Nuanced. - 137. JZAC - Independent Hip-Hop Artist on Lyricism, Creativity and Business

Episode Date: December 12, 2023

Aaron chats with JZAC about his love for hip-hop, Polish background, and how he comes up with his lyrics. They dive into how wrestling mixes with music, chat about what freestyle in hip-hop really means, and get into the nitty-gritty of making music while juggling the creative and business sides. Plus, they'll talk about JZAC's album 'It's Still Real To Me, Damn It!'Jerry Zajac, known as JZAC, is a New Hampshire-born rapper with Polish immigrant roots. Renowned for his authentic storytelling and sharp lyrics, he first gained online fame with his viral freestyles in 2016. Now a prominent figure in hip-hop and based in Los Angeles, JZAC has produced four albums, with his latest work, "It's Still Real To Me, Damn It," highlighting his dynamic artistry.Listen to JZAC here: https://www.youtube.com/@JZACMusicSend us a textThe "What's Going On?" PodcastThink casual, relatable discussions like you'd overhear in a barbershop....Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifySupport the shownuancedmedia.ca

Welcome back to another episode of The Bigger Than Me podcast. Here is your host, Aaron. Thank you for tuning into another Bigger Than Me podcast episode. Please remember to like, comment, and subscribe. Hip Hop is one of my absolute favorite genres of music. I think they are brilliant communicators in this genre. Today, I'm speaking with a rapper with nearly half a million monthly Spotify listeners. We explore his love of music, passion for lyricism, and his album.

It's still real to meet God. Damn it. My guest today is the one, the only, Jay-ZAC. Jerry, I am so excited to be sitting down with you. I find your music so inspirational. You are a true lyricist. You know how to put words to thoughts that I think so many people have. Would you mind first introducing yourself? Yeah, I appreciate that. First and foremost, uh, J-ZAC, artist's name. Obviously, uh, you know, music is very personal, vulnerable. So I do go by Jerry, A lot of fan base just says that. And yeah, independent hip-hop artist, originally from southern New Hampshire, and I moved to

L.A. about five years ago. So now I'm on the West Coast and just doing my best to create art and live life. Can we start perhaps with your name? Because you mentioned it in one of your songs that people find it a little bit hard to pronounce. You have Polish roots. Can you talk about your name choosing how you're going to go about presenting yourself as a rapper? Yeah, for sure. So my actual last name is Zajak, Z-A-J-A-C. And I mean, I'm used to it. So I never thought it was hard to pronounce, but people are always like, how do you say, Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-G. And so, yeah, I threw it in a line in that song. But honestly, when I thought of like the artist's name, Jay-Zag, it didn't, I didn't have a ton of thought into it. I just was kind of writing raps and putting out like freestyles super early on. And my friends We're like, well, you need a rapper name. Like, what are you going to be? And I was like, well, my first name is Jerry, last name, Sayjack.

I was like, Jayzac. We'll just put it into one. I don't know. And I didn't even love it. But it kind of just stuck. And then I started putting how music is Jayzac. And I never really look back, funny enough. The part that I find really interesting about musicians is they're so good at pulling from

their roots, pulling from their background and their journeys, the things they've overcome, but also what their families overcome in their personal circumstances. you have those Polish roots. Would you mind telling us a little bit about your parents and coming to the United States and that journey? For sure. So my dad worked, my dad, both parents are from Poland. My dad used to work on a boat. Well, worked on a boat pretty much his whole life, but worked on a boat in Poland and they would travel around in different countries. And then they ended up doing a stop in the U.S. and he kind of just ended up getting off the boat. with a couple of his friends and was like, I'm going to restart life here in the U.S.

Poland was still communism at the time. So, you know, it was a whole kind of different world. And my mom was still in Poland and they had, I have two older siblings, so they had two siblings still in Poland. And my dad kind of just restarted here, found a job on a different boat in the U.S., and it took a couple of years to get my mom out here in my siblings. But over time, you know, he was able to kind of get comfortable and figure it all out and get them over here a couple years later. And then shortly after that, I was born. So I'm actually a U.S. citizen, but I'm the only one of my family that was born in the U.S. everyone else is from Poland. Right. What lessons do you think you take away from their journey? I think the grind is just like instilled in me

because obviously when my dad got here, it was like one, you know, he was in his mid, late 20s. So he's learning a new language. He has no one to help him or no one to call. It's like you're just you got to sink or swim, no pun intended. And so you kind of just got to grind to do whatever it takes to stay afloat. So I feel like that was kind of just naturally passed on to me, especially in music where it's so competitive and you got to really just like see the road and grind it out for however long it takes until you catch some sort of break. Correct me if I'm wrong, but garage band for Mac was where you got your start. That opened the door to you thinking about this idea of going down this path. Am I correct? Oh yeah, 100% right. No, yeah, that changed

my life. I remember my friend at the time had a MacBook and I just didn't know you could like so easily record yourself, even though the quality was like garbage because we were just recording into the laptop itself. But I just remember being mind blown when he said, he's like, yeah, could throw on a beat and you can you could record a rap and i was like no no way like we have to try it and then once you know once he tried it and i heard my voice back it was like an instant it just something clicked who were you a fan of during that period who were you thinking about who which rappers which hip-hop artists which creators were in your mind when you were sitting down in those early days that was like the the blog era of hip-hop so it was like j cole was a huge inspiration

the early Drake mixtapes, Waleigh, Big Crit, MacMiller was big at the time, Logic was starting to come up, Wiz Khalifa, and there's so many more. But a lot of those people, just like I saw them doing it in real time too, and I was like, okay, maybe this is possible. And what was the catalyst for you to decide that you needed to chase this path? Obviously, there's something, some people have hobbies, some people have things where they're like, I enjoy doing that on the side, but who knows if I'll ever make anything of it, people paint in their spare time. What made you say, this is the path for me?

