Nuanced. - 167. Vin Jay: The Shocking Problem with Our Culture

Episode Date: August 23, 2024

Join Aaron and Vin Jay as they discuss the problem with mainstream music, trauma, marriage and the therapeutic journey behind his lyrics.Vin Jay is a dynamic rapper, musician, and philosopher, recognized for his powerful music that combines deep, introspective themes with high-octane energy, designed to inspire and motivate listeners to overcome challenges.Send 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 here. I believe great music can add fuel to your fire. It's a place you can go to be understood and inspired by others' journeys. I'm speaking with someone who has an incredible philosophy, and he's dropping fantastic music that will make you run faster and work harder. My guest today is Vin J. You've been on the podcast three times now.

I don't think you need an introduction at this point in time, but just for those people who might just be getting introduced, let's do it one more time for them. For sure. We could do a compilation of intros at this point. My name is Vin Jay. I'm a rapper, musician, fitness enthusiasts, not professionally. But yeah, I make music and I try to spread a positive message of motivation and let everyone know that you can get through dark times no matter what. We got to say philosopher or something, right? Sure, for sure. I just need a more impressive resume for an introduction. Let's go philosopher, fitness enthusiast, professional beer drinker and rapper.

Okay, perfect. We'll go with that. There's been a lot going on, and I'm a huge follower of your career. But let's start, you got married. Congratulations. I'm so happy for you. Tell me all about it. Yeah.

So I got married in May. I flew my family out and my ladies' family out to an island called St. Lucia, really intimate wedding, small, probably under 50 people. But, yeah, flew him out and then had the wedding and had like a week-long all-inclusive vacation with them. So turned it from just one expensive-ass night of a show for everybody else into an incredible experience that we'll all remember forever. Okay, Mr. Philosopher, man. One of the things I feel like you're very thoughtful about is who you led into that inner circle of yours. And I feel like a wedding, I might be popping the question sometime soon. So one of my questions is how do you go about thinking who's going to be invited to that event?

You want those people who are going to bring positive energy who want the best for you, who understand the importance of that moment. How did you go about thinking about that? I think I just have a good gauge for it, right? There's, over time, I've learned the difference between family and friends and then acquaintances, whether it's through businesses or just more casual relationships. And I think that a wedding is something that is so spiritual and intimate that you only want people that you're positive, have the purest intentions for you and want the best for you. And I really was adamant about that. I actually rescheduled my wedding twice. it was supposed to be here in Arizona

and then I realized we sent invites out in everything and I was like I invited way too many people I don't want half these people here so I was like let's do it in Jamaica instead because then I'll only invite the family a few months before the wedding a travel warning gets issued to Jamaica

and saying like yo the travel advisory is really high now you shouldn't really be traveling here so then I switched it again and we ended up going of St. Lucia, but everything worked out for the best. There's been a lot of conversations, I think, from conservatives about what does it actually mean to get married? Like, what is that symbolically? How do you think about that? I think it is, without, at the risk of sounding corny,

I think it is quite literally the unity of two souls. And your life becomes more than just about yourself and it alters your actions and your empathy and just the way you interact with the world, so to speak. I think it's a really spiritual, religious thing that should change the way you act. I think a lot of the reason marriages fail a lot of the time is because they're not taking that vow as seriously as it should be. They treat it as the contract that it partially is, but they leave out the most important part, which is like the union of the souls and how you guys should treat each other going forward. Could you talk to us about that? How did you go about confirming that that was the right unity for you? What were you looking for? What was she looking for? And how did you make sure that that made sense? So for me, I would say it boils down to two things if I had to boil it down. It is values of the other person, the moral ground that they stand on, I guess. That was a weird way to.

put it, but their values, their principles, how they carry themselves what they deem important. And also, um, how, how they, how they treat you, right? And vice versa, because like, in my lower moments, right, she could easily stoop down to whatever vibration I'm on, but as opposed to doing that, she stays very loving and tries to uplift me as opposed to just budding heads. That's fantastic. I'm so happy for that. Could you talk to us?

Obviously, many people when I say, I love rap, they think, I don't know why this is, but they think of the lowest common denominator of some song with a bunch of swear words that's insulting people and women and being derogatory. That's not what I listen to. I listen to your music and NKs and these people who really have, I think, good philosophies. But there does seem to be this contrast. Do you ever think about that? that they're like the mainstream or what people think of when they think of rap is maybe not

what you're talking about in your music. Yeah, but I don't think that's exclusive to rap. I think that goes across all genres, right? I think the reason mainstream rap, pop, country, all are so base level and generic is because it's easily digestible by the masses. I don't think advanced topics that are deep into psychology or even looking peering into yourself right is very digestible for everybody because it takes a pretty serious amount of self-work to even get there personally so if you want i think the labels i figured out if you want a song to resonate at the highest level and make the most money you need to kind to keep it surface level and generic so it can do that so i think these genres get the rep that

they do because the most popular versions of them need to be that way interesting you're also now hooked up with NK it sounds like you guys are hanging out regularly what the heck is going on yeah unfortunately man dude won't not leave me alone um yeah he moved out to AZ a few months ago um we've kicked it a few times before then but he he got bit by the same bug I did when he came out here and he's just like man the community the vibes of Arizona just everything is so beautiful so he moved out here a few months ago and we became really close friends since then and yeah man it's just

