and he didn't know about any of that stuff.

Speaker 4 But I told him I was into it and he built a studio and was like, All right, learn how to use the equipment, start writing songs, put an album out, do this, do that. And I did it all.

Speaker 4 And he was like, damn, I didn't know you was really going to do it. I'm like, yeah, this is what I want to do.

Speaker 4 So, like, just through, you know, seeing how important

Speaker 4 him being involved with with what I was passionate about took me to the level that I'm at it lets me know like whatever my son and my daughter are passionate about I have to experience those things with them I can't just give them money and provide it for them I have to actually do it with them and it's gonna make a hell of a difference yeah how does your dad feel about seeing you now my dad loves it man he's like in awe like all the time and I think out of everything he understands like how hard I work too too.

Speaker 4 And he's really proud of it. Sometimes he gets a little bit worried.
Like, he's like, is this too much? Like, you know what I mean? Like, I know you do a lot. I'm like, no, it's cool.

Speaker 4 I'm built for this. Like, this is what I do.

Speaker 4 So

Speaker 4 he sees how much I work and he sees how much effort I put in like constantly. But he's really proud of me.

Speaker 2 And what's something you learned from your mom?

Speaker 4 The value of family. Yeah, my mom taught me the value of family.
She always kept me around my family members. She kept me around my cousins, my aunts, my granddad.

Speaker 4 She even keeps me around my dad's side of the family. And they got divorced when I was two years old, but she still hangs out with my dad's sisters, my aunts, my cousins, and all that on their side.

Speaker 4 So she keeps me in touch with them. She keeps my kids in touch with them.

Speaker 4 She does the whole genealogy of the whole family. Like my mother is so

Speaker 4 family-oriented, and that like rubbed off on me as well.

Speaker 2 That's beautiful.

Speaker 2 What's a misconception you think think people have about you, if they have one at all?

Speaker 4 I don't think at this point there is any misconceptions. I think there's just like learning more about me.

Speaker 4 I think that the more people learn about me, the more they see like how chill, how educated, how well-spoken and like thought out. a lot of things that I do are.

Speaker 4 And they start to really understand why the people who love me, you know, whether it's my music or I change their life in whatever way, they start to understand like where where that comes from yeah what what's something about you that people may not know that you'd like them to understand along those lines I think right now I just want people to know like how you said like how detached I am from the whole

Speaker 4 success world like I'm cool with it but like that's not the goal and it's not a lot of people say like oh well you have money so it's easy for you to say that but I think you just reached certain points in your life where different things are important no matter how much money you have and you know some people i'm 37 years old some people reach my age and this is the time that they start their business and they're like i'm gonna go hard and i'm gonna build my empire now i was just lucky to have got a head start in my 20s build my empire and now i really understand like you know how to sustain it and maintain it and keep it going for the next 10 20 years and those are the things that i'm really really working on,

Speaker 4 along with the music, you know, which is super duper important. But it's really just about like making this thing last.

Speaker 2 Yeah. And I think you're right.
I don't think it's about how much money you do or don't have. I think anything can become a drug and you can get addicted to it.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 And I remember, you know, Kevin Hart was sitting in that chair and he was talking about how success became a drug for him. He was just addicted to more and more of it.

Speaker 2 And so it's easy for you to get addicted and obsessed. And just, and you're actually saying, well, actually, I'm, I, I don't want to get addicted to that.

Speaker 4 No, yeah, no, it's my work. It's my job.
Yeah. It's what I'm really, really good at.
And I don't never want to give that up for, you know, a normal life or anything like that.

Speaker 4 But I do value my normal life as much as I value, you know, the, I value the 30,000 people on stage, but I also value being in my bed alone at night when the lights are off. But I love it.
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 I appreciate that. And I think, I think we need more of that healthy thinking because I think if you only like one or the other,

Speaker 2 or if you start to detest one or the other,

Speaker 2 that's when it starts to get scary. Like a lot of people love being in the audience.
They don't like being alone. Or a lot of people are like, oh, God, I hate being with the fans now.