It was, it was like, it was a strange kind of delusion there where it just, I think because it was like my first year in college and I had no idea what I wanted to do. And I was always a person that would kind of just listen to, especially elders and people trying to steer me in the right direction and everyone was like, you got to go to college. This is kind of, this is the next step. And I didn't, I was like, I don't know what I wanted to do in college. I picked a random major. I didn't have anything I was like super passionate about since like basketball as a kid. But obviously, you know, I got to an age where I realized it was not good enough to be an NBA player. But I remember when I did the music thing, it was just like the

passion was there. And I'm like, oh, well, this is, I'm really passionate about this. I'll just do this for a living and it was kind of like that was where the delusion set because it was like how are you going to pull this off but it like weirdly didn't click I was like I don't know maybe I'm just going to do it and maybe like in five years something will happen so I kind of just blindly chased it but it was at the same time such a blessing where like if I had known what I know now it probably would have been a lot harder to like chase the dream at the time if that make sense. Absolutely. What do you love about hip-hop when you listen to the music, when you hear people tell their stories, what stands out to you? You've described yourself as a calculated risk

taker that you have like strong, clear lyricism, real-life storytelling. What inspires you and what brought you down that path? What did you see in it? I think there's definitely multiple factors. A big part of it is the storytelling aspect. I was always blown away growing up how rappers could tell this intricate story rhyming words. And on a next level, like, tell this whole story in an intricate manner, but make it seem so seamless. And I think that was one of the first things that really just caught my attention

and made me want to listen, whether it was like Eminem or Nas or Jay-Z, like even the early Lupe Fiasco mixtapes it was just crazy but it was also I think the confidence you had to have to be a rapper is like so you have to be so sure

yourself and there was like so much bravado which I think I lacked as just a kid growing up so listening to those guys even like 50 cent even though I necessarily didn't relate with the what they were saying

Like, I think the confidence was just so key to, like, making me feel strong about myself and kind of just, like, present myself more, you know? Absolutely. When you think of most songs, there's something about the fact that so often it's I started from here, I started disadvantaged, I grew up with very little money, worried about how we're going to pay the bills or having food in the fridge, and I want to get to here. I want to get to the top, I want to climb, that that's inspiring to individuals who start out with very little, who are working to pay ends meet. When you see your parents working hard trying to support you, there's that inspiration there that this makes sense, and I don't want to just stay where I am. I want to go find success.

I want to go succeed. And that's sort of the inspiration and the motivation that musicians can provide people. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I think it kind of, it's like the soundtrack. track for a lot of people. Even if you're not a musician, you listen to that and you apply to your own journey, which is like, you know, one of the best things about music. So you have your start in 2011. You're fully independent. You have nearly half a million Spotify listeners per month. You've dropped multiple albums, EPs, hundreds of singles. One comment that you made that I found so interesting was that there's so many people over these 10 years, over these 15 years that you've been doing this that have fallen away. that have put it aside, that have given up.

And I'm just curious as to how you process that. When you see other people take a step back or go in another direction, is that fuel to the fire that you've got to keep going or does that instill fear in you? How do you process those other people who didn't stay with it the way you did? I think it's all of those emotions kind of in a way.

Definitely fuels the fire because a lot of it is promises and things I told myself a long time ago, like we're going to keep doing this no matter what it takes and we're going to grind it out as long as it takes. But sometimes it is sad because, you know, you see talented people around you or people that you used to look up to and then they kind of, whether it's, you know,

life stuff got in the way or they got complacent or whatever, stop doing it. And it's like, man, I just understand that so much of the grind is less about like the talent aspect and more so about just sticking it out and continuing to like push. It's kind of like who can who can last the longest, a lot of a lot of it. Okay. So you do have this brilliant quote and it was from Stop the Breaks interview you did. And you said repetition is the father of learning.

And I think that that's so important because people who are going down paths, they're interested in sharing their creative endeavor, they forget that part of it is just doing it. That it's not always the big fancy thing that you're doing. It's just keeping at it and keep improving. And I just love that line. Repetition is the father of learning. Yeah, it's just about putting in the hours and taking, you know, if you take 10,000 shots, take 10,000 free throws. was like, you're going to get better. I remember, like, I wasn't, I mean, I'm sure every artist is like this,

but I listened to my old music and stuff. I was making it first. And I wasn't good. But I just did it long enough where I put the, like, I wasn't the most naturally talented person. I was maybe tone deaf at one point, I feel like. And I listened back to that stuff. And I'm like, wow, I, this is where the repetition got me.

And you could do that with anything. You know, we all start probably at a different base. Some people are just naturally really good singers, but like you can you can increase that base by just putting in hours to the craft. I mean, you can get better at anything if you put enough time in. That's one thing that I love. I was watching some of your 2011 videos and it was just so admirable to look at the journey that we can get so lost in wanting to see people at the top or where they're at there. But there's something so meaningful to see somebody where they started from and that constant. improvement in that commitment to getting better every time. And people like Mr. Beast talk about for YouTube that you need to improve one thing every video. It doesn't have to be a better video every time. But if you improve one thing, over 10 years, you're going to be making amazing videos because it's on that curve. And I found that so inspirational about your work because you were, in my opinion, really good at that time, but you've been honing those

skills. So now you're at greatness. Now you've just climbed to that level. But some of the lines that you come up with, I couldn't think of on my own. Right. Yeah, I think, yeah, I guess it just comes with the time and the practice and studying, of course. I think that's a lot of it, just like artists who I really look up to, you know, I've listened to their albums thousands of times and been like, wow, how did this person do this? or I'll put my hours in and then go back and listen to a project that really inspired me and I'll hear it a different way after, you know, eight years, which is crazy.

And that just goes to show what a great body of work can do. You can still hear it differently years later and pick out new things that you never realize, whether it's like lines that went over your head or certain instrumentation stuff that you might just understand better now because, you're working more on production and stuff like that you know in that same stop the breaks interview you talked about the challenge of making sure that you don't lock in a process too specifically to kind of protect the creative element of it and there's such a challenge once you start to chase your passion to turn it into too much of a business and forget why you fell in

love with the endeavor to begin with and i find that balance is so challenging for creators because there's such a pressure to put out the next Instagram reel, to put out the next TikTok video, to come out with the next song, to keep releasing, that that love of it can disappear when you're trying to grow this and turn this into something. How do you go about balancing that and making sure you protect your creativity? I mean, I think you said it great. It's a constant balance. Like it's an everyday thing I work on, especially in this day and age, where you get that feeling now more than ever, where one there's so much content on the internet not even just music you're competing with

you know people dancing on the timeline or YouTubers or you know there's so many different people sharing their art um and we're all just fighting for that attention span so it's tough I mean it feels like it's also like um they kind of dangle the lottery ticket in front of you uh you know with TikTok and that type of stuff where it's like all it takes is one video to go viral and it can change your life so everyone's like so on edge and stressed out about like I need to post more I need to post more I need to post more and I think you do need to be consistent with that stuff and I try to be but there is times where I have to step back and be like all right this isn't why I signed up to be an artist so

like relax the internet's not going anywhere um you got to take a step back and like check on my own health and maybe just like work on the art more or just yeah just take it just take a step back and and understand the balance of it um but it's definitely it's definitely a struggle i mean every day you know it's like you're it's like the business and art going hand in hand you and vinjay i don't know if you know him but uh he's someone i've gotten to speak with and he actually talks about a very similar thing that we see so many artists creating skits, creating humorous videos, doing things that are a little off of their brand. Like you listen to their music, then you watch their Instagram reels, and they're not the same kind of energy because they're trying to find a way to get viral videos, to grow their platforms so people know about them.

