Nick Cannon: How I ACCIDENTALLY Built A $1.3 Billion Business & My Ex-Wife Mariah Carey Saved My Life!

[0] I didn't think Wiling Out would be the billion dollar conglomerate.

[1] I was just creating the show because Kevin Harden needed money to pay his rent.

[2] Please welcome Nick Cannon.

[3] Entrepreneur and rapper, actor, host, comedian.

[4] True superstar.

[5] Who's Nick Cannon?

[6] I'm me. Nick, you've been a pioneer.

[7] I read that one of your companies has generated more than $100 million.

[8] That was just in our headphones sell.

[9] We have a tour that makes millions.

[10] A cruise line.

[11] Restaurants as a kid.

[12] I learned that I made.

[13] I'll be the most talented person in the room, but I'll be the hardest worker in the world.

[14] That's how you get it.

[15] Some people play basketball.

[16] Man, there's basketball players.

[17] Don't try it.

[18] If you try it, it's not going to want.

[19] Do it as if there's no other option.

[20] So by the time I was 17, I started writing for Keenan and Kel.

[21] The youngest staff writer in TV history.

[22] Yeah.

[23] I was like Harry Potter with the pit.

[24] And then Will Smith signed me. I was living my dream life, but I always felt like I had a ticking clock.

[25] The latest on the health scare from Nick Cannon.

[26] Nick Cannon has lupus.

[27] If you don't catch it and control it, you could lose your life pretty quickly.

[28] You said that you wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for Mariah Carey.

[29] Yeah, it makes you question, what are you going to do with the time that you have on this planet?

[30] What impact are you going to make?

[31] When you're not afraid of dying, you focus on living.

[32] And then you dealt with the loss of your son at just five months old due to brain cancer.

[33] You never know how strong you are to it's the only option.

[34] Nick, what do I have to understand about your?

[35] earliest years to understand the man that you are today?

[36] I was still that question.

[37] I'd have to say that optimism, youthful optimism, you know, some call it imagination.

[38] But the world was just so big but yet so tangible for me. You know, I felt even as a youth, I felt like I had this magic that I could just manifest anything, good or bad.

[39] You know what I mean?

[40] It was, I lived this life to where as small as the community was, disenfranchised, and maybe not as upwardly mobile as one would see from the house.

[41] I had this big imagination in my mind, this superpower, that I could be, do, or whatever I wanted.

[42] And it was all in my grasp and I could, I don't know where I got it from, but I was just, as a kid, as a teenager, I always felt like I had this ability to walk in a room and get whatever I wanted.

[43] But the environment that you were raised in wasn't one of great abundance.

[44] Yeah, that's what was so crazy about it.

[45] Like I would, you know, even growing up in the projects, growing up in scenarios that we didn't have a lot.

[46] But I felt like I had a lot.

[47] I felt like I was always destined for to, and it wasn't even like about fame.

[48] It wasn't about money.

[49] It was just about I like my life.

[50] I'm gonna have fun, I'm gonna have a good time.

[51] I was always that, you know, let's smile about it.

[52] You know what I mean?

[53] Even in some difficult and even, at tumultuous times, I would still find, you know, a silver lining.

[54] I would still find a way to smile through pain.

[55] And it's worked, you know, it's always kept me level -headed, you know, even in the midst of having an abnormal and extraordinary life.

[56] It's like even the thing that humbles me is the fact that I'll just interspaces with gratitude and optimism.

[57] Even in pain, what was your family home like?

[58] See, that's a thing.

[59] Like, probably looking back at it, one would be like, it definitely wasn't orthodox, you know.

[60] We didn't come from much, but it was joyous.

[61] It was filled with love.

[62] You know, my parents had me, you know, as teenagers.

[63] They were young.

[64] I went to my dad's high school graduation.

[65] like uh but you know his parents helped raise me my mom was constantly working you know school work my dad went off to college uh and then you know i kind of felt like i grew up with my parents and their parents assisted in raising us all so but it was households filled with love um but you know wasn't traditional by any means so they're they're there were the obstacles of, you know, trying to figure it out and parents and grandparents putting food on the table.

[66] But that, I think that also gave me a different type of drive to say, all right, we're going to have to make something out of nothing.

[67] Your parents separated when you very young.

[68] I always said, I feel like my parents had sex once.

[69] Just one time.

[70] And then I showed up because there were kids, man. You know, like, I don't really know the intricate details of their relationship, but I definitely knew they weren't together.

[71] It was, but not enemies by any means, you know what I mean?

[72] They were just teenagers.

[73] They were kids.

[74] So after, you know, I was born, they kind of went their separate ways, but my dad's parents kind of kept everyone together, and it was a close -knit thing.

[75] And, you know, when my mother needed assistance, my grandmother would be there to help her out my father's mother.

[76] And even though my father necessarily wasn't physically present for, you know, he was, you know, actually doing good things for himself where, you know, getting a college degree and trying to figure it out and have a family infrastructure elsewhere, where his mom would help my mom kind of keep me afloat.

[77] He turned his life around quite significantly, didn't he?

[78] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[79] My dad was definitely headed down a path of destruction early on.

[80] And then it clicked for him, you know, through some experiences of, you know, incarceration and, you know, being able to kind of leave some of those substances out there that were, you know, kind of the downfall of, you know, the community in the 80s.

[81] He was able to escape and put his life on the right path and, you know, dedicated his life to his ministry and helping others.

[82] It worked.

[83] And when you were a young man, you nearly went down the wrong path.

[84] Yeah.

[85] I went down there, figured, like, made a U -turn, went back, you know what I mean?

[86] Like, I think human nature, we all kind of gravitate towards.

[87] the unknowing sometimes that usually is the past that are sometimes the darkest sometimes like you just want to you don't want to do the responsible thing you don't want to do what your parents may suggest so i definitely have a rebellious nature i'm definitely an anti -authoritarian i'm definitely the kid that has to feel that the pot is hot you know they're like okay i'm not I know what getting burned feels like.

[88] So I think it's probably just my, you know, nature of exploring and wanting to understand things.

[89] It's cool to be a bad boy when you're young.

[90] And especially when, for me, the mold wasn't necessarily presented that way.

[91] So I definitely went through a stage of I want to prove to people that, you know, I'm not a goody -to -shoe all the time.

[92] And that took some maturing to do.

[93] But then it's also a lot of it is environment.

[94] When you grow up in especially Southern California, you know, there's times where the life of gang violence was glorified.

[95] And, you know, whether it's through music, through entertainment, through our culture, you know.

[96] When you come from the trenches, you get a certain level of respect.

[97] you get a certain level of reverence.

[98] So I grew up admiring a lot of that and therefore kind of took that path a few times.

[99] But, you know, luckily I didn't get caught up, you know, like some of my other friends and associates did.

[100] What saved you from that path?

[101] Creativity, like I said, that optimism, which then obviously was transmuted into entertainment.

[102] me. When you're a young man, say you're like between the age of 10 and 14, if I'd asked you what you wanted to be and what you thought you'd be when you were 42.

[103] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[104] What would you have told me?

[105] Uh, same thing, a rapper, you know, probably that's, if it was just as simple as like at 10 years old, what I was focused on, I loved hip hop.

[106] I loved, I loved I knew I was, in my mind, I was famous in the hood.

[107] Like, I just wanted to be, because I was already doing stuff there.

[108] You know what I mean?

[109] I always had demo tapes.

[110] And I was already connected to our streets and our blocks just as being in the community, somebody with a voice, not always a positive voice.

[111] I was considered a, I don't know, I try to think.

[112] I wasn't a bad kid, but I was a kid that everybody knew about.

[113] You know, but luckily, my art, my creativity, allow people to appreciate me. Even at 10 years old, like within my family, within my community.

[114] What did your art and creativity look like at that stage?

[115] Rap music.

[116] Yeah, it was loud.

[117] It was ADHD -ish.

[118] It was the kid who could do it all, you know, kind of also had a church background.

[119] So I was, you know, I was always a class clown at school, trying to be funny, starting to just figure out, oh, there's careers in that space.

[120] I started to look up to a lot of people like the Eddie Murphy's, even at the time, the fresh prints, as we know, is Will Smith, but he was just, he was just charismatic, funny rapper at the time.

[121] So those were, you know, but at the same time, I was looking up to the ice cubes and two shorts and, you know, which was a whole different energy.

[122] So that was kind of like my make.

[123] of like well I want to be like these guys and you start doing stand -up comedy at 11 years old I 11 yeah officially doing it at 11 I have been you know doing stuff in church and stuff that you know trying to make people laugh but like first stand -up stage I got on was I was 11 years old strikes me as someone that grew up very quickly yeah because I was always called an old soul uh and I think it was because I grew up around older people built with uh my grandparents kind of being you know, patriarchs for me, their children were my siblings.

[124] My father, who was, you know, a teenager who was somewhat more of like a big brother type of thing.

[125] So like even the way he dealt with me and even the people that I dealt with in my community, I just kind of had mannerisms and a jargon that was a little wise beyond my years.

[126] You're a big brother as well, right?

[127] Yeah, and then, you know, ultimately my dad had a, my mother's only child, but my dad had five boys in total.

[128] So, you know, I was the, and I was the oldest.

[129] And he and I's connection was different than, you know, the connection with my younger brothers because I was almost somewhat, you know, I was closer to my father than, you know, his parenting style was different with me than it was with, you know, his younger children.

[130] It boggles my mind that someone at 11 years, starts doing stand -up comedy because it takes take some guts and some confidence to do that but I guess that speaks to who you were at 11 years old yeah by 15 years old you're at the comedy store where you met Jamie Fox yeah I mean I met so many comedians but Jamie was definitely one of the ones that kind of just because it's such a giving and loving individual kind of saw this kid and it was like I love it like come hang out like and because you know Hollywood was miles away from my neighborhood so figuratively and literally like it was just like I needed a place to stay a lot of times so you know catching catching car rides or even once I got my own vehicle I had nowhere to sleep so people would know that I was sleeping in my car or it wouldn't have a place to sleep so people like Jamie Fox would let me sleep on their couch.

