On Purpose with Jay Shetty - Logic ON: Stop Letting Your Past Define Your Future & How to Prioritize Your Mental Health

Episode Date: October 25, 2021

Bobby Hall sits down with Jay Shetty to talk about his career and family life. While recalling his abusive and violent childhood, he openly shares how he found light in the darkest times of his, how he draws inspirations from his roots to pursue his passion for music, and how being yourself can be good because your being open to others and why it can be disadvantageous because you’re showing vulnerability.Bobby a.k.a. Logic is a platinum-selling recording artist, author, actor, streamer, and film producer with two Grammy-nominated albums out of six. He is the first musician to sign exclusivity with Twitch. In 2019, Bobby released his debut and New York times bestselling novel, Supermarket which was accompanied by a soundtrack of the same name. This year, he released his second book, This Bright Future: A Memoir. Achieve success in every area of your life with Jay Shetty’s Genius Community. Join over 10,000 members taking their holistic well-being to the next level today, at https://shetty.cc/OnPurposeGeniusWhat We Discuss:00:00 Intro02:53 Spending more time with family04:31 Freestyling while solving the Rubix cube07:44 Believing in a higher power mixed with common sense10:28 There’s always something about music13:48 Making it out of a mentally unstable household18:38 Raising a child with compassion and open communication20:31 Redefining anxiety and dealing with it daily26:16 How do you deal with intrusive thoughts?32:07 What it feels to be ‘white’ in the hip hop community37:43 The inspiration behind This Bright Future: A Memoir40:49 The power of words and learning things on the street44:36 Having a mentor that speaks your language46:49 Purposely slowing down to just be yourself 51:47 Drawing strength and positivity from your family55:30 We all strive at different stages and phases in our life58:07 Bobby on Final FiveLike this show? Please leave us a review here - even one sentence helps! Post a screenshot of you listening on Instagram & tag us so we can thank you personally!Episode Resources:Bobby Hall | TwitterBobby Hall | InstagramBobby Hall | YouTubeBobby Hall | BooksThis Bright Future: A MemoirSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Jay Shetty and on my podcast on purpose, I've had the honor to sit down with some of the most incredible hearts and minds on the planet. Oprah, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Hart, Louis Hamilton, and many, many more. On this podcast, you get to hear the raw real-life stories behind their journeys and the tools they used, the books they read, and the people that made a difference in their lives so that they can make a difference in hours. Listen to on purpose with Jay Shetty on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Join the journey soon. What if you could tell the whole truth about your life, including all those tender and visible things we don't usually talk about?

I'm Megan Devine. Host of the podcast, it's okay that you're not okay. Look everyone's at least a little bit not okay these days, and all those things we don't usually talk about, maybe we should. This season, I'm joined by stellar guests like Abbermote, Rachel Cargol, and so many more. It's okay that you're not okay. New episodes each and every Monday, available on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey, it's Debbie Brown, host of the Deeply Well Podcast, where we hold conscious conversations

with leaders and radical healers and wellness around topics that are meant to expand and support you on your wellbeing journey. Deeply well is your soft place to land, to work on yourself without judgment, to heal, to learn, to grow, to become who you deserve to be. Deeply well with Debbie Brown is available now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Namaste. I've literally attained and accomplished anything that a musician could dream to attain.

And so I had to look myself in the mirror and say why? And I've purposefully slowed down so that I can focus on my mental and physical health so that I can focus on being there for my child and my wife and that I can love and enjoy this life and this house that I've spent the last 17 years of my life building and it is terrifying, Jay. Hey everyone, welcome back to on purpose, the number one health podcast in the world.

Thanks to each and every single one of you that come back every week to listen, learn, and grow. Now, this has been a year where we've been so fortunate to sit down with some incredible artist to share their stories and they've opened up vulnerability and you've responded as a community by sharing those episodes, loving those conversations. And today's guest is someone that I've wanted to speak to for a long time. I've been fan of his music, been a fan of his flow, been a fan of his lyrics. And today we're talking about his brand new book which I'll introduce you to in a moment.

But I'm talking about none other than Bobby Hall, aka Logic, a Grammy-nominated platinum selling recording artist, author, actor, streamer, and film producer. In addition to his three number one albums, 10 platinum singles and billions of streams, Hall's debut book, Supermarket, made him the first hip-hop artist to have a number one New York Times best selling novel. And today's new book that we're talking about is called This Bright Future by Bobby Hall. Bobby, thank you so much for making the time.