And it's so tragic because you have to appreciate the work that goes into just making a good song. That just comes in with making a good lyric, like a good line is so much work. And that's what I have so much admiration for the work that you do, is because you'll have a line that I couldn't, it would take me a paragraph to say what you said in a sentence. And I think we need to work towards admiring that and remembering that that doesn't happen just by accident. It takes a lot of work to kind of hone those skills. And when you're jumping over here doing random videos and doing skits, you're not able to focus on the thing that you signed up for. And I just, I think that that balance is so challenging. yeah it's tough because now we're asking artists to also be social media creators you know um

and it's like before you just had to focus on making the best song possible now making the best song possible sometimes feels like just step one and then you got to do step two three four and five which is how am i going to promote this song to uh make it stick out so more people can hear it and that's when um people fall victim into the train of, of being like, okay, what can I do to make this song stick out? And then that's when you might do some off-brand stuff because, I mean, it comes from a genuine place of, like, I worked really hard in the song, so I'm almost willing to do whatever it takes to promote it and try to get it to reach new ears. But then you kind of fall into the trap of, well, am I doing stuff that

I'm not really proud of or that's off-brand or that you look back on a month later and you We're like, well, maybe I, maybe that wasn't my best video. So it's tough. It's a tough spot, but yeah, I think, I think staying true to who you are, obviously is the most important thing you can do and just trying to figure out ways to promote and push your music in an organic way. The last piece from that interview that I found really profound is the interviewer was asking you about all the different ways hip hop is going and growing and changing.

And the one piece that you said that you're committed to is showing that storytelling and authenticity remain at the heart of hip hop. And I thought that was really deep. Yeah, that's just what I really enjoy and what I'm good at and what I've kind of built the foundation on. So I think like for me, for me, I can only be the best version of me, you know, and I love all types of hip hop and And there's so many, you know, it's like there's so many sub-genres now. And that's, I don't think that's a bad thing. But I think it's also, it's, you know, it's easy. I've seen a lot of artists be like, oh, well, this is the trendy sound right now.

Even though I don't normally make this or even like it, I'm going to hop on this trend to try to take advantage of the moment, you know. And then stuff like that doesn't really, it doesn't work out well for people and it doesn't usually age well. So I just try to make the music I love, do what I do best, and then build a core community of people that also enjoy that and we'll all live in this world together, you know? Well, I'm here for that world. Let's dive into the music. The way I discovered you was through your song, Intuition, and it is probably one of my all-time favorite songs, and I found it off of a reel that you made, and I was just scrolling through, and the song

comes up and then every single line is better than the last and i was just blown away at how smooth it was i prefer hearing your voice over the beat and so the way that you rap is something i really admire because i like the lyricism that's that's why i come out for a song and so hearing that song was so like this is crazy and then i ran over to my partner rebecca who's in the back helping produce this podcast showed her the song and was like what is going on this is so cool can you talk about the song intuition and how it came about yeah um it's funny when i you know obviously i i put out a lot of music and i have songs i like more than others or or songs you know i can have a feeling about a song and be like i think this one's i think people are really going to connect with this one and then i could

put it out and it doesn't connect with people the way i thought it would or the opposite feeling happens or i'm like this song's kind of cool uh i think you know i think a few people might enjoy it like i'm not, but I don't, I don't think it's going to be like my biggest song and then I can put it out and then that one will go viral. So I try to like take my perspective out of it when creating the music, I guess, but that's, that's always hard because, you know, you, you just feel certain ways about things. But I, um, the intuition song, I like, I knew it would do well because of the, the line, like the style of song it was and kind of the punch lines. And that's like a a style people like for me, but

I had no idea it would kind of went viral a little bit on Instagram and started taking off. So it was honestly, I was pretty surprised but I'm glad because that I could stand by that song heavily. So when people, like, that was the introduction to a lot of my music to a lot of people, I was happy with it.

I think the part that stands out for me is that there's actual wisdom. in it. And Eric Weinstein, who's a person I really enjoy, he's an intellectual. He commented that we're gods but for the wisdom, that we have all of these technologies, but we have no wisdom on how we would use them effectively or responsibly. And he was specifically like talking about nuclear weapons and that we have these weapons, but we never talk about what their use case would be. We never talk about how they're used. And so we have all this power, but we have no knowledge or base or sage advice on how we would manage all of these resources.

responsibilities that we have as a civilization and when you're talking about if I'm not changing their minds at least I'm making them think that one that line resonated with me because that's my only goal is to ask questions learn but not come down on one position or another and say that I'm right on this and everybody else is wrong and I think that's the way to have healthy conversations is to get people to think but not necessarily to change their mind so there's so many pieces in the song that are so admirable how do you go about developing these verses you know it's um what's what's the word i'm looking for it's very ironically the intuition but like when i'm writing you know when i i gets to a point where i'm writing a song um when i start it's a little bit you kind of got it's like a like an exercise or anything you've got to warm up and might take me an hour to kind of like figure out the first few lines or the the concept of the song i'm going for but then i hit this it's like you get in the you really get in the zone and it's almost like something else kind of takes over it's like a higher power whatever and that's kind of I mean with that song

and most songs I make it was like I remember I think for like the first hour I was kind of stumped and then maybe had a few lines and then I wrote the rest of the song once I got into the zone in like 45 minutes so it's almost like something kind of just takes over the artist's brain really kicks into gear and like writes the song itself in a way would you say that you're in a flow state during that period yeah that's the word i was looking for it's the flow state like really comes in but you got to earn it it doesn't you know i don't just sit down and i'm like boom magic another song done i leave it's kind of like hitting your head against the wall a little bit figuring out you know trying to get there but once you do get in that position um it just everything everything kind of

does its thing you mentioned this a little bit briefly but when you have a line like took advice from the greats and refurbished it when i hear that it's like that's such a good that's exactly what a good person who's trying to grow should do you should look at the others learn from it and then develop your own style based on that and and modify it but you say it so succinctly when you do that do you look back and go like that's a great line like that's that's so like i want to get that framed and put that in a picture in my house like that's the kind of line that like that's the kind of line that like and I don't say that but hearing you say it it's like that makes so much sense and that's exactly what I'm trying to say yeah yeah it's cool because I mean I'm very