[131] Brothers like Guy Torrey if you've seen the fat Tuesday documentary about you know the the black sign.

[132] at a comedy store.

[133] He had a night that, you know, he would let me open up.

[134] And as people were coming in, I'd be entertaining the audience as a teenager, you know, and the guys like Chris Tucker and Damon Wayans and Eddie Griffin, all these guys would be going on later on in the night.

[135] But I was the guy, I was the kid that was welcoming, you know, everybody into their seats.

[136] And it'd be like, Shaquille O 'Neill and Kobe Bryant and Snoop Dogg and, like, all of these people in the audience.

[137] There's this 15 -year -old on stage, you know, rapping and telling jokes and, you know, everybody else saw something.

[138] I was just, I was just having a blast.

[139] I didn't think about what the future was going to offer up.

[140] I was just like, yo, this is a dream come true right now.

[141] People might hear that and go, oh, he got lucky, 15 years old, whatever, you know.

[142] What was the, talk to me about the intentionality behind that.

[143] Like, if there's a 15 -year -old listening to this right now, Yeah.

[144] What did you do to put yourself there in hindsight?

[145] It's not always easy to know in the moment.

[146] Yeah, I was definitely a hustler.

[147] Like, what I don't think, you know, I don't believe in luck.

[148] I believe in alignment.

[149] You know what I mean?

[150] Like, and you got to put yourself in those positions.

[151] It's like, you know, some people say luck is preparation meets opportunity.

[152] I was always speaking myself into existence.

[153] I would put myself in those environments.

[154] Like, I met Jamie Fox because I walked up to him.

[155] It was like, yo, what's up, Jamie Fox?

[156] I'm Nick Cannon.

[157] Like, ever since I was four years old, I introduced myself as my full name.

[158] Like, everybody used to think it was so funny.

[159] Like, as a four -year -old, like, I'm Nick Cannon.

[160] Like, I just thought my name was cool.

[161] I thought everybody else, you know, you teach a kid to say their first name.

[162] It's funny.

[163] I teach my children the same way.

[164] Like, nah, you got your full name.

[165] You're Monroe Cannon.

[166] You're, you know, you're a powerful canon, you know what I mean?

[167] Like, and I think maybe I got that from such a cool -ass name.

[168] Like, I think my dad probably did that.

[169] His dad probably did that.

[170] Like, it's just, like, they called, you know, my grandfather, they called him Cannon, or Daddy Cannon.

[171] It was just like, it's such a cool name.

[172] So, and that's why I was like, I believe it's so much in a name.

[173] But so even as, I think those steps kind of ordered the personality.

[174] then when I would find myself in scenarios that I would take advantage of him.

[175] I wasn't a shy kid.

[176] It wasn't an overly outgoing kid either.

[177] I wasn't like, I kind of, my ADD kind of maybe shifted, like made me always seeking attention or like, I don't say I was seeking it.

[178] I got attention because I was always doing something.

[179] I was always in some shit because I was just trying to figure it out.

[180] Therefore, I got a lot of attention.

[181] And a lot of it, probably wasn't positive attention, but it was just attention.

[182] And then from there, you know, that shifted.

[183] You know, I grew up around hustlers.

[184] So I was like, all right, we're going to try to, we're going to figure it out.

[185] If there was a door over there, I'm going to figure out how to get in that door.

[186] And that's how I was able to rub shoulders.

[187] And, you know, I studied rooms.

[188] And I'm like, all right, if I'm a, if I'm a maneuver in here, I got to do it in a way that, not just based off an instinct.

[189] I got to put a plan together.

[190] And I move like that, you know, since a kid.

[191] What did you learn from Jamie Fox?

[192] What lasting influence has he had on you the way you are, your career, your perspective?

[193] It's so interesting, man. I have so many great mentors coming up.

[194] I feel like a lot of my first part of my career, I always acknowledged and big up Will Smith.

[195] Yeah.

[196] Because he was so influential to me. You met him from, through Jamie?

[197] Well, yeah, I guess, yeah, but it wasn't directly.

[198] Like, Jamie didn't introduce me to Will, but Jamie had a comedy festival called Laffapalooza that Will Smith's company Overbrook saw me at that comedy festival and gave me a holding deal at the time what they were called and kind of signed me to Will's company, which then I got to meet Will, you know, a few months later after getting that opportunity in Atlanta at Lafapalooza.

[199] And then that's when Will and I's relationship began when I was about 16 years old.

[200] So it's like I met Jamie when I was 15 and then I met Will when I was 16.

[201] It's hard to think of many more greater, multifaceted entertainers than Will Smith and Jamie Fox.

[202] Man, that's what I'm saying.

[203] Like they trained me. Like, and it's so crazy because two of the nicest human beings you would ever want to me like never seen like it's what you see on camera is that's who they are you know what i mean like like walk in a room everyone gravitates towards them they they're they're loud they know how to have a good time like that's just who those guys are so i don't think i'm naturally like that like i i talk to kevin about that like when i come in a room i'm quiet Kevin Hart, like, he's one of those guys that, like, they're loud, they're, like, everyone loves them.

[204] Like, I'm more like, I'm in the corner, I'm watching, I'm observing.

[205] I know how to be that.

[206] I can, you know, I can joke with the best of them and get as much attention and stuff, but I'm a little more reserved.

[207] And that's like to finally answer your question in a very long -winded way, like, the things I probably learned from Jamie is I observed him so much.

[208] that he's such a great storyteller of stolen all of the tricks of when he can get everybody around the table and tell the story he's he's such a great impromptu type of guy I could sit down at a piano and you know sing a song and get everybody like I know all of those tricks and I'll probably learn that from him you know what I mean just watching how to you know captivate a room in a very jovial manner no matter what's going on but uh man yeah he's in just his his his his his spian muscle is so strong you know what I mean and I think from whether he's being a silly character he's being something that's so tuned in uh and understanding the subtleties and really embodying you know all of his characters I learned a lot of that from him as well too and will so you described will as you're mentoring you from 16 years old yeah the thing I learned from him is hard work and and really like I Obviously, I've heard, he said this quote so many times.

[209] Like, I may not be the most talented person in the room, but I guarantee you I'll work the most talented person in the room.

[210] Or I've also heard him say, you know, I may not be the most talented person in the room, but I'll be the hardest worker in the room.

[211] And he just, if you want something, he's not going to stop until he figures it out.

[212] You know, and he dedicates himself in that manner.

[213] And, you know, when this job is done, he's going to stop where everybody else is going to go to sleep, he's going to go work 10 more hours to either perfect that craft or on to the next thing.

[214] And I saw that as a teenager, I'm like, okay, that's how you get it.

[215] That's what I'm going to do.

[216] If he's not sleeping, I'm not sleeping.

[217] You know, and it'd be times like up in the studio all night and then be on set early in the morning and you're so grateful and appreciative of the opportunity that you want to be the best you could possibly be.

[218] Did he correct any of the errors in your ways when you're a young man?

[219] You're 16 years old.

[220] You got a perspective.

[221] Yeah.

[222] I mean, every, I mean, before I met Will, I didn't know how to, even musically.

[223] I don't know how to rap 16 bars.

[224] And you know what that was.

[225] Like, I knew, I knew music counting, you know what I mean?

[226] But I didn't know a verse, specifically a rap verse was supposed to be 16 bars.

[227] And I think that culture might have had just started to happen.

[228] because everybody wasn't writing 16 bars in the 80s.

[229] You know what I mean?

[230] Sometimes a song would be seven verses or sometimes, you know, like people would just, but I feel like they were, in the 90s, they began this infrastructure of songwriting.

[231] Obviously, most choruses and hooks are about eight bars.

[232] And then therefore you had to have a hot 16 double that, where's your verse?

[233] And Will taught me how to write, because I was just writing.

[234] He would give me a beat or I get a track and I would just write and just memorize it and then be like, oh, let me spit this for you and he's like, you need some infrastructure around that.

[235] He's like, you got some good stuff there.

[236] So even as simple as something like that is, but then he also just life ways, man, I learned a lot about integrity, character, obviously perseverance from him.

[237] And then stuff that he went through as a teenager, he passed on to me. And even I didn't listen, but I learned, you know, he went broke, you know, at 19.

[238] After winning a Grammy and having a platinum album, just spending it all on cars and living fast, I think my first check was somewhere from him, like $150 ,000, and I went and bought the exact same range rover he had.

[239] He's like, I'm the biggest movie star in the world.

[240] Like, he's got millions.

[241] I got $150 ,000.

[242] And I went and bought a range row.

[243] He told me, don't do it.

[244] He's like, man, he's like, I don't do that.

[245] Like, you got to, there's other things to do with that money.

[246] And this is from the person who gave it to me. And he was right.

[247] I totaled that range roe over six months within having it and ended up having to move back to my mom's house probably a year later because thinking that, you know, I'm signed to Will Smith, the opportunities, but you don't like, that's money that you're supposed to survive on.

[248] Those everything that, you know, that was a time I had wrote and created a television sitcom through Will's company called Loose Cannon.

[249] And it was like me in a military school, a teenager in a military school, thinking it was going to get picked up.

[250] We got a six -episode commitment.

[251] Will Smith's the executive producer.

[252] Quincy Jones is on set.

[253] Like, everything, Stan Lathen is the director of the pilot, like, everything, I'm like, oh, I'm set.

[254] The entire network of the WB makes a shift, and they don't pick up the show.

[255] So it's like, I thought I was, and it's so funny, I don't never even think about these collations.

[256] One of the executive producers and writers was Bentley, Kyle Evans, who's the writer and creator of Jamie Fox.

[257] My time slot was scheduled to come on.

[258] My show was going to air right after the Jamie Fox show.

[259] So I was like, it was all together, and it didn't happen.

[260] And you how old at that point?

[261] 19.

[262] Same age, Will was when he had to re -figure it out.