Dude, that was the coolest intro ever. I feel so cool now. Thank you. That's very kind. I mean, it's a great intro because it's all true. And so I feel like if the intro was called and the life must be really cool because you had to live it to make it real. For sure.

But we were just, we were talking about this before, the only time we've ever met is when we bumped into each other at an airport, which I loved because I saw you, I already knew who you were. And so when you came up to me, I was like, this is so cool, man, logic stopping me at an airport. But you could finish the rest of the story.

Yeah, dude, I thought it was really awesome and my security guard is also, he's just a huge fan of yours. His name is Pepe. He's literally freaking out right now. Say what's up? Yeah, that's Pepe. What's up? He's so hyped.

He loves you, man. Who doesn't? And so, yeah, I just, I just saw it as a really cool opportunity to say hello and then use him as a scapegoat to also say hello. So it was really cool. No, that's awesome, man. And lots of love to Pepe, but also I was a huge fan. And so it was nice to always just,

but it's always nice to just bump into someone in a very natural way. This was obviously pre-pandemic when we were all flying and moving around. But I wanted to start off just by asking you, like, what's this time been for you? Has this been a time of deep creativity and exploration? Has it been relaxing? I know you just became a father as well last year. Like, what's this time been like for you personally?

And it's kind of been a culmination of all those things, for sure. So I had planned to take off 2020 anyway, just to be there for my baby because that's when he was born in February and my wife and just really for the first time in my life kind of slow down, which I'd never done in my entire career. So I got a little lucky in that sense where I didn't have some big tour planned and have to cancel it and financially be dealing with,

you know, situations that I'm glad I didn't run into. So that was nice. But also at the same time, it's like, yeah, I'm constantly working. I was literally like, they were like, okay, you got four minutes. I'm upstairs like polishing the script that I'm going to shoot next year, which I'm really excited to work on. So I'm constantly working.

My biggest thing is balance. I think, you I think searching for balance and trying to find balances, well, it's impossible, right? Cause it's just what it is. But I think the search is very important and that's where I've been and I kind of need to relax more but my mind is always going crazy.

But yeah, it's been full of creativity, working on music, books, you know, just, but my big thing is with my family. I just love spending time with my family because obviously I didn't really have one growing up. So yeah, that's been my pandemic. Yeah, I definitely want to talk about that.

And, you know, if anyone who's listening right now, we are going to dive into Bobby's new book, This Bright Future. But I just recently found out that you can solve a Rubik's Cube while freestyling. And I was just like, that is the craziest multitasking opportunity I've ever heard of. Like I've never thought of two things that are so different. Tell us about how you even discovered that you could do that. Well, I remember it was 2014 and it was Thanksgiving. And I was 24 and I was in my room

and I was looking at this Rubik's Cube and I feel like everybody has had a Rubik's Cube at some point, it's just kind of like a fun thing you have either when you're a kid or older and you throw it on a shelf. And so I really wanted to learn how to do it. So I took to YouTube and looked up a tutorial on all the algorithms.

I swear to God, this is random that I have one here right now, like I promise you, and I'll probably really butcher it while I'm telling the story. But yeah, basically what I wanted to do was, I want to learn how to do it. And I'm a freak, like anything that I want to get into no matter what it is, whether it's acting, whether it's music. I mean, just even video games, like I love mastering mastering things or at least trying to, doing my best to. And so I sat down and I literally just studied this algorithm. And I mean, at this point, it's like, I was working on things until, like, these algorithms

until my frickin' fingers felt like they were gonna fall off, which was insane. And like 10 hours later, however long it was, I did it and then I learned how to do it without actually having to look at the algorithms or how they were done. So then it had become muscle memory, which was really awesome, but it was intense and pretty crazy and then I got into speed cubing and different things like that,

which is also very nerdy but also very fun. And yeah, man, so it was basically Thanksgiving. And before I knew it, I had learned how to solve it. And then I just kinda did it constantly. And one day I was like, all right, I'm gonna take my nerd sci-fi wraps on the radio with big boys' neighborhood, and I'm also gonna do a Rubies Cube, while I freestyle.

And it could have ended badly, because I could have been so nervous, which I was that it didn't work out, but it did and that was really cool. I swear, that's just right here next to me. Just hold that up again, because that was incredible. That was amazing.

Thanks, man. That was phenomenal. I mean, like for anyone who's listening and not watching the podcast, he just solved, Bobby Hoell, Lodgeth, just solved a Rubik's Cube Cube while explaining how he freestyles and Rubik's Cube's at the same time.