I noticed you know you're quoting different people and whatnot and I kind of do the same thing and I try to learn from everyone even even not just like other artists or musicians like I know you brought up Mr. Beast earlier it's a perfect example like I'll watch Mr. Beast interviews because I'm like, this guy knows how to clearly work the internet and he's the best at it. So how can I, even though I'm not making YouTube videos, how can I take what he's doing and what he's speaking on and apply it into my music and promotion, that type of stuff? And, you know, still making me, of course. So I'm kind of like always just taking stuff from any great mind of any genre subject

and trying to apply it to my own life. Yeah. The last piece from that song, and then I swear we'll get to your recently released album, but it's take negative chatter for some encouragement, and that's the other piece that I find is so important as a creator is to think about the people who didn't believe in you. When I was starting the podcast, it was like,

I knew everybody has a podcast. Like, that's the energy that you get when you start this, is everybody's done it, but have they done 100 episodes? Have they interviewed people for long form, short form? Have they developed a style of interviewing that works for them? And so you know that there's going to be those people who don't believe in you or think that you're just going to be like that other person

and that you're not going to be unique. And so they're almost fuel to the fire. When you're having a bad day and you're like, I don't know, I'm not confident in this. They're almost that like that push. And that's such an important point that when you're starting this, you need to know kind of who your enemies are, who you're thinking of on those bad days when you're feeling. feeling discouraged to pull from that energy and to continue forward.

Yeah, 100%. I think that's a lot of the reason why I'm in the position I am today. And I think that's, it also comes with the balance on that aspect too, because you don't solely want that to be your energy to create. Because then if you're just constantly creating from a negative space of being like, I have to prove these people wrong. and you're not doing it for like the genuine love of why you started it can kind of get dark too but it is an important aspect to like take those two things and balance them out and like you said

when you're having those days where the the general inspiration isn't there you can be like okay let me pull from let me pull from that part of the people who doubted me or the person who said this or that type of thing um yeah just finding that balance with it couldn't agree more November 15th You dropped, it's still real to me, God damn it. And you've been releasing so many great songs from that album. It's so cool to see an album and how it's different than singles. People don't always realize that an album is almost a story. So going through these songs, prepping for this interview,

thinking about how it all coalesces together was so interesting. It seems like an album is a different beast to take on than an EP, though, because you want it to all come together. And it can be somewhat restricting in that you want to keep it on theme, and you want to bring this consistent piece to the people. What was it like to go into album mode and to deliver? It's still real to me, God damn it. Definitely.

It's definitely a whole different beast because you're creating, it's like you're creating your own world, right? But it's also, that's the really exciting part, as opposed to just dropping a single or a short EP because you could really dive in and do cool concept stuff and everything can live in this world. and it just creates a moment for the fans and stuff. So I was really excited to start it

and I hadn't put out a full-length album before that in like three years. So I was kind of itching. I was really itching to put out an album. So I started making it at the top of the year around January, February, and kind of just slowly pieced it together throughout the year, which was nice

because it didn't feel stressful. It wasn't like I sat down and I felt the need to create an album, in a month. I was like, I'm just going to make an album this year at some point. I'm not going to put a time constraint on myself. I'm just going to let songs come together. Think of the theme in mind. And, you know, when it's finished, it's finished. And I'll put it out. But I'm not going to force it. And I'm going to continue, you know, putting out other music if I feel necessary. And yeah, it ended up coming about and, you know, just dropped, when are we, two days ago, three days

ago now. And how are we feeling after that drop? Are you excited? What is it like to put it out there, put your stamp of approval on it, and maybe have a little bit of peace that that process has come to a close, and now it's out there for the world? Yeah, it feels, it feels really good to have it out in the sense of just knowing where the idea started from. I'm thinking back to January, February, even with my videographer and telling him the concept, and I'm like, hey, how can we, you know, shoot the content for this and bring it all to life? And he was like, we can do like a documentary type thing and we can do these kind of videos and this. And to think of where the idea started and now just to like go on YouTube and

watch the stuff and see the album cover in the world we created is like it's such a, on an artist scale, it's such a fulfilling feeling. You know, it's like why I started this in the first place. So it's been great, man. What I find so cool about the album production in the process. I spoke to a videographer and music creator, Anakin, and he did all of it sort of based on the interstellar. It's one of his favorite movies, and so it all had that spacey kind of vibe to it, and each song had its roots back to that. And for you, it's pro-restling. It's Hulk Hogan. It's those voices that kind of underpinned this album, and you've posted a little bit about it. Can you take us back to those roots? What inspired it and what built that connection

with this album yeah it was like the first real dream and like thing i latched on to as a kid um so it's just so special to me for many reasons one on a nostalgic level you know i could always you know i watched old wrestling videos and it just like brings you back to that time but two it was like i really thought i was going to be a pro wrestler when i was eight years old and uh so i guess the theme being like even as an adult it kind of it's it's all still real to me the and the realness being you know passionate about something that might seem out of out of your range or just curious to try new things and hobbies um because you know the older we get I notice a lot of people kind of just get complacent and stuck and unhappy in their lives and

it kind of like not even not even that everybody needs to chase this giant dream to be famous or rich or anything like that but they kind of just stopped being curious about life and it's really sad to see because that you know there's just this life is short and there's so much it has to offer and you know you never want to see people kind of it just what it seems like to give up on it um so really the concept was like just Stay curious. Stay passionate about something. Stay excited. One thing that I love that you did in an Instagram post is you just outlined that that was something I wanted to do.