Speaker 2 And I love being alone. And I think both of those can lead to a lot of like pain internally.

Speaker 4 Yeah, you have to work on both. And when you know what you're here for,

Speaker 4 you know which time is to do which one.

Speaker 4 I spent a lot of time working on the other side of it to where i love my job and i love what i do and i'm very grateful to be able to make the amounts of money doing what i do but that's not everything to me i work as hard on my personal life as i do on that side of it i'm in the you know if i'm in the studio 12 hours or if i'm on a plane you know 16 hours and i barely get any sleep and i don't eat and i'll do promo and I do a great show and I do a meet and greet and I smile and I take everybody's picture.

Speaker 4 That's all part of the game. That's me going hard to make sure that that part of it lasts.

Speaker 4 When I'm by myself, I'm waking up, you know, at a good, at a decent time. I'm going to sleep at a decent time.
I'm working out. I'm spending these certain hours.
I do yoga.

Speaker 4 You know, there's just certain things that go with the process. And then, like you said, planning things around my kids.
So it's like.

Speaker 4 I'm making sure that I'm spending this family time where it's not they're getting the short end of the stick off of anything.

Speaker 4 So I'm working passionately and hard on my normal life the same way that I do in my professional life. And sometimes it takes more energy in normal life than it does in the professional life.

Speaker 4 I agree with you.

Speaker 2 Yeah, sometimes it's easy to be disciplined at work. Right.
It's actually short for your family and be a disciplined at home.

Speaker 4 Right. Right.

Speaker 2 Otherwise, a whole nother thing.

Speaker 4 And a lot of people, they run from that because it's easier to, you know, just put all the, put all the guilt and responsibility. Oh, I got to work.
It's my job. It's this.

Speaker 4 It's easy for you to do that. Take some time.
You know what I'm saying? You know, be a little bit nervous, be a little bit uncomfortable, be a little bit bored.

Speaker 4 But you're not going to be bored if you're around people you love. Like I'm never bored around my kids.
But, you know, take, be passionate about your normal life as well.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it sounds like you have so much order and discipline in your life. Like when I'm hearing that, I'm like, sounds like everything's very structured and organized and intentional.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 It's not like this random, like.

Speaker 4 Yeah, it's not random at all.

Speaker 2 Every day is very regimented.

Speaker 4 Yeah, it's definitely regimented.

Speaker 4 you know i look at my schedule regularly i'm updating the schedule regularly and it's just really built to make me happy like i'm cool with everything that i have to do as long as i'm happy like you know what i'm saying and if we talk about it and we arrange it and we put it in all the times that it's supposed to be I'll be really, really happy and I'll love to do it.

Speaker 4 But when things start coming out of left field and you have your idea of what an appropriate time is and we didn't run that by each other, Like, that's not going to make me happy to do this.

Speaker 4 And I'm doing this because I love it.

Speaker 2 Yeah. I saw your men's health video with the MMA, which has become your fascination and I guess workout routine for a couple of years now, I feel.
Where did that start? And how did that come about?

Speaker 4 A lot of my big homies were getting, and when I say big homies, I mean security.

Speaker 4 They were getting into MMA. and doing jiu-jitsu and just martial arts and just meeting all types of people.

Speaker 4 And this was like like almost 10 years ago and they were just telling me like bro this is the next wave like everybody's about to be doing this blah blah blah this and the other thing you got to get into it you got to get into it i'm like yeah it's cool but you know i rather like you know smoke weed and be in the studio like you know what i'm saying

Speaker 4 but as soon as i started working out i just developed like a passion for it like out of nowhere and it didn't make me slow down smoking any like i was able to like still get stoned but i love training and i love working out and I love like learning new things.

Speaker 4 So it just kept building on top of each other and just building and building. And then I just, you know, started to develop some skills that, you know, we're still sharpening to this day.

Speaker 2 Do you go to watch as well or you just like training?

Speaker 4 Oh, yeah, I watch the shows as well. Yeah.
I got a company called PFL that I'm involved with.