It boils back to the first question you asked. Like when you meet someone good, you know they're good and you just want to hang around them because it's rare. Do you find that that sparks different types of creativity within you when you're linked up with someone? He obviously, from my, like the songs I love from him are like heavy, dark, the things he's going through. I think he's very relatable on that. Like I'm struggling, but I'm like persevering. Like I only have 42 cents in my bank account, but I'm going to keep getting after it and keep trying to prove to the world that I can do. something great and that's your very uplifting and like I'm figuring it out I'm after it like I'm

taking over the world is it interesting to like have again those different vibrations I guess yeah anytime you're collabing with an artist who isn't exactly like you the the fun part is finding out where you overlap because now you're creating this new type of song that maybe either of you as individuals wouldn't have made right because it's like I'm going to live in your world a little bit and you're going to live in my world a little bit which creates this new thing And me and him, he'll come over right here. He'll be sitting on this couch, right in his bars. We play a beat that we both like.

And then we, like, co-write this song together, and it becomes this cohesive piece of art. And the hook wouldn't have sounded like it did if he didn't have a hand in it, nor would it the second half sound like it if I didn't have a hand in it. And the lyrics, we bounce the lyrics off of each other. We know generally what we wanted to say. But there's really poetic ways to say. certain things. So we're like, oh, that's what we want to say, but it's not resonating like

it could, right? So I think it's that. I think when art is collaborative, it is, it's intoxicating, man. I love creating by myself, and that's its own thing. But when you collaborate with someone, it's just, it's two creative minds coming together to make something out of thin air. And that's its own beautiful experience. I couldn't agree more. It's so interesting when you start talking about it because it's a world that's hard to understand because there's a process that goes into it that listeners very rarely get to see behind the curtain on. Another piece, just because we're talking about Arizona, is you're obviously linked in with Futuristic as well, and he recently dropped an album. And one of the main pieces of that that I found

interesting was that he talked about how he really inspired people to come to Arizona. And he kind of helped create that space. And I'm wondering if you could just talk about that impact. Yeah, so futuristic is a businessman, bro. He's an incredible artist, but he's also a businessman. And he's always got something new going on, some new endeavor. And he was signing people in 2019 and flying them out here to do like a three-song deal where you shoot some pranks and it drops on Big Dawes' channel as your music video drops to get it a little more buzz. and I came out here and just to shoot those videos and just seeing the way he operated was so inspiring because it's like it was more than just I'm in my bedroom

I make a song and I upload it to the internet and I make some money right? That's cool and that's a lot of people's like dream job but there is a lack of fulfillment in that although it's an incredible job so when I came out here and just saw like the fire that he was moving with and the optimism and opportunity he saw in all these different situations, all I, what I felt

mainly was like, I've, in my hometown, never hung around someone that really made me want to do better like that. And I think that was a defining moment for me because I was like, it showed me how important it was to not be like the biggest fish in the pond, right? You should be surrounding yourself with people who you perceived to be doing better than you and not get, feel diminished by that, but inspired. So that inspiration was new for me, because in my hometown, I was the one who was doing that, right? So coming out here, I was like, there's so many people striving for exactly what I'm striving for. And that really made me come out here.

Yeah, because Joe Rogan's talked about this with the comedy scene as well, that it used to be super competitive. People were fighting for those late night spots where they're hosting a show. And so there was this idea that you're all competing against each other rather than creating like a community and an environment where somebody else's success doesn't actually take away from you. It inspires you. And I think that that is one of the unique things as well about particularly the United States is there's this American dream. And it seems like overall at scale, it's easier for Americans to appreciate somebody else's success without thinking that it takes away from them. And we have this idea. within Canada and I think the UK and I've heard Australia has it where there's this poppy flower mentality where if you grow too high people want to tear you down because we're all kind of in the same boat and the second you're above it takes away from them or it says they didn't follow their dreams and now you're a representation of all of the dreams and the ambitions and the goals they didn't actually chase after and now they can't look at you or they don't want to look at you

or they want to tear you down because now you're representing the things they didn't end up becoming. Yeah, I think it's an ego thing, dude. I'm not even sure if it's specific to location like that. I think I've met artists who are super into collaborating

and just want... Okay, Crypt is a good example, right? He got a serious buzz and immediately he starts hosting ciphers with underground artists and things of that nature. But then I know other artists who are,

they're happy they have their success but now they act like they have that success and they don't need to really fuck with anybody because because they don't need to right they got it by themselves and whatever so i think um it's just a person to person thing and it they say right like money and success or money specifically is an amplifier right it's just whoever you whatever type of person you are is going to make you more of that and i see when great people get success they want to spread it and when some people get success it turns them in to an egomaniac. How do you balance that?

Because of course, lots of people are going to reach out to you. They're going to want to work with you. And you have to be selective enough where you know that it makes sense for you. But you also don't want to discourage people from putting their hand on saying, hey, would you mind? Is there an opportunity here? And like, you don't want to be hard on people, but you also, you can't say yes to everything. How do you process that?

Yeah. So I'm generally really good at that. It's, I don't care if you have one fan or a million fans. If you send me a song and it's really good, I'm going to get on it. Because if I can uplift your life just by putting a verse on your song, and it's already really good, why wouldn't I do that? That's fulfilling for me. That's not me like giving a handout.