But I still get to a poll from all these ideas and kind of the underpinnings of what that path is of pro wrestling, which is coming up with good lines. That's definitely something they do in the WWEs, come up with that perfect line that they're going to scream out and get the crowd going. so as a rapper you absolutely do that all the time then you also have this bravado this energy this confidence that everyday people so rarely have that we could go into something and ever say that we're good at it let alone great at it and so there are these pieces of it that kind of tie really nicely together and i thought you were very thoughtful about how you kind of put those two pieces together definitely i mean the music world and the wrestling world like share so many similarities you know even when you stated like the you got the lot of and you're, you know, I'm being myself, but you're, as an artist, you're, you're playing a character to an extent or, you know, you've got to like turn it on, um, especially if, you know, you're performing live or you're, you're on camera, that type of stuff. Um, so it was cool to, like, tie the two worlds together because they, they're both, they've both been such important parts of my life. Um, sort of to bring it into one was like the ultimate dream thing I've

wanted to do for years. I wanted to make this album for like 10 years, maybe like five, six, seven years. I didn't know what it would be exactly, but I was like, I want to make a wrestling themed album that just, you know, touches on the nostalgia and the story of it all. And to be able to bring it to life is, is incredible. It's great. And it's such an honor to interview somebody who put such thought and energy into a project. Like, it's a privilege to be able to speak with you today. Let's dive in to song number one, PTSD. You have this line in there. It was actually helping me heal, helping me feel when I was dreading to deal with all the things in a broken home problems and had to cope alone. Would you mind walking us through developing that song

in that line? For sure. So that song is written from the perspective of me as, you know, an eight-year-old kid. So I'm kind of just like storytelling what I'm going through at the time. And obviously not to go to like super details into it but you know just like a lot of kids relate of just having parents go through divorce or constantly fighting and you don't really know what that means as a kid you're just your brain's still developing you're still figuring it out so just being scared of what's going on but at the same time it's like wrestling's on the TV it's a great distraction it's kind of like the safe space in a place where you're not sure exactly what's happening um so i'm kind of yeah just writing writing about that going through that experience as a kid

the next song is do a lot and you did something so fascinating in this song and i'm just i'm wondering about how you develop that you've got this i've been about it since uh since the start check the dob i can only share the story from my pov a sharp shooter boy i hit it on the d o t and like what like where do you develop these ideas this is something you're referencing like that's so cool to be able to hit that three lines in a row you're doing the acronyms and I just find it fascinated yeah that song that was by far the most fun and challenging song to create one it was actually I wrote the song so there's kind of like the

two different voices versus going back and forth and I had written it for with a feature in mind and I actually just the way it worked out I asked like two or three different people to feature on the song originally and they all fell through uh for whatever reason i think it was just meant to be um in like two weeks before i had to turn in the album i had this like half finished song with just the first voices and like open parts and i was like it just hit me randomly i'm like i think this is a sign that i just have to do the feature on my own song and like change the voice a little bit um like uh notorious big has this song that was kind of inspiration behind it called Gimme the Lute and he's doing like, it's just him on the song, but he's kind of doing

two different voices back and forth. And I was like, I just remember having the moment and I was like, I just got a biggie this shit. Like I just got to put the other verse on it. It was like three days before we had to film the music video for it. And I kind of just figured it out and it turned out to be honestly one of the most favorite songs ever made and we filmed like a cool music video to it where I'm playing the two different characters. And that was all kind just freestyle last minute to tie that in with the album cover setting up what was the process to put that that piece together you've got the pro wrestling kind of ring how did that all come about yeah so a good friend of mine who did all the video work for it uh west webb we i've known him for like four or five

years and we always kind of talked about just doing like a we've shot a bunch of music videos together but we talked about just doing like a bigger project and kind of creating that world together and um when i brought up the concept of the album to him he was all in on just bringing it to life um so we still have some more content and videos and stuff dropping for the album that i'm excited to put out but yeah we kind of just built the whole world in that ring in that warehouse area that we had for it it was really cool it was so cool and you did such a great job on the music video it all came together really well, and I just thought it was very smooth, very well put together. Your third song, you talk about a potential working with Hobson and what that meant to you at

the time and kind of feeling like that was it. That was the big moment, and that what you learned and took away from that was to be cautious and to just keep going and keep pushing forward no matter what. And I really resonate with this because so often we think it's the next job that's going to open the door for us. So often we think that if we just start working out, we're going to get to the body type that we want. If we interview this person, that's going to be the thing that blows up the podcast or something. But it isn't any of those things. It's consistency, love of it, and keep going. And then doors will slowly open. Opportunities will be created, but it isn't one thing. And I thought that that was just very illustrative of the challenges we

face because we want it to be something right there around the corner. And if we just open that door, then we're at the party and we've made it. But it's so often just persevering and pushing through. Definitely. There's this, I don't know if you ever heard of the book, The Alchemist, but in the book, he's like on this journey. And they talk about something called beginner's luck. And when you first start, you know, chasing your, you're going on your journey, chasing your passion. It's like you get this, they throw this little like beginner's luck thing at you to it it it's like a trick almost where it you think it's your big break and you think you've done it but it's really like a it kind of but it kind of like tricks

you but it uh it gets you it gets you roped in enough where you're like okay there i've gotten enough uh i'm butchering this but you're you know you're getting enough uh it's like just enough to keep you going basically in the hospital The Hobson thing, just to tie it all together, the Hobson thing was that for me because I think I was rapping for maybe like a year or two and he had discovered one of my songs and he was like, yeah, and I ended up talking to him. And this is like Hobson at the peak of his career. He just put out like, ill mind of Hobson 5. And I had no fans. I had like, you know, friends that supported me. And I got this dude calling my phone being like, bro, you're dope. I got you on a feature anytime

you need it. So I'm like, this is it. I like this is my big break I'm doing it and then I never ended up really hearing from him kind of just faded out and at the time I was like it took me it took me probably like a year to just be like accept it you know I'm like that was it that was my moment I blew it it didn't happen and looking back on it it was like that was just such a small piece of this large story and journey I've been on but it's funny I think about that moment a lot and like where my head was at at the time yeah and just to prove that you can succeed, like you've proven out, that you do have the skills, you do have the

abilities. And in my opinion, now he's missing out because you're on this trajectory, you're on the up, you're on the rise. The other piece that when you were kind of describing the alchemist is this idea in Harry Potter that you chase the golden snitch, that the snitch is actually representative of creativity. And that's what Harry Potter is actually chasing, is a creative endeavor and he doesn't know where he's going to end up obviously like eight movies later he's in the thick of all types of challenges but he's always capable of rise into the occasion that the burdens the challenges the adversity we face actually turn us into the person we're meant to be they shave off all of our mistakes the same way they talk about the phoenix uh melting

away that dead wood you're able to kind of come through the true you at the root and that's what what this album feels like it represents is you coming through sharing your story from the beginning and your desire to chase this dream all the way to its end yeah that's a great way to put it the next song is monster and it really resonates with me personally because you're talking about this all i do is stare to screen obsessing over numbers while i stared the streams because more plays is more money in a pair of my jeans again the lyricism is just crazy but there's this feeling that you get into when you're a creator that you didn't sign up for looking at the numbers, paying attention to how many streams, how that song did, is it better this way? And then you have to be careful