Speaker 4 I go to their shows all the time. I mean, I go to their fights all the time.
I go to boxing matches. There's wrestling matches.
There's jiu-jitsu matches. There's all types of stuff.

Speaker 4 Combat sports is like,

Speaker 4 as you've seen, it's grown so much and so many influencers want to do it. It's just a really good lifelong thing, too.
Like it's gotten popular for how much money it makes people and things like that.

Speaker 4 But as a lifelong practice, like I would suggest that for any and everybody.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 If there are men who are watching who want to get into health and fitness, what would be your best advice to them to motivate them, inspire them, let them know how important it's been for you and it could be for them?

Speaker 4 I would just try to paint the scenario of you being about

Speaker 4 late 30s

Speaker 4 out with your kid.

Speaker 4 Somebody like is just in your face,

Speaker 4 and your kid is standing right there,

Speaker 4 and you only got

Speaker 4 30 seconds to prove to your child that you're their protector,

Speaker 4 or somebody who's finna get whooped.

Speaker 4 start working out now

Speaker 2 that's hilarious it's funny because my next question was going to be about like you know i feel like masculinity is such a big talking point right now

Speaker 2 and you know a lot of men feeling like they've inherited the mistakes made by men in the past and so men carrying a lot around a lot of judgment men feeling left behind in the conversation the different things you've talked about today and the way you're organizing your life, like masculinity is a very broad spectrum, it's not just one way, right?

Speaker 2 And so, have you ever thought about that? Raising a son for yourself, the message you put out. I feel like rap and hip-hop had a version of masculinity before.

Speaker 2 What are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 4 I think I've always approached masculinity just off of

Speaker 4 my vision of it, and

Speaker 4 the most masculine in people that I respect, and just the situations that I look at as what, you know, a man should model themselves as are usually the most like moderate and mild-tempered and just chill and kind of, you know, observant and just guiding the situation.

Speaker 4 And any way that you can position yourself to be that type of person, I've always felt like that was the more, you know, respectable thing. And we all have feelings and we all have emotions.

Speaker 4 And that's where like training in combat sports, it helps you like to put all of that stuff in the right place.

Speaker 4 Because when you get a chance to get that stuff out, you realize where it has a place at, where it doesn't. And a lot of people, they don't have a place to get that stuff out.

Speaker 4 So they think that they're being masculine by like shouting or yelling or being rude to somebody. But really, that should be like the last case scenario.
Like, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 4 Like, that's why I say protecting your child because

Speaker 4 i would never

Speaker 4 use what i know

Speaker 4 to

Speaker 4 hurt anybody unless it was to protect my family or myself it wouldn't be in any other situation because to me like that's not cool that's not tough that's not even what it's for so i think the idea of masculinity it just comes from whoever is putting it out at the moment and what they've learned from it.

Speaker 4 And, you know, the world judges the way that it does based off of their experiences because they think, you know, the most mean or the most scary or this, that, and the other thing. But they haven't,

Speaker 4 they show that, but there's not a lot of real situations that people are in that prove that that. that that's the right thing.

Speaker 4 And from my experience, what's proven the most is the most mild, chilled, moderate people are the ones that you should probably be like the most worried about.

Speaker 4 So the more that you can position yourself in life to have an understanding of your own emotions and be in control of your reactions to things, I think that just makes you more looked at as what people would consider masculine or a leader or a provider or something like that, rather than like an emotional, you know, person.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that's a really powerful answer, man. I feel like

Speaker 2 you kind of feel the world going through two extremes where it's like masculinity used to be this bravado chauvinistic arrogant yeah you know alpha male type and then it swung to like being vulnerable and soft and this and now i kind of feel like it's kind of swinging back the other way yeah and and it's almost like i like how you described it because it's not really hard or soft it's kind of like yeah the person who can like calm it down, guide it, move it along, knows what to do with everything.

Speaker 4 Exactly, exactly.