That sounds great. I don't want to do things for myself all the time. That really lacks fulfillment for me. So if someone has this thing that can be great and I could make it better and give them a further boost, that sounds way better to me than just sitting in here and making my own song. Now, on the flip side, when there's people who want me to get on their song because they're a fan and their music is just not up to par yet, they haven't put in the hours, right? Or maybe it's just not for them. telling them that is a little tougher but I'll usually just say something along the lines of like

this one isn't for me you feel me because even with big artists they artists have sent me songs that are good and I'm just like this isn't the one for me because it's a vibe thing right sometimes I'm just not resonating with the song and I could force lyrics on it for you but that's not going to do anything for the song what do you think the biggest mistake artists make is not finding their own voice i think we all get inspired by a lot of artists coming up and we initially sound like them but i think to stick with a sound that is just derivative of another

artist is the biggest mistake you could make because everyone can make music now so you need to stand out with something i don't think there's any shame in sounding like your inspirations in the beginning but somewhere along your journey you need to find your own voice you went on tour what was that like it was equally incredible and draining i um i've my entire life i've had social anxiety and my biggest fear was public speaking forever up until the moment i went on tour and uh but that's the reason i went on tour i said you know i this is my biggest fear in the world, and I refuse to let this be my ceiling. Like, this one little thing is going to dictate how far I go for the rest of my life. I'm going to look back on my deathbed

and say, imagine if I did that. What doors would that have opened, right? And I'd rather face a little bit of potential embarrassment than feel that regret. It's like, if you think the price of failing is high like the price of fucking doing nothing is way higher so it was on some personal development shit is why I went on

tour I said this will be good for me I'll be a better person because of it and and it shook a lot of the public speaking anxiety for me I just did a show with Massaman in Rhode Island a few days ago and the lack of nerves I had before that show was

like new for me But I think it's just if you're willing to fail publicly, you can push through anything. Now, how was Tor though? It was a month-long bender is what it was. Okay. So I want to get to your journey to Rhode Island. But first, one of the things you had talked about when we last spoke was about how you were prepping and you were putting in the work in the hours so that it would all flow so naturally going into it. and I just watched Joe Rogan's recent comedy special, and he actually in an interview talks about how he was just prepping and he was listening to it and he was just getting, because he did it live on Netflix.

Like there was no second takes on that. So he was really trying to prepare. And I find that so admirable, but I do feel like that's often where people miss out on that spark, that opportunity, where you kind of see like, hey, this might be my moment or this might open doors and then they don't grind and they don't put in the work. How rewarding was it to be able to see that all of that effort, all of that time really helped you go out there and you knew what you were going to do and you were able to deliver because I think that's such an important message for people to take in, which is put in the time and the work and then you're able to go on stage or you're able to deliver on your craft. Yeah, luck is when preparation meets opportunity. That's all it is. So, you know, stay ready. You don't got to get ready.

If you are prepared for the life you're asking for, the opportunity is going to present itself. but you can't say, I want this, I want this, and not work for it because the second it comes, what are you going to do? You're not even ready for. You can't even capitalize on the moment you're asking for. So I think people need to get really specific in their brains about what they want so they can start taking the actions that will allow them to be ready for when that opportunity comes. Is that manifesting? Yeah, yeah, for sure. A manifesting gets a bad rep, right? Because it's like, oh, if you just think what you want, it's going to come to you. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's,

It's way more than that. It's like find out what you want, be specific, and then if we could simplify it, right, find out who you want to be and then start being that fucking person every day. Because then you're going to turn into that person. I want to be rich and I want to have a six-pack, right? Okay, what would a rich person with a six-pack do every fucking day? Do that starting now every day. Eventually you're going to be that person.

Exactly. Rhode Island, the prep, the video that you guys put together, I'm going to be dorky here for a second. but it reminded me so much of when you watch like Avengers Infinity War or Endgame where like the team comes together and all these cool people that you listen to that have featured on each other's songs are all coming together can you talk about doing that Rhode Island trip and having all these great independent artists putting in the work come together and do a do a song together and do a show together yeah so I was I was friends with a few of them before the show had happened and I think who didn't I know at the

show. I didn't know Casey personally. I never met Massetti. A few people I didn't know, right? So you never know with that large of a group of people what the energy is going to be like. But when I tell you, everyone there was such, it was such a humble group and everyone just had the same intention. It was like, we're all here together. We all came to have a good time and we're going to put on a hell of a show. So we had this Airbnb that we stayed at during the day and then a few of us kind of parted ways but it was just nice to uh to be around a group of artists that are that down to earth because like i said before some people think they're they're bigger than they are so to speak so yeah bunch of humble dudes we all showed up for mass a man because at the end of the day he put the

show on and we all just wanted to show out for him because he's such a solid dude and everyone did their thing man i think everyone had fun including uh the people in the the crowd. My family came out from Long Island. Nico Massa Man's family is in our eyes, so they were there. It just felt like such a loving collective energy that was in that room from the artists to the crowd. Can you tell us about the song, Look at Me Now, because you did that with Massa Man and gone. Yeah. So that's one that he reached out to me for. Nico knows when he makes a certain type of song. He's like, this is, I want VINJ on this because he knows my style.