because are you making the songs the audience wants to hear? Or are you making the songs that mean a lot to you? And you have to balance that within podcasting, we call it audience capture, that we're now interviewing a certain type of person because we know that that type of person is going to get the views rather than the person who actually interests you or you'd actually like to have a conversation with because you're pivoting. And I thought it was just a thoughtful analysis of kind of the challenges creators face. Yeah, definitely. We're all going through it in that sense because, you know, especially once you start getting, you know, financially compensated from it because then when you're, when you don't have anything, it's like you

have nothing to lose, which is a weird way to think about it. Because when you have nothing, all you can think about is like, man, if I can make some money from. my art that would be the greatest thing ever and it is but then you don't realize new challenges until you start making money and then you're like well i'm kind of relying on this so i need to work harder to keep it up it's not just it is a passion but there's a there's another responsibility involved in a way so that's when you know the monster the the the kind of dark side of it can come out where it's like you're constantly checking the numbers you're like well this video or this isn't doing well enough. Do I need to do more of this? Maybe the audience wants

me to do this and you're kind of doing stuff that's not true to yourself. And yeah, it could be a dark place to get into if you're not aware of it. And, you know, I'm sure many creators go through it in that world. But yeah. The other piece from that song that I thought was really good was to let the progress get ignored happens when you're constantly looking at the score. And this is the challenge I think so many people go through is they don't have the end goal in mind or that that bar always moves as you're pursuing things so first you want 500 views then you want a thousand then you want 10,000 then you want a million then you want 10 million then it's 50 like it doesn't stop and so it's hard to appreciate where you are and soak that experience in when you're constantly moving that bar on yourself and and considering it like well this is progress yes I'm not there anymore but that wasn't even a good spot so I need to get over here anyways. And so there's this kind of you get lost in the journey of trying to get somewhere else rather than soaking in the fact that you get to do what you love. You get to share your gift with the world and people in other countries might not even have the financial

viability to even consider that in their lives. So that opportunity while challenging is something you need to balance and appreciate that you get to chase that. But that can be so hard when you're looking at the numbers and you're going through things and you're trying to pay the bills and you're going through all these challenges to keep both perspectives kind of at the same time exactly yeah it's a constant battle and then you think of the you know you're obviously if you've never gotten 500 views on a video or a song you hit that 500 mark and you're super grateful and that becomes the norm but then you know months later videos start dipping below 500 and you're like well something's wrong what's wrong is it me am i not you know am i the

issue is the was the work not good enough is this so it's like once you set the bar higher it's a it's a tough feeling if the bar dips low for a bit because you're you're kind constantly on edge and you shouldn't be because it's just it's just the way it goes and it's all you know art at the end of the day but yeah I mean those are just things you know everyone thinks about I'm sure and you're trying to take it as high as you can go so you're you're obviously going to be kind of frustrated with it the last line that I want to talk about from the song Monster was please define making it because from a listener's perspective that what you said made me think of who I really looked up to in the rap world which was Big Sean and he has an album

called I Decided and in that he talks about the thing that people don't realize is that once you do and what you're love then you've already made it and there can be such a challenge with kind of soaking in that that experience and it's just something that reminded me of that and so I'm just wondering from your perspective, do you feel like you've made it? Do you have, do you feel like your ambition is so strong right now that it's hard to soak in? You just released an album. You reached this point. This is something so many people dream of one day becoming a immunization and never do it. And you've delivered. You're sharing your gift. You've put something together that's so meaningful that has a storyline to it. Can you soak this moment in or is it already

on to the next project. It's a bit of both. Sometimes I have to remind myself to soak it in, you know, because I'm so, all right, what's next? What's next? We've got to keep it going. We've got to keep pushing the goal post. But I try to make a conscious effort to every day just, you know,

take a step back and be like, I'm in an incredibly blessed position. And I've got to be grateful for this. And then, you know, of course, stride for more and keep. keep going but just keep that in mind what was the idea behind the song bad news um i think i mean the chorus being you know bad i think i think just being in a tough trying to get out of the when you're in that dark place that that whether it's a creative hole or just life kind of uh is weighing on you a bit like trying to get to get out of that rut um but also understanding that that's kind of the ebbs and flows of life and

it's okay to be in that position because like not every everything's not going to be great all the time or it's not going to be on a high all the time it just doesn't work that way so um understanding that everyone you know you're going to get bad news you're going to take your hits you're going to be low but like you'll bounce back my favorite line from it was it's hard to appreciate a thing you built when it's always in construction let's go that's actually i think my favorite line on the album uh and other people have also told me that's their favorite line so i've been hyped to know that because i mean it's super simple but when i wrote it it like really resonated with me and i know that's that's one like something i'm really proud of when i can listen back to something and be like oh yeah

i snapped on that you know and i don't get that feeling all the time um but it's just like it really is hard to appreciate something you built because you're always like it's hard to take the step back because you're always just so engulfed in it like how can I make it better how can I do this how can I do that where it's like bro take a step back and look at what you've actually built because it's really amazing um but as a creator you know a lot of us struggle to do that so I think it's important to just remind yourself that's the kind of thing I needed on a shirt or a hat So if we have any merch coming, I'd really appreciate being able to brand that line because I do think that it's something we all struggle with is our whole life is this journey. And it's hard to feel like those milestones matter in certain areas of your life, that it's valued your career.

You might be just working up the ladder. But it's hard to take that stop and go like, wow, look at how far I've come and how much I've grown through this experience. Yeah. Yeah, we all go through it. um it's crazy i mean i you know i go through it every day and yeah when we just we're all trying to do our best to just be conscious of it and and do what we can but it's tough i mean it's constant balance so do you find it's more challenging because you're an independent artist because like in a certain way going into a room and having some guy with a suit on tell you this is what

you're worth has has some sort of like energy of like validity to it that it feels like that's you've made it some guy is telling you that you're approved and that we want to sign you for this enough that when it's all on you it's your own definition of where you want to go next so there isn't that third party kind of telling you you've made it this is what we want to sign you for this is your value to us you're going to be huge like there's almost some sort of value in that although so many independent artists choose not to take that path for very very very good reasons there's still something to that exchange that might be like a value add definitely i think i think it gives some validity into you know what you're doing is valid and and that it's on a high level

um but i think even more so than that it's my expectations of myself which is like the best and the worst thing because it really pushes me like i when i started this i'm like I really, I think I'm capable to do this on an extremely high level. So that keeps the drive. But at times, the downfall of that is, you know, being so hard on yourself where it's like, I'm here, but I'm, but I'm not where I should be, you know. Or this person's, this person's like three times higher and I should, I should be up there. So, yeah, the self-expectation thing is weird and it helps a lot, but it could, it's also dangerous sometimes because you're always like either comparing or. or just kind of being too hard on yourself for no reason.