So for anyone who didn't get to see that, please go over to YouTube or Instagram and what's that part because that was pretty epic. But I love that, you know, I love the idea of mastery. That's something that's always been fascinating to me as well. And I can geek out about mastery. But when I look at your childhood, which I got to explore through this book, you describe yourself as an orphan with parents.

And I think right now in society, we're at this time where a lot of people have started reflecting more on their childhood and how it formed their habits, their behaviors, their ideologies. What is some of the, before we dive into your childhood specifically, well, let's actually let's dive into that often with parents. And then what I really want to hear about is what were the ideologies that were created

from that that you found what healthy and then ones that you found that were unhealthy. I want to hear about both. So tell us about growing up as an orphan with parents. Yeah, my dad's black, my mom's white, but I'm the only one who looks white, but it's my culture, it's my people. So I fit in, it was never an issue, it was never anything. It just was what it was.

It wasn't really more so until I got an entertainment and hip hop that people wanted to kind of put you into this box. My father was addicted to crack cocaine. My mother had also done various drugs. She fell into prostitution when she was young, alcoholic. It just really wasn't a good thing. She was very mentally unstable, bipolar.

I'd like to thank borderline skits of Frinnick, which was really crazy too. And yeah, I mean, I was surrounded by drugs and violence and guns and shooting guns and cooking crack and my brother's selling crack to my dad and them running around in the street. And it was just a really not like a good place to be. But the craziest thing is, is I am the only child between my mother and father. So I was like an only child. Although I have eight brothers and sisters, which is really

crazy on both sides, but we were never together. It was never like a family situation. And yeah, I mean, growing up, I think, I'd like to, you know, people say, oh, how did you, how did you make it out of that? How are you, who you are today? And I always say it's like God in common sense. And I will further go on to say, like, I'm not really a super that. How are you, who you are today? And I always say it's like God in common sense. And I will further go on to say, like, I'm not really a super religious guy,

but I also don't, I don't hate on religion, I don't hate on people's faith. I think it's very important. I think it's beautiful. I don't see it as like sky dad, like some white guy with a beard sitting on a cloud. I don't really, I don't know, I don't know if it's a guy, it's a girl,

it's a this, it's a that, but I do believe in something. I believe in a higher power. And I think that mixed with common sense was like, oh, maybe don't smoke crack. Oh, you know, see my mother being beaten and bloody by men. Oh, don't put your hands on a woman. It was just a weird thing where any other child

or most other children would see these things and go, oh, this is life. This is what it is. You yell at a woman, you hit a woman, you do this, you do that. I was like, no, don't do that. And I don't know how or why, but I'm here and I'm definitely not smoking cracker, beat my wife. So I think I'm doing all right. I think that makes a lot of sense. That resonates with me deeply. I always feel like, you know, if someone grows up with alcoholic parents, if you had twins, one of them could become

an alcoholic and one of them could never drink alcohol, right? It's like you get to make that choice when you have an experience. You made certain choices. Was there any lessons that you learned early from either of them? Do you think there was something that kind of gave you this desire for mastery, gave you this desire for figuring things out for living life in a specific way, or actually was a lot of it just survival and having to find your own way at 17 years old

when you finally left. It's funny that you ask that because when it comes to mastery, yes. Like I absolutely do love making something my everything, like just utterly allowing it to just engulf me. And I think maybe a lot of that is because my parents didn't necessarily do that. You know, my mother, she had a lot of hobbies and things that she was into. She was into writing. She loved music. She loved dance. She did love a lot of things, but she never really focused on one thing with the exception of I guess like reading the

Bible. But she was also very hypocritical when it came to religion. And I'd also just like to say, it's very important that I say this. When you hear me talking about my family, I want you to know that in no way is it with malice or hatred or anger, you know, I've forgiven these people for what they've done. And I look at them, especially now, I look at my son and I'm like, I don't know how somebody could do this to a baby or a child, the things that I went through.