It's like aggressive and fast and all that shit. So he reached out to me. I laid the verse for him. And there's one thing that Nico does, when I say Nico, it's Massive Man, by the way. These are my friends, so it's weird to call them by their rapper names. Yeah.

And every time I do a song with him, he does, he goes all out for music videos. My guy shoots movies for music videos. So I love featuring with him because I'm like, The videos are always so fun. So yeah, we flew out there, shot a music video, and it was good. But in terms of the song, it's just, it's that bossed-up energy, man.

I used to think that there was no meaning behind songs that just maybe hype you up, right? But we've spoke about this previously. It's like, that's important, dude. Some people need motivation. Some people feel stuck on their couch or in their position in life. and if I could just get their blood pumping to make them fucking get up and walk or inspire them to take one action because they're they're motivated boom what do we that's that's a superpower baby I couldn't agree more and just to build on that I think one of the challenges for

people like myself is I don't necessarily have a peer who's doing more than me like I am on council for my first nation community I have a full-time job I'm hosting this podcast I've started a consultancy company like I'm doing a lot and like I'm happy to be doing that but I need to find people who are doing just as much or who can add fuel to the fire that can keep me going. Now, of course, my partner does that. But like a lot of my friends, when I'm just chatting with them, they're like, yeah, it's been a long day. And I'm like, oh, what did you do? I just worked my job. And it's like, okay, that's not a bad thing. But like, you're not going to convince me I need to work harder because you're not working as hard as me. So those people who are really

trying and grinding need people who are actually setting that example and who can add that fuel when like, I've done a day. I don't really want to go for a run. I turn to your music. It's going to add that fuel of like, hey, you got to keep going. You can't slow down. And it's so easy to start to skip out on taking care of yourself physically when you're doing all of the other things. And so individuals like yourself who add that fuel who are like, I'm still getting after it. It's 7 p.m. I should be going to bed or I should be relaxing now. I'm going to keep going. Those are the type of voices you need when you're a person trying to set an example or trying to lead the way for your kind of community of friends and family. I 100% agree, bro.

It sounds like you need to move out to Arizona. That's what I'm hearing. Yeah, yeah. Join the crew, bro. But yeah, I agree, man. It's, um, if you have those big ambitions, right? It's, it's like a requirement to make sure that what your intaking is always fueling that vibration of ambition because it's so, we're asking for top tier stuff here. And to always be driven enough to act.

in a way that will get you what you want is difficult bro it's like almost inhuman to be that driven all the time we have we have highs and lows and ebbs and flows and to to i guess for lack of a better word ignore those moments where we want to just relax is difficult but i always say to all my friends who tell me they want more but don't act as such i tell them you don't want it as bad as you think you want it you say you want it but you it requires sacrifice and and man i heard a quote about it the other day it's like they think the sacrifice you have to make for a life like that is like too much right but the sacrifice for not chasing anything is is that is that life is a better life you think that you're not making a sacrifice by staying stagged

it, right? Well, if I just don't do that, then I don't need to make a sacrifice. The sacrifice you're making is a better life. And I think a lot of people mistake that, that they think there's stagnancy in this world. There's no such thing as stagnancy. You are growing or you are decaying. And I think once you could land on that, you move a little differently. I couldn't agree more. And I think the best example of that is our economies right now, because inflation is taking place, which means if you're staying at the same job, that same stable job, you recognize. maybe you're making 25 bucks an hour. The value of what you're making is deteriorating. So you need to have a plan. So that idea that like, I'm just going to stay at this job that's making me less and less money because inflation is taking place. Well, that's just not an option because you're actually losing money every single day you're staying in that job because your buying power is reducing every day. You go, you drive by. Oh, they up that 20 cents. Oh, they'd up that a dollar. Oh, now my Big Mac is more expensive than it used to be. Like, everything is working against you. So you need to be figuring. out how you're going to get out of that and I find so many people are sitting there going like

well if I just stay here like this is what I know but it's like well actually your value is going down and you need to be doing something or you're going to end up in a circumstance in 10 years where you've only been at this dead end job for too long you have no opportunities and you're just hoping that staying stagnant would be okay but it's just not particularly in this economy yeah first of all you are talking my language right now you have no if I had to list my top three passions it's music, finance, and fitness in that order. So the economy, bro, it is mathematically rigged. Fiat currency is mathematically rigged. They need to print more forever to finance the government's debt. They're never going to stop printing. It's either keep printing or break the economy. And they're

not going to break the economy. We're never defaulting on this debt. So they print into infinity. Things get more expensive for infinity. You need to buy hard assets. You want to invest in stocks, cool. Real estate, cool. But big. Bitcoin's the answer. And that's a, that's a four-hour podcast right there. Okay. Let's not dive too deep into the rabbit hole, but I listen to Robert Breedlove. Who are some of your voices that you listen to? For finance? Yeah. Let's see. Because I'm a big, a Bitcoin guy, and Bitcoin encompasses the entire entirety of macroeconomics,

because to understand it, you need to understand what money is, why it's messed up, so on and so forth. Michael Saylor is the CEO of Micro Strategy. He's a big, I listen to him a lot. He's a big Bitcoin advocate. Anthony Pompiliano I listened to a little bit. What's his name? The CEO of Strike. Jack Mahler's.