[263] I think we shot it when I was 18.

[264] But 19 is when they let me know that it wasn't going to move forward.

[265] Probably one of the biggest heartbreaks of my life.

[266] I probably, I cried for days because I didn't, you know, that's the thing.

[267] When you think you're, you've arrived.

[268] And then it snatched from under you and there's no plan.

[269] I had nobody there.

[270] Even the people like, it's going to be all right.

[271] I didn't believe them.

[272] Like I was like, I was just on the Warner Brothers lot with him, you know, in my range rover, you know, like I saw the millions.

[273] I saw me being the biggest young star in the world.

[274] Everybody was rocking with me into everybody's gone like that.

[275] And it was just, and it wasn't like they abandoned me. It was more like everybody had to move on to their next thing.

[276] I had to be the one to figure it out.

[277] So that was probably one of my greatest life lessons that Will even taught me indirectly.

[278] I mean, because he was warning me the whole time.

[279] And he held me down, you know, time and time again since then.

[280] You know what I mean?

[281] It was, you know, I wouldn't have got drumline if it wasn't for him.

[282] It was, like I said, it wouldn't have my first record deal if it wasn't for him.

[283] So it was, I true, it's funny.

[284] I get a little esoteric real quick, but I have this, when it comes to like Akashic records and, you know, energy, I feel like you're placed in certain, it's the law of synchronicity.

[285] Like I feel like certain things just happen because they are constantly happening.

[286] There's certain energies that just are attracted to each other.

[287] And for whatever reason, people like Will Smith, Jamie Fox, like they're throughout my career, they're always there.

[288] They're always, even when they're not, like, we may not speak.

[289] every day we make but they we always connected like even same thing like you know i call kevin hard my best friend of me like it's just like we've all since day one even when we're not trying to be connected we're connected like we're doing projects together we're we're thinking of like he might he might create a car show and i'll create a car show he has a restaurant i have a restaurant like and it's not like it looks like competition but it's like oh no like we just we're on the same frequency like we're just we just operate this thing and they're people kind of attract each other.

[290] They attract each other.

[291] Like, and I think that's, like, when people talk about, like, secret societies and I think it's like, it's not, it's not like this formed meaning.

[292] It's just like, like -minded individuals.

[293] Like, people who operate on the same frequency, they, they, there doesn't have to be this written rule book.

[294] It's just like, oh, no, we intuitively, this is, we move like this.

[295] We gravitate towards certain things.

[296] And it's unfortunate because people who operate in low frequency that it's the same way and it's like you know you always like damn that person can't catch a break it's like ah that's because they're living in that frequency that what does that frequency look and feel like it's slow it's thick it's heavy blame yeah yeah victimization is anger it's it's it's you know what I mean it's one of those things where jealousy yeah all of that said like it and it's unfortunate because the people who operate in it they don't know that they there in it.

[297] And it's almost like they, they almost desire that.

[298] And they feel like they have to have angst and anger to get their point across.

[299] Like, man, you're doing so much more damage to yourself.

[300] And you're digging yourself deeper by pointing fingers at people who are on a completely different frequency than you.

[301] They don't even hear you.

[302] And you're clouding up your existence.

[303] instead of just like stepping out of that frequency you were the youngest ever staff writer right at 17 years old yeah i think i mean unless somebody's beat it before like i think tv history yeah i think because working on keenan and kelb which by the way was massive in the uk yeah yeah i mean again two of the most beautiful people i've ever experienced uh specifically keenan keenan is like my brother like my our mothers are like best friends And, yeah, like, he, they gave me the opportunity because they were kids, too.

[304] And I started off doing warm up in the, you know, kind of entertaining the studio audience when, you know, they're moving the cameras around and stuff.

[305] And people are like, yo, that kid is sometimes more entertaining than what's going on on stage.

[306] So they're like, he has a voice.

[307] So through my management, you know, Michael Goldman is still my manager to this day, still Keenan's manager.

[308] Like, Keenan actually, I feel like, I don't know if Keenan introduced me to, because Kenan would hang out in the comedy clubs and I was in awe of him because he's Keenan from Kenan and Kail and we're in a, he's a few years older than me, but I'm like, he's doing what I want to do.

[309] So we would kind of, you know, catch each other and I would, you know, I wouldn't jock him too much, but I'd be like, ask him questions and stuff.

[310] So one night, his manager came to, um, to the improv on Melrose with, and, I was doing stand -up.

[311] And, you know, they produced Keenan and Kelle and all that and all this stuff.

[312] So they allowed me to do the warm -up job.

[313] And then from there, I'm in.

[314] So I'm like, Keenan, I was like, yo, we should write something.

[315] So I went to Keenan, wrote a couple of episodes.

[316] And, you know, he was like, yeah, let's do it.

[317] I remember we wrote one episode with, Keenan had a crush on Tamia at the time.

[318] Like, he was like, we all had a crush on Tamia.

[319] But he really liked, you know, the singer Tamia.

[320] And I was like, yo, let's write an episode about your crush on Tamia.

[321] And when you get Tamia on the episode and it worked, like, we got Tamia.

[322] She was in the show.

[323] I was like, this is amazing.

[324] Like, you mean I can write something that actually happens?

[325] Like, I was literally like, I was like Harry Potter with the pen.

[326] Like, like, I couldn't believe that I could write something in my mind and it would actually come into fruition.

[327] And that began, and so I just began writing everything.

[328] And I figured it out.

[329] and they hired me as a staff writer for a bunch of different Nickelodeon shows.

[330] At 17, 18 years old?

[331] Yeah, I was just 17, yeah.

[332] Because I think I wrote, we wrote the TMEA thing probably when I was like 16.

[333] And then so by the time I was 17, I had like an official job.

[334] And then I started writing my own stuff and then hence I wrote my own television show that I would later then pitch to Will Smith, you know, in that same time.

[335] When you're 22 years old, which is the Nick Cannon Show, right?

[336] Well, no, remember I said the Loose Cannon Show The loose cannon show, right, that didn't get, the big lesson I learned that I was still a teenager then.

[337] So, but it's the way I got back on my feet after Loose Cannon didn't get picked up.

[338] I then wrote my own show for Nickelodeon, which is interesting because I was so, I did that out of, to be honest, I wasn't even proud or even, I kind of did that out of just like, I don't have nothing else to do.

[339] So let me create and produce my own show.

[340] because I felt I was at a low point.

[341] I was 19.

[342] And you know how this game, sometimes if it doesn't work, they'll spit you out.

[343] Like, that was my shot.

[344] Like, I was like, oh, I had, I was signed to Will Smith.

[345] I was the protege of all of these big comedians.

[346] I had, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of holding deals with networks.

[347] Usually you only get that shot once.

[348] So I was like, damn, I blew my wad at.

[349] 19.

[350] Like, I got to go get a regular job now.

[351] Like, that's like, that's what I was thinking.

[352] Like, I was going to go back to hustling in the streets.

[353] But it was, I was like, all, well, maybe it's nickel.

[354] I was doing Nickelodeon, so I still got the relationships.

[355] Maybe I'll just write a kid's show.

[356] You know, but I was thinking I was about to be the next Will Smith, the next Jamie Fox.

[357] All right, I got to go do children's television.

[358] And through that, I exercised.

[359] these muscles as a writer as an executive producer and even like now like i didn't i didn't have you know the foresight to know how powerful you know children's entertainment is how it's one of the most dominating forces to be able to entertain families that you know i utilize in every aspect of my business now i used to look at nickelodeon as like preschool you know what i mean but i didn't know they were the billion -dollar conglomerate of, you know, Nickelodeon, Disney.

[360] Like, I didn't understand that then because I was in it.

[361] So, yeah, I created the Nick Cannon show for Nickelodeon, and, you know, garnered a massive youth fan base through that.

[362] When I look at you being 22 years old, writing this, the Nick Cannon show, you being 17, writing for Keenan and Cal, I go, like, where did you get the repetitions?

[363] Like, where did you get the skill from?

[364] And if I was to, if you had like a baby Nick Cannon here and I had to do something to give him the skills that you had at 17 where you're writing hilarious things, where, where does that skill come from?

[365] I think stand up, to be honest, stand up because writing my own jokes from 11 years old and then by the time I'm 12, 13, I'm seeing deaf comedy jam, comic view, I'm seeing all of these things happen.

[366] And I'm watching these individuals become their own intellectual properties, becoming their own business, becoming their own producers.

[367] One thing about stand -up, you have to write, direct, perform, promote, market, all by yourself.

[368] It's a one -man show.

[369] So I think by the time I had honed those skills at like 15, 16, I knew how to do it.

[370] I knew how to write a script.

[371] I knew how to write a great joke.

[372] I knew how to, you know, hours of sitting in libraries and figuring out words, hearing stories, like, all of that stuff was starting to pay off.

[373] And I knew, like, I just zoned in.

[374] Like, you kind of, like, again, like, when you know this is my space, this is my flow, you operate in your gift.

[375] So I think just, you know, trial and error as well, too, but, like, I just figured it out.

[376] You know what I mean?

[377] Like, this is what I is a gift that I have.

[378] continue to operate in.

[379] They say you've got to put in 10 ,000 hours to become a master at something.

[380] And actually when I run the numbers, I go, listen, you started at 11.

[381] And then you wrote your own show at 22.

[382] That's for more than a decade of repetitions in the gym.

[383] Yep.

[384] And to me then, even then, I was still just getting started.

[385] You know what I mean?

[386] Like again, the beauty of like even Nickelodeon.

[387] Like even I, I mean, it was, because I think the Nick Cannon show was, I was from, I did it from like age.

[388] I started 19 and it ended right when I turned.

[389] 22.

[390] I was a baby.

[391] I looked like I was 15.

[392] Like everybody thought I was much younger than I even was.

[393] So, you know, that's when everything else from like drumline and my music career began.

[394] And I was a baby then too.

[395] And so it just, like I said, I live so many lives and learn so many lessons early on that even as I sit here before you today, I'm like, I'm still just getting started.