Yeah, yeah. Play by the books interlude. My favorite line, you kind of alluded to it earlier, which was from 27 to 30, they'll start putting dirt on your grave. That's when your dreams die. And I think about this a lot, and I comment a lot on this on the podcast,

about that we stop asking people if they're going to reach their true potential at a certain point. And to your exact point, it seems to be in that 27 to 30. We stop looking at people, I work with homeless people, I work with very vulnerable people, and nobody ever asks them, what do you want to do with the rest of your life? Like, what would success look like to you today?

Because there's this feeling that you kind of plateaued, and it's probably either downhill or medium from here on out. We don't look at them like, you still have the same potential you had when you're 12 years old. Now you have all the resources you need to kind of go get after it and get where you want to go. Your life isn't over when you're 27 to 30. It could just be a new start. And so we kind of lose that faith.

And I thought that that was a point you made earlier, but such an important point for people to not stagnate themselves just because they hit 30. Yeah, it's such a weird, like, generalization stereotype, whatever it is that we put on people, where it's like, oh, yeah, your life's kind of over after this certain age, whatever it is. I mean, especially in music where, you know, traditionally it's like, you know, 18-year-old, 19-year-old, 20-year-old kids. and whatnot but yeah it's just like yeah there's so much more life has to offer at any age and people can and start doing things whenever they want and i think that's just important to like to just speak on um especially i mean it's always been that way but now more than ever with the internet and information being everywhere and you can you can be whoever you want at any point You know, I've seen people change life paths at 35, 40, and do completely different things that they never thought they would do.

So, yeah, I think I think it's important. Raise the Belt is one of those songs that just gets you amped at the gym and you're just ready to go. Is it as much fun making it as it is listening to it as a listener? Like, how does that come about? Is it exciting to make? Do you feel that energy and go to the gym yourself? And you're like, I just made this song and it's got so much energy to it. I think when I first heard the beat for that one, that was the exact feeling I had gotten because a producer I work with, his name's A.O. D. Lo, he'll send me, like, a pack of beats every few weeks or whatever. And I was probably three or four songs into the album. And he just randomly sent me that beat, which is like a wrestling anthem. Like, if you just hear the beat, the instrumental itself. And he had no idea I was working on this album. I didn't even tell them theme or anything. I was like, just send beats through.

I heard it and I was like, this is, I hadn't even written a thought to the song yet, but I was like, this is on the album. This has to be on the album. I was like, don't send this to anybody else. He was like, all right, yeah, I got you. And I just remember, like, playing the instrumental for like an hour straight. And I didn't even have words written to it yet, but I was like, this is, this just makes you jump. I think I was jumping around in my living room by myself, like, hyped up.

So, yeah, it did, it did that for me. Okay, you put after it in brackets, baby face. for people who don't know what is the baby face? Basically, a baby face in wrestling is like the good guy, you know, like the people, the guy that people cheer for. So you have that song, which is raise the belt, baby face. It's like the good guy, the one that people, the side of Jerry that people are cheering for. And then the following song, 603, is heel, which is like the bad guy, you know, the one you boo.

And that's kind of like the dark side of me where it's like more material. realistic, more kind of envious, you know, like the negative aspects of yourself, I kind of embraced it on that song and then raise the belt is the cheerful, happy, happy side of the industry and chasing this dream and all that. You have the line in 603 where it's comparing is the thief of joy. That's the one way to get your peace destroyed. I can't help, but seek the void. And I love that because there are those days where you're having a bad day, but you almost need to go through that. Like if somebody comes along, balloons, cake, let's just move on. It's like, that's not what I want to do.

There's a value in going through and looking at your darker sides, looking at maybe the errors in your thinking and kind of processing that, listening to those sad songs and just kind of going through that experience. And you don't know where it comes from, why it's that day, what happened. not always like a clear reason but we need to create space for that and I thought you just did a good job of kind of acknowledging the fact that the streams are important looking at those things comparing yourself nobody wants to be there but you're going to have those days where you're kind of like this person's here this person's here I want to be over there like that feeling and that's not always something you want to do but there's still you need to go through that

definitely it um as opposed to just like constantly pushing it away um Because if you're just pushing it away, you're just kind of ignoring it. Like you said, I think sulking it, feel it, understand why you're feeling that way, go through it a bit, and then take the time to get back to that higher place when you're ready. Yeah, because I used to, I'm trying to do a better job of that. You know, I'm guilty of getting those feelings and being like, no, no. Like, I'm going to push through this, like push it off. I'll just work more.

I'll just do this. But it's important to kind of just process that. I swear only a few more questions. The next song is perfect words. And my favorite line, the one that stood out to me, is I've been looking for a purpose first. And as somebody who's so good at putting words together and lines together, I'm curious as to how you think about finding your purpose. What is your purpose from your perspective?

I think what I was trying to achieve with that was like the battle of, you know, when I sit down to write and work on new music, it's like, Half of me is, well, I should wait for the inspiration to hit. I don't feel inspired right now. I don't exactly have an idea. So it's probably not ready versus like the more trained writer in me that's like, you're going to sit down, you're going to put in your work, even if it's trash, even if you hate it, put the time in, write when you don't want to,

and a good idea will come from it. Maybe not today, but if you just stay consistent, they'll happen eventually. So it's like that that's the other side of me being like, I'm looking for a purpose first, kind of just putting it off, making excuses for myself. But at the same time, also just not feeling inspired. You know, I want to write songs about things that will have an impact and feel good to me. So just trying to find the balance between those two. You close the story out with going, going, gone. why what made you choose that song uh what was the energy behind that closing that chapter

i think it's like it kind of stems from just even when i started this whole thing it's like i know where it's like i know where i'm going but i have no idea how to get there but i know i'll get there and that song just being like people around me you know advising me or telling me like you don't know where you're going and i'm like no i know i know where I'm going. I'll just, I'll figure it out. Like, I know the direction. I'll, I'll figure out the rest when it's, when it's time. So, uh, just that concept. Jayzac, your music has made me work out harder at the gym. I went into an interview and was listening to intuition before I went into that interview. It has been fuel for my fire. I cannot thank you enough for being willing to do

this interview for staying committed to your passion, for sharing your gift with the world. I find you to be such an inspiration. It's been such a privilege speaking with you. Would you mind telling people how they can find your album and follow your journey? Of course. The easiest way to do so is probably any streaming service you listen to or just Google J-ZAC, J-Z-A-C, four letters. Nice and simple. That's all you need to do. He's the man, the myth, the legend. I cannot appreciate you enough for sharing this time. It's been so interesting hearing about the lyrics and the work that goes on behind the scenes. I think what you're doing is really important because for people who feel voiceless, I think you give them a voice. That means a lot. And thank you for having me,

first of all. And also, thank you for doing your research and obviously knowing, you know, you broke down lines and, you know, a bunch of stuff that's always great to hear and makes me feel good as an artist that I'm doing my job. So I love it. And thank you. Once you get ready to the interview, I was all hyped up for it. And I started deep diving into interviews and sub-interviews of that interview, and I just was so excited to speak with you. I can't wait for people to tune into your music. I think it's going to give them fuel. So go check him out. Spotify, Apple Podcast, or Apple Music, Instagram, TikTok, he's all over the place, inspiring people to go chase their potential and reach it. So again, thank you.