Speaker 4 Because I've seen both, you know, and I've been around like growing up in picksburg you see a lot of dudes where it's like the street nigga type is like the hyper masculine but a lot of those dudes end up like going to jail getting shot or when they come home from their jail they're not who they used to be and all of that masculinity kind of goes away when you see like the the perception of this person go away you see who they really are so it's like deep down who really are you inside without this whole thing that you're like putting off on people.

Speaker 4 And men have a lot of pressure, especially like growing up because we're more competitive, we're like really competitive.

Speaker 4 So it's like, I could see it with my son, like being in sports with him and his friends. You know what I mean? They just off-rip, just go to this certain type of personality.
And I'm like, bro.

Speaker 4 You know, you're like a better teammate if you tell dudes like, yo, good shot. Like, you know what I'm saying? Good job.
I see you, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 4 But they don't understand that now as as kids they're so competitive and they're so at each other's throats are your ai agents helping users or just creating more work if you can't compare your users workflows before and after adding ai how do you know it's even paying off Pendo Agent Analytics is the first tool to connect agent prompts and conversations to downstream outcomes like time saved so you know what's working and what to fix.

Speaker 4 Start improving agent performance at pendo.io slash podcast. That's pendo.io/slash podcast.

Speaker 1 Time for a sofa upgrade? Introducing Anibay sofas, where designer style meets budget-friendly prices. Every Anibay sofa is modular, allowing you to rearrange your space effortlessly.

Speaker 1 Perfect for both small and large spaces, Anibay is the only machine-washable sofa inside and out. Say goodbye to stains and messes with liquid and stain-resistant fabrics that make cleaning easy.

Speaker 1 Liquids simply slide right off. Designed for custom comfort, our high-resilience foam lets you choose between a sink-in feel or a supportive memory foam blend.

Speaker 1 Plus, our pet-friendly, stain-resistant fabrics ensure your sofa stays beautiful for years. Don't compromise quality for price.
Visit washablefas.com to upgrade your living space today.

Speaker 1 Sofas start at just $699 with no-risk returns and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Get early access to Black Friday now.
The biggest sale of the year can save you up to 60% off.

Speaker 1 Plus, free shipping and free returns. Shop now now at washable sofas.com.
Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

Speaker 4 Hey everyone, Ed Helms here. And hi, I'm Cal Penn and we're the hosts of Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club.

Speaker 4 This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Jenny Garth, host of the iHeart podcast, I choose me, to discuss the new audible adaptation of the timeless Jane Austen classic, Pride and Prejudice.

Speaker 4 This is not a trick question. No wrong answer.
What role would I play?

Speaker 2 You know what?

Speaker 1 I can see you as Mr. Darcy.

Speaker 1 You got a little call in first.

Speaker 4 Okay, that's really sweet.

Speaker 4 I appreciate that, but are you sure I'm not the dad? I mean, I'm not Mr. Bennett here.

Speaker 4 Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart audio book club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 4 And sometimes that carries on in life, but I think you just have to have an example of somebody to like let you know, like, yo, it's cool to just be like chill. And you know what I mean?

Speaker 4 Like the homie. It's cool to talk shit sometimes too, because that shit is fun.
But like, at the root of it, y'all still got to be friends and care about each other and take care of each other.

Speaker 4 And that's the more, you know what I mean, brotherly dope part about it. Yeah.
Other than going at each other's necks.

Speaker 2 Yeah. and we need to see that modeled more.
It's hard because you don't see it that much. Yeah, so it's hard to know as a man how to right how to do that.
But you're right.

Speaker 2 If you look at the best athletes in the world, they're the ones who kept their calm when things were tough.

Speaker 4 Right.

Speaker 2 They weren't the ones spewing anger.

Speaker 2 And it's interesting because MMA, I think people who haven't been trained in martial arts or don't know people who have often can think of it as like combat sports are like angry.

Speaker 2 But but have you learned any practices from MMA that you feel apply really well to what we're talking about right now?

Speaker 4 I think just getting punched in the face,

Speaker 4 you learn how to be calm and like not get emotional when somebody hits you in the face and you still got three rounds to do work, or you still got three minutes in a round, or five minutes in a round to do work.