[396] Like I still got so many more movies that I got to do.

[397] I still got so much more music I got to produce.

[398] I still got so many more television shows I got to write.

[399] So like, if your kids come to you though and they say, dad, how do I become the master of my craft?

[400] How do I become the top of my industry?

[401] Not only have you become the top of your industry in many facets, but you've been around people that have got to the top of the industry.

[402] So the things you point out and the similarities and the people that get there, what are those similarities?

[403] If I'm your kid and I come to you and say, Dad, I want to get to the top of the industry.

[404] What's the advice you give to them?

[405] Do it.

[406] I think especially now, as simple as that sounds, that's what it is today.

[407] Do it and stick to it.

[408] Like, don't give up.

[409] Like, do it efficiently.

[410] Do it because this is, don't try it.

[411] If you try it, it's not going to work.

[412] If you do it.

[413] Like, that's even like, even when people always talk to me about acting.

[414] Like, how do you know or become a great actor?

[415] Do it.

[416] Like, it's not, like, it's not believe it.

[417] It's not act it.

[418] You got to actually embody every aspect of it.

[419] Like, do it as if there's no other option.

[420] Like, if you try something, that's you sticking your foot in it.

[421] If you believe it, you're kind of like, I think I, yeah, like, okay.

[422] But when you do it, when you live it, when you operate in it, when there's no other option of like, like, you know, it's like it's some people who like, you know, they play basketball.

[423] And then somebody's like, oh no, they're a basketball player.

[424] You know what I mean?

[425] Like there's some people who train or try to box.

[426] I'm like, no, that's a boxer.

[427] You know what I mean?

[428] Like they embody it.

[429] They live it.

[430] And that's what my, and even with my own kids, I'm like, All right, what do you just naturally do?

[431] We're just swag naturally at.

[432] Why naturally?

[433] Because, like, some of my kids are just natural athletes.

[434] Their physical build, they're, what they gravitate towards.

[435] And then, all right, I'm going to water that.

[436] I'm going to cultivate that seed.

[437] And that's what, because they have fun at it.

[438] Then there's some of my kids that are just, like, natural musicians.

[439] They just gravitate towards the piano.

[440] Like, they just.

[441] They have fun at it.

[442] What does that matter?

[443] And then it's like, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to help you with that.

[444] Why does the fun matter?

[445] Well, I mean, that's the, that's the battery.

[446] Like, that's, and that's what, if they ever lose the fun, at least for me, like, when it's no longer be fun, becomes fun, then why are we doing it?

[447] You know, are you doing it for money?

[448] Are you doing it?

[449] Like, no, you got to do it because you enjoy it.

[450] I find that fun part so important, but a lot of the time people don't appreciate it.

[451] And I love your reference of the battery because a lot of people will be oriented.

[452] because they come from tough upbringings to go what's going to make the most money.

[453] And what I love about what you said about the fun thing is ultimately, well, it's my belief that the thing that will actually make you the most money is the thing that you can master.

[454] And the thing that you can master is the thing that you can do for 11 years.

[455] Exactly.

[456] Which is the fun thing.

[457] Exactly.

[458] It's like, I always say, money doesn't make you happy.

[459] Happy makes you money.

[460] And then it goes to the concept of happy money or good money.

[461] because there's definitely the opposite of there's bad money and there's sad money.

[462] And I've seen so many people live in that frequency.

[463] Sad money.

[464] Sad money.

[465] It's like stingy fear that people only want you for your money.

[466] Loneliness.

[467] Loneliness in this big glass castle by yourself.

[468] you got all the money in the world.

[469] Like, we know those entertainers.

[470] You know what I mean?

[471] Like, man, they put themselves in this glass tower and everybody could see them and they hate that everybody could see them and they're so lonely.

[472] And it's like, they got more money than they know what to do with.

[473] And then everything becomes about a transaction.

[474] Like, and you can see they have the biggest yacht in the world.

[475] They got the most diamond -studded watch ever, and they're miserable.

[476] And it's like, that's sad money.

[477] And it becomes bad money.

[478] You know what I mean?

[479] Like, they're making it.

[480] And it's vindictive.

[481] They're not honest.

[482] They get it in a way.

[483] They're like, man, how do you sleep at night?

[484] Like the music industry is filled with bad money.

[485] And I've seen people, they take advantage.

[486] Like, it's literally designed in these contracts.

[487] That's why I never really wanted to be, I didn't want to thrive in it.

[488] Once I saw it, I'm like, oh, it's so manipulative.

[489] It's about, there's one person robbing another, robbing another, robbing another.

[490] And it's like, that's not a fun industry to be in.

[491] Like, clearly there's some people who figure it out, but even as a music executive, I'm like, I don't want to operate in dishonesty.

[492] I don't want to operate in manipulation.

[493] And it's just like that entire industry is designed off.

[494] for that and but it's it's ways to you know far and few between but you can operate with happy money and good money because the crazy thing specifically about music it brings so much joy to the world that the industry shouldn't be in a low frequency place like everybody should be able to thrive and win and provide for their families but there's a lot of people who aren't musically inclined who aren't musically talented, who don't know how to have happiness with music that latch on and control the artists.

[495] And then therefore they run the industry and they operate on a lower frequency of like, you know, I'm going to control your intellectual property and I'll make more money off of it than you did, even though you made it from such a pure and happy place.

[496] There's a balance.

[497] It almost feels like there's a bit of a balance act or a, I don't know, a conflict between being selfish enough that you get on and you get what you deserve, but being generous and kind enough so that you can stick around and do you think about that alone?

[498] It's the beauty of narcissism.

[499] I am, that balance, I am a narcissist.

[500] I believe there's the balance of narcissism because you can go to, you can go to an extreme of narcissism and it becomes dangerous.

[501] It becomes maniacal, it becomes where you can be a psychopath with it or you're a sociopath with it, where you have no empathy.

[502] That level of narcissism is unhealthy.

[503] That's to the extreme of the spectrum.

[504] But the balance of confidence, of self -love, of there's no other option but me. I am the I'm him.

[505] You know, like, LeBron James is him.

[506] You know, Kobe Bryant, him.

[507] Michael Jordan, him.

[508] Michael Jackson, him.

[509] You know, Mike Tyson, him.

[510] You know, like all the mics.

[511] The, uh, Will Smith is him.

[512] Chris Rock is him.

[513] Jamie Fox is him.

[514] You know, and Mariah Carey is her.

[515] Mary J. Blige is her.

[516] Beyonce is her.

[517] You know, like all of those people know that there is there will never be another them on the planet and that is worth its weight in gold so you have to have a level of self -love self -promotion self -dedication all the self is the key word the common word and all of these things you have to love self you have to know self not so much that you hurt others or you think less of others it's not because that's people like oh you think you're better than everybody else.

[518] I don't care about everybody else.

[519] Like, it's not I don't think I'm better than y 'all.

[520] I'm me. Like, and that, to a point, it's a fine line because you don't want to disrespect anyone.

[521] You still want to have compassion.

[522] You still want to have empathy.

[523] You still want to enter the space of gratitude.

[524] But this is my show.

[525] This is my party.

[526] This is my, this is my block.

[527] That you have to, that's where that success lies.

[528] Because without these narcissists, we wouldn't have, you know, electricity.

[529] We wouldn't have iPhones.

[530] We wouldn't have great music.

[531] We wouldn't have great, like the director of the movie is the director for the reason.

[532] He's the boss.

[533] He knows he's the shit.

[534] He knows his vision is the one that everyone else has to align with to make a great film.

[535] Was there a point in your career where you realized that you needed to change in some way to get what you deserved and to get what you're worth?

[536] Nah, I don't think so.

[537] Really?

[538] I had to learn lessons.

[539] Because you're 15.

[540] I see you.

[541] you coming up, I go, he's got talent.

[542] Yeah.

[543] I could get him to sign a bad contract and I could take his money.

[544] Yeah.

[545] That's what I've learned.

[546] I've learned all of those lessons.

[547] And people have tried to forewarn me and stuff like that.

[548] But the thing, I think the beauty that, you know, the aura that everybody's seen is, that's been consistent.

[549] It's what you do with it.

[550] You know, I've never let no one put out my flame.

[551] You know, it's constantly burned for the type of individual.

[552] that I want to be that I, you know, my purpose.

[553] So, you know, we all have trials and tribulations.

[554] You know, you got to learn how to bob and weave, but you're still the fighter in which you're supposed to be.

[555] You know, like whatever made you jump in the ring from that day one, you're going to cultivate those skills.

[556] You know what I mean?

[557] You may be a defensive fighter, and that's how you win your fight sometimes.

[558] Then, you know, but early on in your career, you know, you are a puncher, you know.

[559] Then you had to be more of a thinker, you know, but at the end of the day, you're still a fighter.

[560] So I think, guys, whatever I am, I still have this desire in me to be a winner.

[561] I have this desire in me to beat the odds to some, there's something about like when someone tells me I can't do something or tells me no. that fuels me and it's been that way since day one since you know my my ADD since my anti -authoritarian behavior like it's just like I'm gonna push through I'm gonna persevere I'm gonna do what I want and I'm not gonna let society or individuals tell me I can't 22 years old you start writing wild and out yeah you start writing at that point I think it you've you've you you then self -fund the pilot at 25 years old yeah probably before that because i self -funded in in 2004 so that might have been i might have been 23 uh and again i had just seen some success with film and music and um i just started i was kind of one of those guys the drumline was out and had you know my album and stuff so people but i was still doing stand -up and i was like Everybody was like, oh, he does so many things, and he hosted.

[562] And I had a deal with, you know, Viacom at the time.

[563] Obviously, they had Nickelodeon, and then you kind of like graduate for Nickelodeon and go to MTV.

[564] So I was in that stage of developing things for MTV.

[565] And they didn't understand what I wanted to do when I was saying, like, I want to get all my comedian friends together and all my rapper friends together.

[566] And we just, like, do improv and play games.

[567] And they're like, we don't get it.