Perfect, Tim. I think you have a question. Well, Aaron sent me a clip that you've got on your Instagram and then I got sucked into reading all the comments and it was it looked like a podcast set of some sort and you were freestyling a song I believe and then a question okay and then it's a definition of what's a freestyle is you doing this on the spot or or what does that mean and and so I was curious on the on the definition of hip hop freestyle yeah it's a it's a big debate for a lot of people which is funny um that the intuition is is written but i i mean the definition of a freestyle is just a verse that's free of a specific subject matter you know it's kind of like what anything

you want to talk about whether it's just bragging about stuff or uh you know you're not just staying on topic uh but then that's like morphed into people being like well is he making it up on the spot is it off the top freestyle um so It's, yeah, it's basically that. But it, for whatever reason, that gets, like, drives people nuts, which is so funny to me. Like, anytime it's that kind of setup and the artist is rapping, people are always in the comments. Like, this is really good, but it's not a freestyle. And then people start arguing about it and going nuts.

And I'm like, well, most of the time you see an artist like that, they have it pre-written, but they're still performing it live on the spot in one take type of thing. It's like it takes the talent. And who cares? As long as they're commenting, as long as they're commenting, as long as. they're having that conversation. That's blown up the algorithm anyways. Who cares? I think it. I love it. Yeah, yeah. Well, thank you again. I hope you have a great rest of your day. I hope the album continues to release exactly the way you wanted to. I thought it was absolutely

fantastic and incredibly deep because there's references to other songs and there's a lot of meaning there. So I think you did a tremendous job and you should be really proud of yourself. Thanks, man. I really appreciate that. And yeah, this is a pleasure. So thank you both. And And I'm sure we'll chat soon. I look forward to this dropping. Sounds good. I will send it all over to you. Have a good rest of your day.

Take care. Likewise, guys. Is this real life? Is this real life just get to speak to people who inspire me on a regular basis? And they just share their time. They talk about slipping into the DMs. Is that what you're doing to recruit folks? Or are you sending something on their website?

Or how did you get Jerry? This was all through email. So I sent the cold email, saw the email, reached out, and super easy to book. Not going to lie, just had somebody say that they were going to come on. And then I asked to confirm the exact time. I was like, hey, would 9 a.m. work? And then I just get this no response. And then a couple days before, I'm like, hey, unfortunately, I haven't heard back.

So we can't run the interview in two days because I haven't heard from you. I have to let my producer know. And then it's, oh, well, that's unprofessional of you. Oh, what are you doing? and you're not kid like and it's like you didn't respond to my email and their comment to me was I should have followed up with them even though they just said that they were too busy to respond to emails so that was madness and very like they were like you were being disrespectful and I was like I worked very hard to appreciate your time do my research prepare and I'm being disrespectful by

saying you didn't respond to my email two days before and so we can't run this interview So to be clear, Aaron, I just asked, how did you get Jerry? But it certainly has touched a nerve. It's touched a nerve. I appreciate people like Jerry. Super easy. Yes, I'll do the interview. This is the time.

Let's run it. We're good to go. Super easy to speak with. Very big deal. He's got the followers. He's doing his thing. He just dropped an album. I didn't know if I'd be able to book him two days after his album drops.

But here we are. And then some Goober that's nowhere near as popular or having the impact he's having is being all difficult calling me disrespectful. I mean, let's just let's go. So two terms he used on the regular are goober and gibroni. Can you define the two for me? I can tell you off script who was the goober, and I can show you, and in the dictionary it will show this person's photo as being a quote-unquote.

Well, I don't need to know who that is. I'm just wondering, is there like a gibroni versus a goober, which is more on the, the scale of being to someone that's reprehensible. A jabroney is somebody who's like off-tasked and kind of not making any any reasonable sense. A goober has come at me, has come at me at the king and then missed, and then I look at their emails and I go, you want to air these emails? If we want to put these emails out, you're going to look like a goober.

And I am going to look like a very reasonable, thoughtful host of a podcast, but it took so much willpower to not respond to that email and go, I'm distrable. Just go. Just so we're clear, I didn't quite catch it. Did you just call yourself the king? Yeah. You come at the king, you best not miss. Yeah.

I'm the king of podcasts in this here. I'm learning so much. So you run podcasts out of here. Who's the king of podcasting in this year building? Well, Aaron Pete is a king of podcasting in this year building. That's what I thought. That is what I thought. Yes, you are, you're above King Charles in my royalty echelon.

Wow. My indigenous community appreciates you. I'm certain of that. I think I have better hair than him too. Yeah. Yeah. That was a blast. It's so surreal.

Watching the video a couple months ago, and like, this guy's really good. Start listening to the music, getting into it, going into my job interviews. And then I'm speaking with him. And he's breaking it all down. for me what a privilege because you're putting artificial barriers in front of your aspirations of oh he would never do it he would like that's impossible you know just got to ask shoot your shot get out there that's the message he shares that's the message for the listeners there's one takeaway it's go after your dream and don't come at the king you jabroney

Yep. Do you have a word? Do you have a word that you call people when they get under your skin? But you don't want to be rude. You don't want to cross that threshold. But you're like, oh, that person is a tidily wink or something. You'd have to ask Rebecca. I don't, nothing comes to mind, but I'm sure I've used a term or two.

And they're ridiculous things that are of a different generation. I know that. Those are my favorite. Those are the ones like I like talking about shenanigans. I like the ones that are kind of off-brand and not as popular. It's related, but not what you're asking for, but there is a term that I say quite often, and is I'll forget what I wanted to ask about,

and then I'll say, well, it must have been a lie. And then I walk away. And that comes from my mother. She would say that. Yes. Anyways, I think this timid is done. You think so? Yeah.

I'm hitting stop. Wow.