I think he's incredible. Yeah, a few of them. Interesting. Yeah. I recommend Robert Breedlove. He did a four and a half hour episode with Lex Friedman. and they go through what is money, where does it come from, how do we think about it? And like, I go back and listen to it probably once a year because you just, you don't, like, even if you remove Bitcoin, you just, like, you don't understand money and you don't understand the process of purchasing something.

And I often say, like, everybody talks about how, like, people don't always vote or, or only 40% of the population actually votes. So, like, is that really a democracy, if not everybody's giving their voice? but people do vote every single time they purchase something because you're basically voting up or downvoting everything that you interact with every single day and you're saying IKEA is good or you're saying Walmart is good and we have these processes of kind of figuring it out and that's our economy, that's how we all operate,

but we kind of divorce ourselves from that and feel like we're being controlled by the companies when really I think we need to own the fact we have control over them because if we do boycott a company, Budweiser being kind of the big one that kind of people still probably remember, it has a huge impact and it will change the decisions they make because your vote through how you purchase really matters. Oh yeah, vote with your dollar, bro. If you think they are just, it's like an algorithm on social media.

They are just following our lead with what we're paying for. And then they say, we're just going to do more of this and they like this, this help the business, whatever. If you start voting with your dollars, watch how quickly you shift what's going on. And there's definitely power in voting for who you want in politics and things of that nature. But if everyone started using their dollars for the sake of changing the way the world operates, it would be way quicker than voting in politician A or B. Because money runs the fucking world. Their campaigns are run by dollars.

want to vote, vote with your dollars. Anything you don't like or what it's associated with, then don't shop there. But that requires education on one, the financial system, the economy, and then also what these large corporations have their hand in? And is that causing something that you don't like that's happening in the world? That is how you vote with your dollars and make your voice hurt. And then you also vote when you play music, right? When you hit a song, you're choosing to upvote that because then it's going to be put out to more and more people and more and more people are going to be able to hear it. You did your song with Gone and Mercilies, and it was God damn.

Would you mind telling me about how that song came about? Yeah, I think we spoke about that one on the last podcast, but we could touch on it. It was a quick one. Gone hit me up. He wanted me on the song because it was a fast rap record. And yeah, and we did a trade. Gone gives me, I love Featuren with Gone because it's easy, breezy. I give him a verse for free.

He gives me a verse for free, and then we're out here. Am I slipping? Did we talk about that one before? We did on the last podcast. I might be slipping a little bit. The other one that I want to be able to talk about is it came out right after we did our interview and I was like, oh, this would have been fantastic. A conversation with my younger self. Could you talk about that song?

Yes. So when I was younger is when most of my life shaping trauma happened, right? and um and i've made a song about it to an extent uh in breakdown that's the song i touched on it most but when i heard the beat for conversation with my younger self it just felt like a storytelling record and um yeah and then i guess the idea just came to me i was like well instead of just focusing on the that dark time what if what would i say to that person now right because It's like, it's like, I'm who right now I am the person I needed back then. That's who I needed.

It was me right now. So I was like, look, I wanted to tell my younger self that even though things seem really dark right now, all the things you're asking for in this life, these experiences are what is going to shape you into the person you're asking to become. And you would not have enough substance as a human being or a weathered soul to even speak on if I gave you that position that you're asking for. So all this shit you're going through right now, not only is it necessary and going to make you more empathetic and all of these things and a more humble person, but you want to be a rapper, a musician, you need this as ammo to be able to resonate with other people who hurt. If you want this superpower you're asking for, I've got to put you through the fire a little bit. What was it like to kind of put those thoughts together? Because rarely do people slow down to look at the trauma they went through as a young person

and try and kind of untangle it so they can actually process it and figure out how it might add value or where they can put the low down and put that cross down and carry on? What was that like? well I've been aware I guess we're all subconsciously aware of our traumas from the past but when you start to dive deeper into it

especially for the sake of making a song that can resonate with others you kind of start to uncover things that you knew probably had a hand in your trauma but you don't realize how long of a hand they had in the whole spider web of things until you start writing them down and connecting your life in a linear fashion from a bird's eye view. So I think it's similar to journaling where it's like, wow, I knew I was sad when that happened, but I didn't realize the effects

it had that connected to so many other things and caused so many other actions that then led to further action and so on and so forth. So it's very healing. and eye-opening. And I think when you are that vulnerable with yourself, it inspires others to look deep into themselves as well and potentially heal their own trauma and not be afraid to stare it in the face because they know it will take the weight off their shoulders if they do.

If somebody said, like, I'd like to do this for myself, I'd like to look in words and start to figure this out, how would you recommend they go about it? Because it sounds so therapeutic to kind of sit down, maybe write down the things that you've been through and kind of figure out what you take away from them or those things that stand out as kind of clear memories. But what would your advice be for somebody who's like, I want to do this for myself? Right. So I will start here, full disclosure. This is not how I did it. But the way I did it, I don't recommend to everybody. And we can get into that later. I think you already know how I did it.