Speaker 4 Like, you can't let your emotion, you have to be calm, you have to think, you have to remember your footwork, you have to remember your breathing, you have to remember defense so you don't get hit again.

Speaker 4 There's way more

Speaker 4 to the story than just I got punched in the face. And a lot of people will never really get that lesson or get that feeling of I got hit and I got to keep it moving.

Speaker 4 You know, most people want something to happen as soon as they get hit. But, you know, I think just through martial arts.

Speaker 4 And it sounds extreme and it sounds crazy, but I think everybody should get punched in the face.

Speaker 2 I know what you're saying, though. I get what you're saying.
It's like, it's only at that point do you know how tolerant and still you are.

Speaker 2 Because up until then, you can be like, I'm super chill. Yeah.
I'm calm. But it's responding to that.

Speaker 4 Yeah. And there's a lot of dudes who's like, if somebody punches me in the face, I'll kill them.
But like, no, you won't.

Speaker 4 You got to fight back. You got three minutes or you're going to keep getting punched in the face.
So it's like, it's fun.

Speaker 4 when you just remove everything and hit somebody in the face.

Speaker 2 How often do you get punched in the face when you're

Speaker 4 We do sparring off and on, especially because I got to do like appearances and

Speaker 4 shows and shit like that. Because anything could happen, like my nose rings could come out, I could get black eye, like my forehead could get split.

Speaker 2 You're going to protect the face.

Speaker 4 Yeah, for sure. So when I know I'm not having to do too much, that's when we usually do some sparring.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 Yeah, or we'll do light sparring where it's not like, you know, nobody's in too much danger. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah,

Speaker 2 that makes sense. Yeah.
He's trying to figure out how you're

Speaker 4 how you're doing that.

Speaker 2 Yeah, no, I'm really glad we dove into the masculinity thing because I just feel like it's it's such a need right now. And I want

Speaker 2 men and women to both feel like

Speaker 2 you know that we're kind of having these conversations that I think sometimes on the on the bigger screens, you don't see them. Yeah.
You know?

Speaker 4 Yeah, and I think it's like the word masculinity has gotten like so abused

Speaker 4 to where people like think it's a bad thing. And it's like,

Speaker 4 there are good examples of masculinity. Like I have a daughter, so she has to see what a masculine man is like.
She has to see what a provider is like.

Speaker 4 She has to see with somebody who is going to make her feel protected as well as cared for.

Speaker 4 And, you know, all of the things that describe what real masculinity is beyond, you know, what you can do physically to somebody or even financially, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 4 Emotionally being there for her. There's a lot of things that

Speaker 4 me having the right types of masculinity are going to be, you know, positive for her to see.

Speaker 2 Yeah, 100%. 100%, man.
And with this new album, what was the energy that you put into it? Like, it's a sequel. So there's that, there's, was there something you're trying to revisit?

Speaker 4 Yeah. Bring back?

Speaker 4 Yeah, I think I'm just revisiting like

Speaker 4 when I did Cush and Orange Juice,

Speaker 4 the style of it was like,

Speaker 4 you know, Stoner Kid, everybody just smoke weed, be cool, be chill. And this is the soundtrack to the lifestyle.

Speaker 4 And I've done a lot with my music to where I've, you know, had my take on what I think music should sound like at certain points.

Speaker 4 I've had, you know, my take on what I think are like really big, huge records and what those should sound like.

Speaker 4 And then I've also just experimented with, you know, what street culture is at the time and just what's popular to the kids.

Speaker 4 And I think with Cushion Orange Juice, it really resonated with people because of the lifestyle that it created and the things that I talked about in that lifestyle and the way that the music sounded and grooved with that lifestyle.

Speaker 4 So just being aware of that and knowing what type of chaotic state that we're in right now, I just felt like it was the perfect time to just reintroduce people to a more lay back, chill, just smoke some weed and vibe out, you know, and create a whole crowd of people who want to do the same thing.

Speaker 4 Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 And it's interesting, right? Like, you, it's like you're chilled out, but then you're super productive. Yeah.