[568] So I was like, all right, so I rented out one of the comedy clubs that me and my guys were normally frequent, got some cameras together.

[569] I think I, man, I want to say it was somewhere around like $100 ,000 that I put into like that night, promoted it, had everybody come out, you know, got some beautiful people to stand around and look beautiful.

[570] You put $100 ,000 of your own money into the pilot to show MTV.

[571] Yeah.

[572] And then once we put it all together, you know, edited, created logos, showed it to them, and they're like, oh, we get it now.

[573] But, you know, by then I had created the intellectual property, had, you know, copywritten and patented the name of whaling out of the logo.

[574] So when it was time to negotiate, when I knew that they wanted the show, we had the, you know, the strong side of the table because we knew they wanted it and we had already created.

[575] that instantly was like, oh, this is the business model that I want to continue to operate under.

[576] Most people don't figure that out until much later in life, if at all, that owning their IP is key to getting the value that they deserve for their work.

[577] Yeah.

[578] Well, now I feel like everybody knows the secrets out.

[579] You know, I mean, when you look at YouTube and, you know, the ability of that we could create great content, you know, for a very cost -effective amount like you know while and out that pilot wouldn't cost me a hundred thousand today you know because everything like back then they to get a cameraman yeah that was a couple thousand dollars you know what i mean and you know you know you're doing the iPhone now yeah like exactly um yeah everybody knows now to if they create it and they'll come and then you build your fan base on your own and then you can sell it to a larger corporation so I feel like that motto is being, you know, kind of, like, look at Mr. Beast, you know what I mean?

[580] Like, I'm so jealous of what I'm so, all, like everything that he's doing at 24, 25, like, I was trying to do back there, but there was no, there was no YouTube.

[581] Like, I was doing this, you know, on BHS, you know.

[582] Yeah, yeah.

[583] But, uh, I love it.

[584] You know what I mean?

[585] I love watching what even, I mean, the beauty of my brand now is what I start.

[586] started in 2004, it's still going strong and probably more popular today going into 2024.

[587] It's crazy.

[588] You know what I mean?

[589] You're about to film series 21?

[590] We just filmed 21, so we're going into 22 and 23.

[591] I figured out a model now how to do two seasons and one.

[592] Most shows don't last for a season, let alone 21 seasons.

[593] Yeah, I think my goal is 25.

[594] So.

[595] What happens at 25?

[596] It'll be the 20th year.

[597] 25.

[598] Do I gracefully bow out?

[599] It's 25, 25 seasons.

[600] Like, do I hand it off to somebody else?

[601] Do I probably be getting close to 50 by the end?

[602] Like, I can't wild out forever.

[603] No?

[604] No, I got to stop at some point.

[605] I think I'm probably too long in the tooth now.

[606] I mean, that's why I even created the old school and new school.

[607] It's funny, everybody, when I first created, all of the Wiling Out girls, all of the cast members, all of the crew were older than me. And it was weird that everybody was listening to this kid, tell them what to do.

[608] And like, even my O .Gs, like, you know, Cat Williams and, you know, a lot of the guys who are on the show and right, Chris Spencer and Daryl Heath, like, these guys were guys that I looked up to that were on my show.

[609] and now I'm the old head and I got all of these other young kids like the DC Young Flies and everything I'm like it's so crazy to have the same brand and I literally grow up on you know like I remember being a kid trying to get these comedians to listen to me and I'm like what do you know and now I'm the guy telling with the platform yeah so give me a view into that platform that you have and that you've built the entertainment company that sits behind it, the talent that you have, because it's not so obvious to people.

[610] Yeah.

[611] You know, people kind of probably think, okay, Wailing Out, he does this, whatever, he's the host, whatever.

[612] But when I did the research on the company that you've built behind it, it's a pretty, it's a huge business behind all of that.

[613] Yeah.

[614] And you're involved in a lot of things.

[615] Yeah.

[616] I mean, there's so many aspects of it.

[617] I mean, I truly look at it as a blessing.

[618] I'm so grateful for it because it was on a job, job training.

[619] I didn't say, I didn't think Wiling Out would be the billion -dollar conglomerate that it is because I was just creating a show to give my friend's jobs because Kevin Harder needed money to pay his rent.

[620] Like, because he's people, like, it's just real, you know, like, we were trying to create something because I was the only one that was, you know, seeing some success out of our, you know, our generation at the time.

[621] And I was like, oh, let's, let me shine a light on these dudes that are way funnier than me that are way more talented than me, you know, like.

[622] And then I built a business.

[623] out of it, of incubating, of cultivating young talent so much so that when they're ready, we see Pete Davidson go on to become one of the biggest stars in SNL and a movie star.

[624] We see, same thing with like Mikey Day and Terran Kill 'em and, you know, the Cat Williams and Kevin's to become some of the biggest stand -up comedians to ever tour the world.

[625] Like, they got they, you know, they, they feet wet, they skills honed on one of the toughest stages.

[626] Like if you look at what wild and out is, if you, if you excel and survive there, you're going to be a star.

[627] Yeah, yeah, because you're in a, this is the gauntlet.

[628] This is the combine.

[629] This is the best of the best and the grimyest of this.

[630] We're going to test your insecurities.

[631] We're going to test your anxiety.

[632] And then you succeed and you get the love from people that you respect.

[633] And then once the industry sees that, do whatever you want.

[634] So I didn't, I couldn't have designed that.

[635] But it happened.

[636] And I was like, wow, I didn't know.

[637] I was literally, I didn't, we were just in the trenches.

[638] But it's like, it's so much so, like we created an environment that most entertainers are scared to come to.

[639] They're like, man, I don't want to go a while.

[640] And now, they're going to talk about my mama.

[641] They're going to talk about my last scandal.

[642] I don't know how to rap.

[643] I'm not that funny off the top of the head.

[644] And it's like, it's intimidating.

[645] So when you throw a kid in there or whoever is in it and they excel, they've earned their stripes.

[646] So now they can walk into any room.

[647] We're like, yeah, I was the man on wild and out.

[648] And now, because it is a platform to propel, now you can go become a movie star.

[649] Now you can go become a rapper or a singer.

[650] So that was really, if I could, I'd be lying if I say I designed that.

[651] but it became that and that's like the blessing i got but then the business behind it you used the word used the b word billion yeah yeah i mean if you and it's i it's funny i didn't even that was told to me after they did all the research and of you know obviously what the IP is worth because one i mean we're looking at 500 episodes of television that alone when you just do the math charge however much you want to charge per episode what that what you know and then the the careers that it's launched and you know then go to where the money really is in the actual intellectual property so we have a tour that makes millions every year now even turning into a cruise line you know the wild and wet like we have restaurants that are being franchised you know all over the country you know we just expanded our our south beach location and on ocean drive in Miami the the logo in itself the amount of t -shirts where then we're probably uh paramount's number one uh selling merchandise yeah merchant uh t -shirt merchandise that everybody knows that while and out logo and it's on everything from t -shirts to bikinis to underwears to coffee mugs to toys it's things like that that i was just trying to make a cool t -shirt like i didn't think you know for 20 -something years people would be buying while -and -out t -shirts so stuff like that when and then even stuff i never even thought of you know we created wild and out before there was a youtube it's probably uh want to Viacom, if not the, I think maybe the Daily Show is probably right there with it, but the biggest digital brand that Paramount has through TikTok, YouTube.

[652] You know, I feel like I think we might, we're somewhere north of 12 million YouTube subscribers on the While and Out page, 12 million something subscribers on TikTok, seven million on Instagram.

[653] And that's just, that's a TV show.

[654] You know what I mean?

[655] when you think about it, like, not the individuals who are on the TV show have even more followers.

[656] This is just the show's page.

[657] How does you think the brand is worth?

[658] I've heard different things.

[659] I mean, like I said, when I initially went the research back, there was like a $1 .3 billion, but then that was years ago.

[660] So, like, I'm pretty sure it's grown because now it's even more popular now.

[661] So it's, you know, I try not to get caught up in that because then I'm, two things happen.

[662] like one, I get in, I start gloating on like, built this billion dollar business.

[663] And then the second thing, I was like, hey, where's my billion dollars?

[664] Like, somebody owes me some money.

[665] Like, so I try not to get caught up in that.

[666] So, like, I just know it's very successful.

[667] And I'm grateful that it's still going.

[668] I mean, I can't wait to find the next comedic superstar.

[669] Can't wait to find the next big rapper that Grace is the while on stage.

[670] What are the other businesses or the business ventures that aren't obvious that people might not know about?

[671] So you talked about restaurants.

[672] You signed talent.

[673] You've obviously the Wilden Out brand.

[674] Is there anything else going on that from the business side of things that isn't obvious?

[675] Specifically in Wild Out or everything else?

[676] Everything.

[677] Well, I mean, I've created incredible entertainment in 2009.

[678] It was more of a conglomerate work because I had always had a record label, but it was separate from my television company.

[679] Film, I would produce the films that I was in and stuff.

[680] So I was like, I want everything.

[681] in -house.

[682] I read that incredible entertainment generated over a hundred million dollars in revenue in 2009.

[683] I think that was just in our headphone sales.

[684] Like, because we did, I had, I did a headphone brand, very similar to Beats by Dre.

[685] Monster was the parent company.

[686] They did beats for $300 and they did Incredibles for $100.

[687] So we were the more cost -effective headphone brand.

[688] While Beats by Dre was making all the noise, we were quietly making noise in Walmarts and the radio shacks for selling an affordable product that was pretty much the same product except for we made ours affordable so yeah just so that alone that was just in consumer electronics that i would never thought i was going to be uh you know selling electronics um so but yeah incredible and it's ultimately i created a one -stop shop that could be everything from consumer products to entertainment to so and it's been thriving man it's been uh And it's kind of, I guess my brand is somewhat known of giving people opportunities and finding that next big thing.

[689] So we're cultivators, we're curators, we're incubators.

[690] And so a lot of the content that I've created, I found my niche.