But to start, I think we avoid our traumas and bury them so much, especially our past traumas, the ones that are 10, 20 years ago. I think we bury them. And they just turn into bitterness or fear and they manifest negatively. And something that nobody does, and I think you should, because it will open your eyes. I've done this once, as you get a piece of paper and you write down the things that hurt you, that cut the deepest to you, that hurt the most, the actions of yours that you regret the most, I want you to stare your demons in their face. Because when you see all of the things that have hurt you and you regret on one piece of paper staring you in your face, it all becomes a lot clearer and smaller

because it's this thing you can visualize, is not the word I'm looking for, conceptualize. It's like, wow, this is all of it, as opposed to this storm in my mind of them dancing all together, and I can't even find out why or where they're connecting. So all of a sudden, all of your negative internal emotions turn into a few words on a piece of paper. And now you just turn this giant larger-than-life anxiety into something you can hold in your hand. And then you can also go a step further and break them down and see, maybe look for the silver lining in them. Well, this was horribly negative because of this, but there's two sides to every coin. How did that shape me and were there benefits of the way it shaped me?

Right? Did it make me wiser in scenarios like this? So I would say start with writing down all that stuff. And the real conclusion of this is stop burying and running from all the stuff that is hindering you. Look it in the face. It's not going to hurt you more than it already is. Look at it and get to the root of it. You're going to feel a weight off your chest.

I like that. I do think one of the challenges I guess I have personally is that I'll use it for fuel at certain moments, but I don't really want to confront it that badly. Like I'll think about maybe like, oh, teachers didn't think I was going to graduate high school and now I have a law degree. I kind of just go, ha ha, like I did it. And I don't really like process what that meant for that person at that time or how that shaped this feeling of needing to keep going and keep moving forward. I just kind of go like, well, like, I got through it and we're okay. So let's just like keep going rather than kind of sitting with it and figuring out like what does that mean and maybe what were the negative impacts of it. Yeah, I think something you said resonated with me. So one of my, I won't call it a fear, but sure, a bigger fear of mine is like, well, it's this struggle all the time of like I want to feel inner peace because I never feel like I'm doing enough. But then the other side of it is like, but if I start to feel inner peace, will my ambition be gone, right? And that is a, that is a hard thing to carry. But I had a moment in my life where I was the happiest I'd ever been. And I think it is a shitty mindset to say, well, that is the driver. And if I lose that, I will not be driven anymore.

when who says pure bliss and happiness can't be your motivator to do things that are inspiring so why not let go of the trauma right and why does the trauma need to be the motivator sad guru said it he says some uh lady in the audience says you know you say competition isn't like a great motivator but i have a friend who graduated from blah blah blah and it inspired me so much to do better and i actually did make myself better because of that competition Well, so what do you say to that? And he said, there is this celebration, this festival that we used to have in India, right? And what they would do is like tie a firework to a donkey's tail, right? And they would set it off. And he's like, and the donkey would run faster than a horse, right? The stallion, this thing would go off. He's like, is that a proper way to inspire and motivate life? He's like, there are other ways to do so. And that's all I'm saying. I'm not in the neglecting or debating the fact that there's a value in maybe negative emotion negative emotion is driving you to become successful but I'm saying it's not the only answer

and it just so happens that that is the driving force for a lot of people I couldn't agree more one of my favorite songs you came on and you were like I've got some big things coming I've been cooking and then you drop chop which I really really love I think like it's becoming more clear to me what I like because it's that bad and forth between you like i think that that's so cool because it's again it's it's having a narrative but you're passing it back and forth and it's staying on point but you're sharing it and you're both keeping the flow going and i just find that so inspiring and motivating and like whatever that is there's a fuel to it that i really really appreciate could you talk about this

and the ep coming soon yeah so go this actually ties into what we were speaking about earlier i went on tour to ease my anxiety, right? But something else that pushed me was like, if I learned anything from moving my life across the country is that if you go into completely new environments, completely new doors open and new things happen. So I said, if nothing else, if I get nothing else out of this tour, even if I hate it, it's going to open doors. Okay? And I got a collab EP with Chris Calico. If nothing else, I got a collab EP with Chris Calico and became good friends with him as well. So it's like, dude, new doors open from new stuff. So went on the tour with Chris.

We became really good friends. And we started talking. I was like, bro, we should, you know, do a collab EP if you're trying to really get after it. He was down. We get back to, uh, you know, our states and all that fun stuff. And we had one, one song finished. One. And he hits me up, bro.

And he's like, so I'm trying to fly out like the 27th and we could shoot the videos for this. I'm like, dude, that's 11 days from now. You want to make an entire EP in 11 days? He's like, I'm down if you are. And I was like, all right, I guess we're doing this. So for the next 11 days, I lived in this studio, bro. 15-hour days, just sending shit back and forth with Chris. And we crafted the whole EP in 11 days.

And right before it was done, we had everything but the song, Chop. And I said to him, bro, this EP is called Chop. our fans want us to attack a beat together that's what they want from us so we gotta do it I said back and forth chopper we'll start with four bars of pop

and then it'll get smaller smaller smaller smaller and it'll just ramp up the entire time and he's like run it so I found a sample that I liked a mate put some drums behind it sent it off to a real producer and said make this sound good

right and uh yeah wrote all my parts sent it off to him and I said fill in the blanks and boom fucking chop and we've only dropped two songs so far but chop went crazy especially compared to the second song so it's like I know what the fans want you feel me I was because the thing I was like this is what we're missing I drop it 100K in freaking 10 days that's wild I really enjoy that BDE is fantastic

can you tell us what songs are going to be on there yeah yeah I can I don't know how much it's going to mean to you because they're just names but I could I could describe them a bit for you're pretty good at naming things I'll say thank you So it's CHOP, BDE, and this is in no particular order. Chop is first, though. Chop BDE. We have a song called Ball Out that is dropping a week from today. It's a very hype record.