Speaker 2 How do you hope that your audience kind of feels both of those as well?

Speaker 4 Because it's like, yeah, it's been good because I think just through experience, I've learned that the majority of people who listen to my music end up bossing up.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 4 Yeah. Like there's a lot of artists now,

Speaker 4 you know, who were in like middle school, high school when Cushion Norris just came out, or they watched my day-to-days and they're like, Man, this is what really, you know, let me know.

Speaker 4 This is what I needed to do to be an artist, or I studied you every day, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 4 Or I dropped out of college and I got my friends, and you know, we started our label, and now we're Big Sean, and well, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 4 So, like, I've seen a lot of people who have taken my blueprint and turned it into you know exactly what I've done with it. So,

Speaker 4 I think the message gets across really, really well that you know you be a pothead, but you be productive and you boss up and put all the homies on. I think they get that message really well.

Speaker 4 I love that.

Speaker 2 Yeah, thank you.

Speaker 2 How does it feel that See You Again is the second most viewed video on YouTube, music video of all time? I mean, that's insane.

Speaker 4 Yeah, it's pretty cool.

Speaker 2 How does that feel?

Speaker 4 It feels good. I think it feels better that I'm able to like walk around

Speaker 4 because most people, they would think that if your video is that popular or if you have that much success, that you're just like not even real.

Speaker 4 But like, to me, I could still go to my son's games. I could still, you know, go pick records out.
I could still go to the gym without a fleet of security with me.

Speaker 4 So, like, I didn't sacrifice my sanity

Speaker 4 to be the second most viewed person in the world. So, I'm happy about that.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 And it's such a great song, too, to be known for i feel it's a really good song and shout out to charlie too man like charlie did his thing and yeah the whole process of like making that song was like a dream come true because it was for a soundtrack so you never know how that's gonna go there was like 10 other people who were supposed to be on the song so you know me writing a verse i was just like writing a verse i wasn't like this is this song is gonna change my life i need to sit down i was just like yo yeah yeah you go like it's dope verse like i love the verse and shit but they were like, you know, it really connected with the people who were doing the movie at the time.

Speaker 4 And, you know, shout out to Weave and Constance and Will and everybody. But we just kind of like just shaved it down.

Speaker 4 And it just ended up making sense with it just being me and Charlie on there. And that song has taken us like super duper far.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it's dope, man. It's amazing.
What was your motivation to go sober?

Speaker 4 from alcohol?

Speaker 4 My motivation to be sober from alcohol was just I had drank for so long.

Speaker 4 Since I was able to drink, I've been drinking and I never seen a reason to really stop because like, I just love partying. I love being around people.
I love, you know, just being a vibe.

Speaker 4 After one, I think it was one show, I just got like completely wasted, which was normal. I was like, man.

Speaker 4 I don't really have too many like memories

Speaker 4 of places. Like, I was like, I mean, I love doing these shows and shit.
It was like, I don't be remembering like, you know what I mean? Anything.

Speaker 4 I was like, I want to kind of like experience this stuff, remember where I'm at, remember the people who I'm dealing with, actually enjoy it, not just be like turned up, you know?

Speaker 4 So, yeah, it was just a time of like, just gathering information. And I'm real happy for that.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 Was it hard to break away?

Speaker 4 No,

Speaker 4 it wasn't difficult at all. I think when I want to do something, I'm good at it.
Like, if it means something to me, I have my own reasons for doing it. Nobody's making me do it.

Speaker 4 Or even, I feel like even if somebody made me do it, if it was like a challenge or something like that, or if like I had to for legal reasons or something like that, I wouldn't have a problem doing a lot of things.

Speaker 4 But, you know, for me, it's just my lifestyle is so free and it's so fun. So half of the time it's like, why would I stop?

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 4 But if I make up a reason for myself, I usually end up sticking to it. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 Whiz, at the start of the interview, I asked you, what's the first thing you do when you wake up? Yeah. What's the last thing you do before you go to bed?