[691] I was going to say you were the Simon kind of the entertainment mode, but you're in fact just the nit canon of the entertainment world.

[692] It's funny, me and Kaylani is a, me and Simon talk about that often because I found her on America's Got Talent on his show, my show, our show, but he wasn't paying attention.

[693] You know what I mean?

[694] And it was like, you know, he was focused on one direction or whatever on one of his other shows.

[695] And I was like, you know, Kaylani came in and it was, she was an amazing talent.

[696] And like, I hate to say found because she was already talented.

[697] Once you get to America's Got Talent, you're already proven, you know.

[698] And she was the lead singer for a group called Pop Life, which was put together, I believe, by Dwayne Wiggins from Tony, Tony.

[699] Tony, his sons were in there too.

[700] But she was clearly the star of this group.

[701] And I remember Pierce Morgan was being an asshole as he does so very well.

[702] And he was telling a 15 -year -old.

[703] little chubby Kalani that she should leave the group and the only way that he would put her through and not buzz her off is if she left her band because she was the talent.

[704] He was right, but how do you put a 15 year old in that scenario?

[705] And she stuck to her guns and she said, I'm not leaving my brothers.

[706] And everybody else on the panel was like, we're gonna, you know, we love that you stuck to your gun.

[707] So even though Pierce was being an ass, they went all the way through to the finale.

[708] I think they performed with Stevie Wonder on the finale as Pop Life.

[709] And then unfortunately, when you don't win, life goes on.

[710] She had to go back home to Oakland and probably met some hard times.

[711] And I remember, it's funny, the father of her, you know, as I knew as Gabby, who also grew up in that same musical, and he called me. and say, hey, man, you know, that girl that was on America's Got Talent, she's homeless now.

[712] She's not doing so well.

[713] I was like, what?

[714] Like, yeah, she's, you know, not doing, you know, she's being a teenager, but, like, she needs help.

[715] Like, I didn't really know her background of, you know, her father, you know, being murdered when she was a child and her mother, you know, dealing with substance abuse.

[716] And a lot of, she has a very compelling story of just the resilience of her and her family.

[717] And they were explaining all that.

[718] And I was like, yo, give me your information.

[719] Find who's her guardian.

[720] And kind of went and talked to the family and said, yo, I'll move you to L .A. But first you got to finish high school.

[721] Like the one problem is finish school, I'll take care of everything else.

[722] A year later, her mixtape was nominated for a Grammy.

[723] So it's just like, just and, you know, so it's stuff like that to where, you know, I was like, I put in the work to, you know, help her out.

[724] I was to tell Simon, yeah, you missed that one.

[725] You got a lot of other ones, right?

[726] You missed that one.

[727] Did you sign her?

[728] See, that's the thing.

[729] I feel about signing.

[730] I don't, I'm weird about that.

[731] I don't like signing people.

[732] And people, everybody in my life is like, that's what you have to do.

[733] I would say, I didn't ask for anything.

[734] I was the impressario.

[735] You know what I mean?

[736] I funded scenarios because I could.

[737] So she didn't have to worry about anything.

[738] You know what I mean?

[739] She had a roof over ahead, food on the table, anything she wanted.

[740] Studio time, you know, we figured it out.

[741] I introduced her to, you know, the good people over at Atlantic Records, and the rest is history.

[742] Hindsight's a wonderful thing.

[743] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[744] I didn't want no money from it.

[745] You know what I mean?

[746] I do that for a lot of people.

[747] It's created, you know, me and Craig Calman over at Atlantic.

[748] That's my man, you know, but where a lot of people would be, you know, Kailani would be signed to them forever.

[749] Wow, I don't want that.

[750] You know what I mean?

[751] I want her to be able to provide and do, like, I always tell everybody I work with from the beginning, whether you make it or you don't make it, my life is still going to be the same.

[752] So I don't want anything from you but to see you win.

[753] I just want to see, like, I don't.

[754] But you could have.

[755] I could.

[756] There's a lot of people.

[757] that is their business to where like I need my percentage of every song that you write from here on out because I found you.

[758] I discovered you.

[759] I signed you.

[760] My spirit, that don't sit well with my spirit.

[761] I, uh, and that's this future superstar show.

[762] My inner struggle when you watch it because I'm on the show as well, I struggle with signing these kids.

[763] It's funny because we go from city to city, and I give a local artist anywhere from $5 ,000 to $10 ,000 a city.

[764] And a lot of times, that's what these record labels are signing these kids up for.

[765] Someone signed my publishing away when I was a teenager for $10 ,000.

[766] One of the biggest mistakes, one of the biggest lessons I've ever learned.

[767] So now I'm giving that $10 ,000 away to these kids, and I don't want nothing from you.

[768] but to see you win.

[769] And that's me paying it forward.

[770] That's me correcting what this industry has done to people for so long.

[771] So I don't want, if you want to sign with Incredible, that's your choice.

[772] You can sign to me if you want to, but I'm good.

[773] I'm going to still be rich, so I don't need anything from you.

[774] If you want to join the gang, let's go.

[775] Like, you know, there's benefits and perks to being incredible.

[776] But I don't, it's a lot of people even, you know, from my attorneys and people in my circle, like, man, you got to sign these people.

[777] How are you going to function?

[778] How are you going to allow your business to thrive if you don't sign?

[779] Well, it's been working thus far.

[780] So I don't want to, I don't like signing people.

[781] I don't like having ownership in someone else's brand.

[782] we can be collaborative, we can write a song together and we can split the publishing.

[783] We can, you know, yeah, it costs money to keep the lights on.

[784] You can use my studio.

[785] Yeah, like, and I'll get reimbursed, you know, down the line when it's time.

[786] But I'm not going to take something from you.

[787] I'm not going to charge the artists.

[788] Like, that's a fucked up concept that we just been operating in and no one's ever corrected it.

[789] like why should we this is an artist who's making brilliant art and someone who had nothing to do with it gets to own it forever in perpetuity the fuck this perpetuity meaning like like there's these terms and these words that we just signed up for that is just it's wrong but it's made a lot of people a lot of money so they don't want it to change but it has to change like technology is making it change.

[790] These next generations of people who have more empathy and giving spirits are going to allow it to change because I don't believe people are as animalistic.

[791] They're not, they don't have a savage mentality like it wants used to require.

[792] I believe we're more empathetic, we're more compassionate and it's starting to show even in business.

[793] I think you're right though.

[794] I think because of platforms, that middle man has less power than ever.

[795] So, you say like oh maybe they're becoming more empathetic maybe they have no choice yeah because a kalani or a you or whatever now has all these platforms where if you've got art and you've got talent that shit's just going to go viral yeah and you're going to have the followers yeah on your account with and you own the password exactly so they've got to come with a different value proposition before it's like oh i can introduce you to that person i was telling people like networking is stupid like like if you're like focus on being the best you they'll come find you like but but There are some people who made a lot of money by networking.

[796] That concept is like, oh, I know this person.

[797] I can introduce you to this.

[798] God bless you.

[799] You know what I mean?

[800] Like, if that's how you, like, connecting, I'll get it.

[801] But if we're really trying to get the artist or the IP or the genius to the people, now technology is doing it for us.

[802] I have this debate with my assistant all the time, she tells me to network more.

[803] And I say to what I say, like, my networking is doing my thing.

[804] Yeah.

[805] And then you become a peacock or a magnet versus me having to small talk in a room for three hours.

[806] Exactly.

[807] Which I can't do.

[808] I hate small talk.

[809] And maybe we're just different type of individual.

[810] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[811] Because there are all the people that be like, your network is your network.

[812] Yeah, yeah.

[813] I don't care who I know.

[814] It's more about who knows me. It's, it's, I'm going to go over here and figure it out.

[815] and you're welcome to the party, like, but I don't want to go to your party.

[816] Like, I don't want to hang out with everybody's dressed in white and got on billion -dollar watches.

[817] That's not fun to me. Yeah.

[818] Like, to each his own.

[819] But some people can do that.

[820] Yeah, and I, and, like, I, maybe because I've been in it so long, I've been to the white parties before and wanted to show off, and they were fun.

[821] But, like, I'm at this point.

[822] Like, I don't want to do that.

[823] That feels.

[824] That feels like work to me. I'd rather be in a studio.

[825] I'd rather be with my children.

[826] I'd rather be writing somewhere.

[827] And not to say that those people don't do that as well.

[828] I just like, that world is, I don't have a place in it.

[829] That's not where I could be my best self.

[830] I low -key, though, do envy the people that can do it and that enjoy it and that can be that network and connect this person to that one.

[831] Because it's an energy that I just don't have.

[832] I think as an introvert, I don't have that.

[833] to like show up small talk my way to a lunch with someone and fucking yeah yeah i'll tell you by i'm an outgoing introvert like like i am and that's what me and kevin heart go back and forth about all the time because he has that gift he walks in a room and lights it up you know what i mean and he knows this person and this person and i'm like yo that looks exhausting and this i'm coming from I'm a person who, like, my personal bandwidth is overloaded constantly, but my spiritual bandwidth, I keep, like, I don't, I don't give everybody my energy.

[834] Like, and that's probably why I am a little bit more subdued in rooms.

[835] That's why I may not go to every event, and most of the time, if somebody asks me to come, something, it's like, no, I'm good.

[836] And it's not because I just like my peace.

[837] I just like being with, where I can be my authentic.

[838] where I can be my best, so I don't like having to turn it on.

[839] But I understand when it's time to, like, all right, it's award season.

[840] You got to go do this.

[841] So you got to like, all right.

[842] And I know how to do it with the best of them, but that's not who I naturally am.

[843] I'm 30 years old, Nick.

[844] And at 32 years old, you got a diagnosis that changed your life.

[845] Yeah.

[846] Thu me for a super loop, like literally part in the palm, but lupis.