We did a music video where it's a comedic music video where we're dressed like basketball players from like the 70 short, short sweat bands and goggles. And it's hysterical. Bro, I'm battling him and battling him. I'm playing him, and I don't know how to play basketball at all in the video. And so I'm doing like crazy shots and like traveling and walking with a ball in between my legs and stuff. That's going to be super funny. And we got another song called Champ, which is kind of like a drill record, sliding 808. It's really nice vibe.

Sonically, it sounds great. Sorry, what's a drill record? Oh, drill is a style of rap. Are you familiar with Pop Smoke? No, I clearly have no idea what's going on. Wow. Well, okay, after this podcast, look up the song Dior by Pop Smoke. Okay. And the beat is what I'm talking about when I say drill.

Not necessarily the context of the record. So, yeah, that's a vibey drill record. We have a song called Bussin, which is just talking about like this shit is bcing, meaning like this shit's going crazy. That's just a little more trap-y, smooth style. What else? That's chop, BDE, champ, buss in. We have a song called Famous, which is, it says, like, I don't want to be famous.

And, yeah, that's a cool one. We both chop on the verses on that. That's a little more uppity energy. It's from the same producer who made Sedona. So it's got the vocals in there, yep. And if I, we got one more. Chop, BDE, champ, busing, famous. Dude, I should know that.

this let me see i'll just get let's just pull this up yeah hold on i got it right here chop that's crazy that i don't know chop famous no putting so much music together man it's hard to keep up you know maybe oh maybe it is just five i lied chop bd e ball out famous bison i guess it's five could have sworn what stands out to you about chris like what what do you enjoy about his music or his style he's so versatile dude He can wrap his ass off with the best of them and he can sing. He can really sing. He's got a range in singing like I've never heard.

He can like sing all the way down here and then hit high notes like freaking Mariah Carey. It's the craziest thing I've ever heard. That's what I noticed about BDE. The way, like some of his rhyming schemes were also like so unique, like words that you wouldn't think somebody would try and rhyme. And that somewhat reminds me of Eminem of like taking a word that's like unreasonable to try and rhyme and then trying to do it seven times and find different ways to fit the way. word in like that's very impressive yeah he's he's talented man he's been doing this forever at the highest level you know he's got he's on a song with several songs with tech he's on songs with tech has a song with little wayne t pain m&m like name him bro he's he's a legend and what else is

coming soon after the ep i'm starting and i haven't announced this yet actually on socials i may have in captions and stuff but i'm starting to roll out my album i have a we've been waiting so long. I know. I've, bro, I've turned into quite the perfectionist in my later years. So for me to call something an album, I need to be so proud of it. I can't just put average songs on a CD and call it an album, because I need to look back at it and be like, this shit was a piece of art, right? So I've been hoarding all my good music for the past two years and they're saved for the album. So let's see how long the album is, man. It is. As of right now, it's 18 songs.

Granted, there are some songs on it that have been released already because they needed a home. Like, King of the Jungle, No Excuses, Sedona, you feel me? There's someone's on here that have been out, but they need to be on this project. Right. So I think there's probably like, if it's 18 songs, probably like 14 of them are unreleased. I'm so excited. I've been waiting so long. I think you're probably one of my favorite independent artists who's really like the human experience.

Like that's timeless to me. Like I can't see how that like in 20 years I can go back there because it's the story. It's the way that it was organized. It was very just, it was very thoughtful and really speaks to like some of the interactions and challenges you'll have with your family, with growing, with developing. Like I think a big thing so many people are starting to realize is like some people that you invite over to your house or you have Christmas dinner with, they're not on your team. They want you to stay mediocre or they hate.

And this goes back to the other discussion, like they hate the thing that's making you successful. Like it's been so interesting to see. I have moments where it's like, a certain group of people will see my success or see something they're like, wow, that is actually good. And some people just, they get resentful about it. They get upset and it's just like, that's so sad for you that you see this that way. And like, I have to disconnect from you for my own self-executive. interest because, like, I can't have you just tearing me down or being upset because I'm on

the right track. So I thought that was so beautifully put together. What would you say the theme of this upcoming album is? Hmm. So it's hard, it's hard to give it a theme, right? But, but they all, when I listen back to my albums, it really captures, as opposed to a theme, more so like a moment in time in my life. And I never realize how much the, you know, these moments vary from each other until years past. And I have sat with them and I'm like, wow, prophecy sounds so different from human experience. And I remember vividly what my mind state was like during both. And then karma is so dark and it sounds so different from both of those other two.

That was when I was really like facing my demons and putting them on the records. And on top of that, I was signed to a label for that EP. So I'm trying to show out for the label. and just the different motivators that were there for everything. Prophecy, I just got on. It was my first album. And human experience, I had just changed my whole life with a damn mushroom trip. And now my music's starting to change.