Speaker 4 Last thing I do before I go to bed, kiss my son and my daughter.

Speaker 2 Nice. Yeah.
I love that. Yeah.
Beautiful. Wiz, I end every episode.
You've been amazing. So generous with your time.
Great, just great energy. I've really enjoyed spending this time with you, man.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I appreciate you. I feel like I've learned so much about you today that I didn't know for sure.
Thank you. We end every episode with a final five.

Speaker 2 These have to be answered in one word to one sentence maximum. Okay.
And so, Wiz Khalifa, these are your fast five, final five.

Speaker 2 The first question is, what's the best advice you've ever heard or received?

Speaker 4 Just be you. That's from Snoop Dogg.

Speaker 2 Nice. Question number two, what's the worst advice you've ever heard or received?

Speaker 4 Change your name from Wiz Khalifa. Two? I don't know.
They just told me that that name wasn't going to work.

Speaker 2 Why didn't they like the name?

Speaker 4 Because it's just too different. You know what I'm saying? Like, it didn't sound like nothing.
It didn't give off.

Speaker 4 You didn't get any visual from that back in the day when I told you that that was my name yeah so a lot of people close people to me was like i like you you can rap you're really cool but you need to change your name and it ended up working out for me because in the years that i was being discovered it's a brand new name so when you google that name i'm the only thing that comes up yeah so it was like one of the most googled names like you know for that year yeah so the thing that people told me wasn't gonna work ended up working i love that where did it come from uh wiz is short for wisdom and khalifa as leader or successor yeah yeah How did you come across the word Khalifa?

Speaker 2 Because that's...

Speaker 4 Khalifa, my parents are, well, my grandparents, my granddad is Muslim. Right, yeah, right.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it's wonderful. Very cool, man.
Exactly. I think it's a dope name.
Thank you, man. Yeah, it's cool.
It's cool. I love this hat, too.

Speaker 4 Yeah, good look.

Speaker 2 I saw this on your merch yesterday.

Speaker 4 New merch. I'm a walking billboard, baby.
Yeah, I love that. All I wear is me.
Yeah, I love it.

Speaker 2 Question number three: What's something that you used to value that you no longer value?

Speaker 4 I used to really enjoy going to nightclubs. I don't enjoy it anymore.

Speaker 2 Because?

Speaker 4 because uh i feel like the music isn't the same i feel like people don't really dance anymore like they're just in like sections just kind of chilling and it just kind of defeats the purpose of going out like i never went out just to look cool i will go out to get girls and i really don't like chase women all like that no more

Speaker 4 and i think it's just the polite thing to do like normally like like i said anymore because like normally even being in a relationship i would just be like yo it's a part of my life like you know what i'm saying i'm gonna be around hella chicks.

Speaker 4 Get used to it. You know what I'm saying? That's what I would do before.
Like, but now I don't really, like, I don't really care for that shit no more.

Speaker 2 Question number four. How would you define your current purpose?

Speaker 4 I would define my current purpose as a leader

Speaker 4 and as a provider and as somebody who

Speaker 4 a lot of people look up to. So it doesn't matter what I get personally.

Speaker 2 It's more about what I do for for others uh and fifth and final question we ask this to every guest who's ever been on the show if you could create one law that everyone in the world had to follow what would it be smoke weed every day

Speaker 2 i love it with khalifa

Speaker 2 cushion oranges too yep thank you so much man this is this is so much fun i had a great time

Speaker 4 too yeah i hope you did man i like your jeans too man thank you man i appreciate it

Speaker 2 if this is the year that you're trying to get creative, you're trying to build more, I need you to listen to this episode with Rick Rubin on how to break into your most creative self, how to use unconventional methods that lead to success, and the secret to genuinely loving what you do.

Speaker 2 If you're trying to find your passion and your lane, Rick Rubin's episode is the one for you.

Speaker 4 Just because I like it, that doesn't give it any value. Like, as an artist, if you like it, that's all of the value.

Speaker 4 That's the success comes when you say, I like this enough for other people to see it. Are your AI agents helping users or just creating more work?

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