[847] like it was yeah man lupus nephritis specifically on 2012 and here living my dream life you know married to the most gorgeous beautiful super talented person ever step on the planet literally my dream girl we got two kids we're in aspen I never like I'm from from the hood I'm from the projects you don't go to Aspen who you married to Mariah Carey but it's like I'm in Aspen with my wife and thinking I'm in probably some of the best shape of my life go to boxing three times a week you know what I mean got my own home gym in Aspen you know I mean like and I had the weirdest pain in my right side and I'm like I'm thinking like a muscle cramp or like I'm gonna just jog through it here I'm in high out, you know, altitude, jogging in the snow, thinking I'm like, this is my Rocky moment.

[848] I don't know what I was thinking.

[849] And by the time I got back to the house, passed out, like, and I didn't know, like, literally Mariah came in and found me, and they called the, you know, rushed me to the ER in Aspen.

[850] How did she find you?

[851] I was, I don't know.

[852] I was laid out.

[853] Like, and I think everybody, because, you know, I think it was.

[854] that bad because I just came from jogging in Aspen.

[855] That's like, oh, he probably got altitude sickness, you know what I mean?

[856] Like, I was just dehydrated.

[857] So that's what the narrative we were going with.

[858] So once I got to the hospital, I was like, I just need some fluid, an IV, I'll be all right.

[859] You know, because that happens.

[860] It happens on the ski slopes.

[861] People are like, my dumb ass was jogging in upper mountain.

[862] I'm probably going to pass out.

[863] And I was only doing it to try to rid this crap that I had.

[864] I thought I could, like, work it off.

[865] And then the longer I was in the hospital, they were like, oh, well, maybe you have a kidney stone because there's something going on back there.

[866] And it was like, no, it wasn't a kidney stone and you got the fluids and no longer dehydrated.

[867] All right, well, you know, maybe you got a kidney infection.

[868] And then they wanted to do a biopsy.

[869] And then through the biopsy, I think at the time it was kind of like acute kidney failure.

[870] like it wasn't full like i would i had caught it early enough to where my kidneys didn't completely fail and then they were to and they found out the reason why is that my immune system was attacking my kidneys therefore the autoimmune condition lupus and lupus nephritis to where you know where your immune system can get out of whack based off of whether it's levels of stress things that you're putting into your body a lot of times it's not hereditary they don't really know what the cause of it is it's definitely related to stress which I didn't think I was stressed out but it's like obviously there's various types of stress where physical stress, emotional stress but this can send your immune system out of whack and therefore your immune system then starts to you know self -destroar You know, it starts to attack the whatever organs.

[871] Different people's lupis attack different things.

[872] Mine specifically were my kidneys, which then created a bunch of other stuff like pulmonary embolisms.

[873] And so like the lupus started, I started having these flare -ups and it was doing a bunch of stuff to my body.

[874] And that, if you don't catch it, you know, and control it, you could lose your life pretty quickly.

[875] So it was a scary time.

[876] I didn't understand it, but we got it in order, you know, and even, I feel like I got a good hold on it now, but every once in a while, it's a great reminder that health is wealth.

[877] Health is currency.

[878] Health is the most important thing next to time that we possess.

[879] And we can't control the time.

[880] We can control our health.

[881] You can control what you put in your body.

[882] You can control what you, how well you take care of yourself.

[883] So my lupapist is my alarm clock every morning, letting me know you better do the right things.

[884] You better drink your gallon of water.

[885] You better take your supplements.

[886] You better not eat too much sodium or processed.

[887] They're like just a constant measuring stick to keep me alive.

[888] How did that diagnosis change your life?

[889] So if I was in your life at that moment, before that moment and then during that moment, you're married, you're still contending with work and - It changed it.

[890] So much.

[891] I became a different person.

[892] For better for us.

[893] Both.

[894] You know, certain things didn't matter anymore.

[895] Other things mattered too much.

[896] You know, I started to overly value relationships and time, but then that made me get rid of relationships that were taking up time and wasting my time.

[897] But it all became, I always felt like I had a ticking clock, but then, The ticking clock became more apparent in 2012 that I got to make the most out of today because tomorrow is in promise.

[898] My relationship with my children, all of my children, you know what I mean?

[899] Like a lot of that all comes into play to where like, what are you going to do with the time that you have on this planet?

[900] What impact are you going to make?

[901] So that's kind of, that's where, in a nutshell, would it do.

[902] Emotionally.

[903] if I'm Mariah at that time and I'm dealing with a Nick that's contending with this new diagnosis and an uncertain future yeah she was my rock man she was she went hard you know probably probably wouldn't even I'd be honest probably wouldn't be a lie if it wasn't for how hard she went you know with the doctors with me my stubbornness you know she was the the perfect helpmate, the perfect matriarch, the perfect mom, the perfect wife in those scenarios.

[904] Because granted, she's who she is in dealing with all the pressures of being Mariah Carey, but then being loving enough to take on all of my stuff.

[905] And, you know, it probably took a toll on us just because of the person I was in my head and the struggles that I was dealing with.

[906] So I probably took a toll on our relationship, but it definitely brought us closer to the other.

[907] The struggles you were dealing with.

[908] Man, just like, was I going to live?

[909] What was life all about had I wasted my time up until this point?

[910] And if I get another shot, what am I going to do?

[911] What type of am I going to be able to be here from my children?

[912] Am I not going to be able to be here from my children?

[913] So therefore, what am I leaving them?

[914] What am I leaving the world when I exit?

[915] You know, staring up at that, hospital bed or from the hospital bed standing at the ceiling all alone and everybody else is kicked out and you got to you got to just you know be be face to face with your higher power asking all those tough questions am i done you know a lot of people we we we don't do that because we get caught up in the constant race of just living day to day but it slowed down for me and on occasions of like it's just a rap he's almost out of here and I wasn't scared that's the crazy thing when you get to that point where you're like oh okay I had a good run were you happy I was in that moment when you're looking up at the ceiling I was I was content I wasn't scared and it happened you know more than once and even you know it continues to like I'm probably reminded of my physical mortality all the time and when you're when you're not afraid of dying you focus on living you know it's it's uh anyone who's ever had a near -death experience or anyone who've been in those quiet places of dealing with thoughts of afterlife and what this current life was for you.

[916] You live the rest of your days differently.

[917] And at least for a certain amount of time until you're reminded again.

[918] But yeah, man, I always say I won that life.

[919] I've lived several lives and I won them all.

[920] So it's like I'm not afraid to go.

[921] Like, and even all of the things that I study and have prepared myself for, it's, you know, one thing, it's inevitable.

[922] We all got, it's going to happen to all of us at some point.

[923] And I think others just deal with it better and it makes you appreciate this life.

[924] Like, I want to, when it's all said and done, I guarantee you they're going to be like, yo, he rolled that motherfucker to the wheels fell off.

[925] Like, like, he got, he got the most out of life.

[926] And, you know, I'll be known for smiling big, loving hard, you know, and, you know, what more can you ask for?

[927] You said you don't think you'd be here if it wasn't from Mariah going hard.

[928] Do you really believe she saved your life?

[929] Oh, absolutely.

[930] Absolutely.

[931] But I think that's what you do.

[932] When you find a helpmate, when you find someone that you're in matrimony with, you know, you, you, you go hard for him.

[933] I feel like I went hard for her and we'll still go hard.

[934] I lay down my life for her today.

[935] You know, it's just, it's what you do.

[936] It's just family.

[937] It wasn't, and I just want to make it clear, it wasn't just that moment where you had to contend with health and mortality.

[938] It's an ongoing conversation.

[939] Yeah, I was in and out of the hospital.

[940] I mean, I was in the hospital this past December.

[941] You know, it's not as frequent, you know, and it's just because I have the right doctors and I'm hopefully doing the right things now that it doesn't find me. But lupus, you have what they call flare -ups.

[942] And it happens when certain times of the year, season, stress, and some can be worse than others.

[943] So early on, when I was trying to understand it between, like, 2012 and 2016, I was in the hospital, like, a couple of times a year for a stints of, like, three weeks to a month, just trying to figure it out.

[944] So those, and like I said, the flare -ups would cause things from everywhere from like blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, inflammation, and not have the ability to walk to kidney failure organs, not doing what, you know, they're supposed to do.

[945] So, you know, I had blood clots in my lungs and my heart, like things that would have normally killed other people, you know.

[946] The doctors would be like, man, I don't understand how you didn't get affected by that, you know, having to do, you know, infusions that are.

[947] you know, similar to chemotherapy and, you know, my hair falling out, stuff like that.

[948] Like, it's been quite the journey, but, you know, you got to, you got to, you never know how strong you are to being strong is the only option.

[949] You just got to push through.

[950] Crazy how that changes perspective.

[951] And as you say all of that, having not been through that myself, I'm so hungry to understand the perspective that it's given you because I don't want to have to go through that to get I don't wish it on anyone.

[952] Yeah, I mean, it's funny.

[953] You say that sitting there 30 years old.

[954] Yeah, and this is why it's...

[955] Ah, but man, you know what I used to do?

[956] Even before I was diagnosed with lupus.

[957] It's funny.

[958] And I don't even just put on my heart, but I knew it helped my perspective.

[959] Every month, started off every month, then it started to be like once a quarter.

[960] But I would go to St. Mary's children.

[961] Hospital and read books, give toys, and really just hang out.

[962] And I wouldn't do it for publicity or it was just, it was a reset button for me to put everything in perspective because you would see these children who were dealing with life altering sometimes just chronic and detrimental disease, and they would have these smiles on their faces, man, and they would just be so happy and, like, hooked up the tubes.

[963] And I'm like, man, if they're having a good day, I have no complaints.

[964] I can, I'm going to walk out of here in good health.

[965] And I was still on the board of St. Mary's Children's Hospital and I did a lot of work with like the Children's Miracle Network and stuff.

[966] I probably started that in like, I was in my mid -20s.

[967] And it just, I almost want to say help prepare me for the mindset of when I had my own diagnosis.

[968] I mean, ultimately ended up losing my own child, you know, even a decade later after that.