And it's the first album I made in Arizona. It's crazy. Karma is the first one I made in my new house, my first house. This one is like, man, this one is the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. like it's it has um like running is on there so it's really got his dark moments but then it also has me crawling out of hell on some of these songs where where it talks about those moments but also is like fuck that so i think it is my most experienced sounding music i am so excited there's not a better trailer for an album than that i was climbing out of hell is uh as a hell of a way to put it

Hell yeah, hell yeah. It's just, I want to, I can't tell you the name of the album yet, but the first song on the album is called Glory. It's out of control. Oh, do we have a date? Ah, so for the album? Yes. We do not, not yet. But I do have a date for the first single, which is with me and gone, and that is track number two on the album. And you know what track number two sound like, those things go fucking nuts. And it's called goat, and it is absolutely. of control dude one of like so good and we have a date for that I think so yeah so if the EP drops the 6th of September this drops a week later so the 13th oh so you're just going on a run oh yeah I don't give a shit dude I'm fucking releasing music until this year is over every two weeks I don't give a shit okay that's perfect I just out of curiosity is there any strategy to when you you particularly release music because like I'll be honest, the dark and moody music dropping in fall just makes sense.

But some people, they be dropping in June, a really dark, moody song. And it's like, hey, it's sunny outside. Like, this is not the vibe that I'll be getting down to. And this seems like the perfect time to be dropping this music. Yeah. So now you're getting into psychology and marketing, which is very smart and all artists should do. But we're also artists and emotional creatures, but we just like creating things and throwing it at the world. Right.

Um, with this album, I, you know, I, marketing is very smart and you should do it like that. For me, um, I get so much fulfillment out of this shit and albums are so few and far between for me that I am just so excited to have this amount of art that I'm proud of and I want to share with the world. And they say you shouldn't drop around holiday time. Like, big artists do not drop around holidays because it just doesn't perform as well. No one does. From Drake to Joe Schmo. in his bedroom. Everyone's streaming goes down during holidays. But dude, I'm just ready. Like, nothing sounded more exciting to me than after me dropping what I consider like my average songs for so long.

Nothing sounded more exciting to me than I'm going to drop a song every two weeks with Chris Calico, hit them with an EP, and then immediately after hit them with the album for the first time in fucking, you know what is that? March 2023. Year and a half,

two years right and on top of that the music that it is on the album is so top tier like like hey i know i've been gone i know i've been dropping little average bedroom tracks but watch this i'm unrelenting for the next however many months i'm so excited i feel the exact same way i'm sitting on a few interviews that i'm getting ready to drop i have a videographer cleaning up the intros and out i'm really trying to figure out how to grow this thing and how to how to get excited about it but keeping it a secret, like not posting about it, not talking about it, can be such a challenge. But it feels at times like you're on a roller coaster and you're on that like uphill and then you get ready to drop. And it's like, it's an exciting experience because you get to see

the world's reaction. How are you feeling about all of this? I, bro, I think having something to look forward to is 90% of being happy. So I'm very, very excited about all this. I'm finally, I'm in the phases now. I have a toxic trait of having 10 songs on finish and then going to make a new one. So it's nice to be wrapping all of these up. I'm getting the mixes done. And once all these are done, once the album is finished being mixed, then I can start creating new things feeling un, what's the word? Like, not hindered by the weight of the fact that I've unfinished work. So, yeah, wrapping up the album and then I get to create in my leisure because not only is that finished, but the amount of time it's going to take for all of it to release,

gives me no pressure in what I'm currently creating as opposed to I need to get a song done. I haven't dropped in a month. I have nothing ready to drop. It's like, bro, I got four months of music ready to drop and I could just take my time to make dope shit now. I can't wait. Vin, it's always a pleasure to sit down with you because even in the conversation, you're adding fuel, you're getting me all excited. You're like, I need to start stepping up my game. I need to get to work. I'm super excited. I'm so happy for you. You sound like you're in such a good place right now. And I just, I want to commend you for that because you've been putting in such good work. It's such an example for other creators, but like you have like a methodical way of going about

things. You're very philosophical in what you're trying to bring to people. And I think that's the secret sauce to so much of this is it needs to be coming from a real place. And you're always doing that. And so I appreciate you always being willing to take the time. I send you a message, hey, do you want to hop back on? And you're like, of course. Like, it's so nice to be able to have those people to catch up with and have a friendly

conversation where I'm not just kind of doing question and answer, question and answer, we kind of get into a flow going here and I just really appreciate that. Oh yeah, I appreciate this every time, bro. I have a lot of fun every single time. I think the next one we got to do it in person. Whether I'm going to hear or you're coming here, we got to figure it out.

We'll fly Tim out here. Let's do it. I couldn't agree more. We have to do the next one in person. Again, I appreciate it. How can people follow your music? Real Vinj. On Instagram, on all streaming platforms, first and foremost. It's just Vin-J, V-I-N-S-J-A-Y, Instagram's real Vin-J, Facebook is Vin-J, TikTok is real Vin-J music. It's like my third TikTok I don't even know anymore. But yeah, just search

Vin-J, you'll find me. He's the king of the jungle. I appreciate you sitting down today. I really recommend people go check out your music because it's so inspiring. It gets me going when I'm going for a run, but it also encourages me when I've got a bunch of paperwork or documents to write up. And I appreciate all the ideas you put forward and the passion you give to people, so I can't wait to chat again. Likewise.