[969] it was like you got to enter these spaces with empathy with compassion because then that reminds you that we're all human that and make the most out of this day because you might not be able to walk tomorrow you might not you might take a loss of someone that you thought was going to be there forever that you thought was going to outlive you and you're talking about zen yeah yeah and it's Like, and moving so fast, you, you start to regret, like, man, I didn't, I didn't do what I should have done in that moment.

[970] So it's a constant reminder, you know what I mean?

[971] And I think perspective, perception, a lot of those things help us daily.

[972] You dealt with the loss of your son, Zen, at just five months old due to brain cancer.

[973] Yeah.

[974] Yeah.

[975] Something that no parent ever conceives as a possibility.

[976] And so it's an awful club to be a member of, but I can understand where it's it's hard to relate.

[977] I've learned a lesson in that to where when other people are going through stuff, never use the word I understand because you don't you know um it's it's it's it's just it's so many things that go through your mind of you know even in even in a short period of time of five months the the level of pain, the level of guilt, the level, you know, like that one struggles with because, you know, you think like, oh, well, that child would have got to grow to see five years or 25 years or, you know, you start asking all of these questions that, of concepts, you just, you struggle to understand.

[978] So when you go through it, you kind of have to just create this.

[979] fog that protects you but at the end of time like again you just got to keep pushing through and then you know they do say time heals all wounds i think you know you feel it's just something that you'll never completely heal from but you live and you learn to operate and you learn to smile you learn to be appreciative if you're a jovial and optimistic person like i am you know you push through but you know that pain never leaves you did you have space and time to grieve his his loss grieving is forever it's not a time period like that's why i was talking about you like it's not about time it's like that's something you're going to grieve daily and grieve it daily absolutely and i think we all and then any loss you know what i mean and it's learning how to turn your grief into purpose learning how to turn your grief into a badge of honor in your character because we all experience it.

[980] We all, it's instead of, because sometimes grief can turn into anger and sadness.

[981] I don't think that's what it's meant for.

[982] I think that may be the innate feeling, but when you can turn, oh, man, I lost my grandmother, I lost my mother, so therefore it makes me more compassionate to women.

[983] I lost my child so that makes me appreciate other children.

[984] I lost my father.

[985] I never knew my father so that makes me want to be a greater father.

[986] You know, like when you learn that pain or that grief can actually turn and make you fulfill you with strength in those spaces that once were empty, I think that then allows you to figure out why we're here in the first place.

[987] place.

[988] If I was a fly on the wall in your household during that period, what would I have seen?

[989] A lot of silence from me, at least.

[990] When I'm dealing with stuff, I get real quiet.

[991] I don't talk.

[992] I keep to myself.

[993] Therefore, that makes the whole room uncomfortable because everybody else has to be quiet, especially someone like me who is loud, you know, especially in my own home when it becomes it's an eerie silence so and you know it's internalizing it's thinking it's taking a time it's being appreciative of of the time of the of the of the energy but uh see a lot of love a lot of compassion but a lot of silence we have a closing tradition on this podcast where the last guest leaves a question for the next guest not knowing who they're going to leave the question for and they write it into the diary i don't get to read it beforehand jack does he just checks it's not completely crazy so here we go okay i'm going to have a guess okay so i've got this thing then what's the next word okay this thing you're upset about but you're hanging onto that you've been ruminating about resenting what would happen if you just let it go If you just never thought about it again and let it go.

[994] Did you interview my therapist last?

[995] As much as I may like internalize things and like overanalyze because I would say I'm a perfectionist on one end.

[996] And I'm also fly by the seat of my pants, carefree, whatever happens, happens type of person.

[997] So in therapy, I have to figure out what's, box i'm going to put my issues in because there are the ones i overanalyze about and you know those usually have to deal with like my children and you know relationships based off of like wanting to be the best me in that space uh and then there's the stuff that's like i can't control that like whatever like and those things that keep people up at night and you just lost how many millions of dollars or I don't care.

[998] Like, like, so to answer that very insightful question, nothing would happen.

[999] Like, it would be very similar to, and that's what I've learned.

[1000] Like, the things that I overanalyze and stress about, usually the same result happen.

[1001] when I'm carefree and don't really put too much emphasis on the issue.

[1002] But is there anything that you could let go of that you think would have a positive impact on your life if you just let it go?

[1003] Not really.

[1004] I mean, because I'm kind of that type of person.

[1005] Like, I don't let things...

[1006] There's not an idea or a resentment or a grudge or a experience.

[1007] Maybe before, you know, I think I'm kind of doing the work.

[1008] So I kind of know that about myself, but I'm also, I've never been one to take life seriously like that.

[1009] And it's almost to my detriment, you know, sometimes.

[1010] Or like, I need to take something seriously, like my health or, you know, even some certain relationships.

[1011] But I used to care what people thought about me, you know, because we're in an industry of that.

[1012] We'd be lying if, like, I still pay attention to what people say about me. But I don't allow it to, you know, make decisions for me. So I don't deal with that anymore.

[1013] And that's what I said.

[1014] Now I'm probably at this space to where even if it's the small things, you know, I kind of know how to compartmentalize even for the moment.

[1015] Like, all right, I spent enough time on that.

[1016] You know, we got to move off it.

[1017] As a father, I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm going to learn so many more lessons.

[1018] with all of my children having to they're all going to deal with things in a completely different fashion so hopefully whatever their hangups are don't necessarily become my hangups because I know as a parent we do that you know that's that's the compassion of parenting uh you got any kids no yeah yeah that's the thing they don't tell you that their problems become your problems Immediately.

[1019] Whatever they have an issue is now your issue.

[1020] From the spot, if they got diarrhea, you got diarrhea.

[1021] Like if they're crying, you're crying.

[1022] If they can't sleep, you can't sleep.

[1023] And it happens forever.

[1024] If they have a problem getting in, if they're stressing about school, you're stressing about their school.

[1025] I'm right there.

[1026] I'm about to have kids.

[1027] Yeah.

[1028] I imagine I've got a partner.

[1029] We're settled down.

[1030] We've got a place together.

[1031] We're talking about it.

[1032] What advice have you got for me?

[1033] Do it.

[1034] yeah i mean but that it's because it's what life is all about like it's like um you're gonna do it the way you want to do it like i said the one of the things i never and me having so many kids i'm like man so many are you got 12 12 kids yeah yeah so i'm the oldest is 12 you said earlier yeah the oldest 12 year old twins 12 year old twins yeah and every all of their problems they come they're my problem that's a lot of problems that's a lot of problems Yeah, like it's not, and they're not, they don't care about their siblings problems.

[1035] You got to deal with this one, right now.

[1036] Dad, my chameleon has an eye infection.

[1037] We have to rush to the vet now.

[1038] Like, what?

[1039] It's a lizard.

[1040] All right.

[1041] And it's life or death.

[1042] The chameleon can't die.

[1043] Like, or to, you know, that's his, that one's fun and silly, but, you know, taking us back.

[1044] to zen and what we were talking about like those are my issues those are my problems those brought out things that i never thought i would ever have to deal with because as i watched my five -month -old sit here and deal with life so it's like their problems become your and what you think about um for me and i was thinking about this this morning you're just grateful for one is like wow everybody's good let's embrace this moment uh and And then, you know, when problems are issues, challenges, obstacles arise, we all deal with it as a family.

[1045] And that, you know, so that's, you, you appreciate life for, you become a problem solver.

[1046] You become an individual who every day wakes up and overcomes whatever challenges in front of them.

[1047] Sounds like a lot of, a big weight to carry.

[1048] It's, but it's life.

[1049] It's fun.

[1050] It's, have fun with it.

[1051] whatever that challenge is whatever issue that that child brings have fun with it find the story in it find the lesson what's this what's the happily ever after to this because it's happily ever after every day you just got to focus on it don't don't you know even the villains have happy ever after it's like it's like you just got to figure out at the end of the day how am i going to say i learned this or I got this out of this even though I went through the fire to get there or I'm still going through it it's you got to find the enjoyment and the journey do you care about legacy I thought I did I had to define what it was I'm still defining what it is I realize that my children aren't my legacy my children are my children my children aren't necessarily mine they're their own I've been giving the stewardship and the privilege for a certain amount of time to be able to guide them to the best of my ability for 18 to 25 years, but they're their own people.

[1052] So I've learned that that's not my legacy.

[1053] What we can build together as a family can become a legacy.

[1054] So what's your legacy?

[1055] my compassion my uh my gratitude which then probably then turns into my humility which then turns into my humor which then turns into my comedy which it turns into my art form i mean that's built into the compassion and stuff as well too so to be able people say man he made the world a better place by making people smile and if i could do that through my humor my music, my art, my movies, my finances, I just want to make people smile.

[1056] So hopefully even when I'm gone, the things that I left behind make people smile.

[1057] I certainly believe that's the case.

[1058] You've made me smile over the years.

[1059] I started watching Wilden out on MTV and then on YouTube throughout my entire life.

[1060] I mean, MTV was the only, felt like the only show in my household growing up in Plymouth and seeing, it was kind of my window into hip -hop culture and comedy and all those things.

[1061] And in every respect of the word, not only have you put countless people on that you'll never get credit for, nor do you really care about the credit clearly.

[1062] But you've been a pioneer in so many different art forms and create this wonderful platform to put other people on.

[1063] And that's something that I look at and I really aspire to do with my life as well.

[1064] Like if I'm able to help people reach their full potential in the way you have for so many people that people have no idea about across comedy and entertainment and music, then I think that's a life worth living.

[1065] and a life worth while.

[1066] Yeah.

[1067] It's exactly what you have.

[1068] So thank you.

[1069] Thank you for doing that.

[1070] I'm like, that's another title.

[1071] I'm life worthwhile.

[1072] Sounds like a book.

[1073] Let's get that trademark.

[1074] Let's keep that IP.

[1075] Thank you so much.

[1076] Appreciate, man. This has been beautiful.

[1077] Thank you for the experience.

[1078] Pleasure to meet you.

[1079] Thank you, Nick.