My mom called me and the rest of her kids, the N word with a hard R. And I remember people saying, like, oh, that doesn't really make any sense. Like, that can't be true, that doesn't make any sense. And it's like, one, first of all, don't dismiss my truth. And second, of course, it doesn really make any sense. Like, that can't be true. That doesn't make any sense. And it's like, one, first of all, don't dismiss my truth. And second, of course, it doesn't make any sense. And I've spent my entire life trying to make it make sense

and then realizing, oh, it just doesn't. This is a mentally ill, broken person. This person is lashing out, not only at her children, but at people around. I mean, think about it. It's kind of weird that my mother is systemically racist and yet all of her children are with black men because she finds black people so beautiful, which really just stems from her bringing a young

black man home when she was a teenager and saying, this is my boyfriend and then her parents being like, we don't mix with their kind. It's all really insane and there's levels of that. But back to mastery, sorry, you'll find I go on tangent. I love the tangent. I love the tangent. I think the fact that she never necessarily focused on one particular thing made me want to focus on one particular thing. And when you're a kid, you try different things. You play basketball, baseball, you draw, you dance, you this, you that. But there was always something about music. And I wanted to really make it my life. So I think, yeah, those examples that she kinda said or necessarily didn't set, made me wanna do that. Yeah, how do you get to that point, Bobby,

when I'm hearing you talk about your family and I loved what you said that, hey, I'm not, you know, I'm not putting their dirty laundry out there, I'm not trying to put them down, I'm not being critical, I'm just sharing because I wanna be vulnerable and share my truth and the experience. I think not being critical. I'm just sharing because I want to be vulnerable and share my truth and the experience. I think it would be very natural for people to have resentment, for people to have bitterness. You said, I've got to a place where I've forgiven them now. I want to hear,

how did you get to that? What I loved, something that you did there, which was so beautiful, was you were able to disconnect her behavior from it being personal to you. You were like, this is just how she was with everyone because this was a condition she was struggling with. This wasn't about me, Bobby the kid being a loser, being useless, being bad. How were you able to get to that process of forgiving some of these experiences that you had?

I mean, definitely just maturity growth. And I think my own personal journey as a young man and realizing what this function is and was. So it's like, I was able to realize this is a sick person. I once again, God, common sense. I don't know, but I just knew, oh, this isn't right, you know, it's like You know, I only had a few places of I guess neutrality We could call it where I would go to like the skate park and I would just see your normal average person, right?

And that has nothing to do with Well for money or this or that but just your normal kind of regular run of the middle kid and his parents and I go Oh, like I would I was realizing like you know that like my mother never really came to the skate kid and his parents and I'd go, oh, like, I would, I was realizing like, you know, like my mother never really came to the skate park to watch me skateboard. And then this kid, you know, has his parents coming of all races and colors and, and, and people and they're just there. And I just saw this and I was like, oh, this isn't right. But I also understand, now don't get me wrong. There was times when I was angry, of course, like I'm angry, like I had to learn how to ride my bike by myself.

I remember one of my earliest memories is choking on a sandwich and my mom then scolding me that I had thrown it up because I couldn't breathe and she made me clean it up and I'm like five years old. Like, no, you clean that up and then console me and hug me and tell me everything's gonna be okay. You know, like I didn't have that. But I think while I was going through it, even though there was that anger, there was this, this, these moments of like understanding, oh, there is something wrong

here. And for a long time, I was angry at her in her mental state and her this and her that. But then as I started to experience anxiety and, you anxiety and just normal things that you do as you grow and age and mature, I realized, oh wow, like this isn't really her fault. So it's, but I'm also not here to excuse her actions by any means. I mean, my mother, she almost killed me when I was about seven or eight years old.

She almost strangled me to death and then stopped in the middle of what she was doing and realized what she was doing. And I remember very vividly looking at her and seeing like, oh, so much anger. And I didn't really do anything. I was just bouncing off the walls like a kid, having fun. You know, I was in no matter what, a child shouldn't be met with almost being, you know, essentially strangled an inch from their life.

And I remember crying and having tears in my eyes. And it was almost like I was looking at her, you know, through like underwater glasses. And then she stopped after realizing what she was doing and I just told her, I said, it's okay, mommy, like I love you, like it's okay. And I look back at that now and realize that, but I'm more sad for her than me because I made it out. I made it out. So I don't know how I did, but this woman still

has to live with herself. And I wish I could have a relationship with her so bad. And I'm kind of on and off with my dad, like one of my dad's last requests was $800,000. So he could buy himself a studio for him and his band somehow. It's just like, it's ludicrous. It's like, hey, dad, can I maybe like, can we just talk about life for a second? Every time I talk to my father, it's always music this and music that. But I also realize that very much so like my mother,

with my dad, that's all he knows. So he talks to music about music to everybody, not just me, but I just think it's funny that I started to get a lot more phone calls once the name logic started getting bigger. I thought that was weird. But when it comes to forgiveness and having this site, I don't know, man. I don't know.

And writing this book was very cathartic and very beautiful. And it allowed me to forgive even more. But I know I'm sorry. Cop out. I just don't know. That's that's not a cop. I appreciate the honesty. And I love what, cop out. I just don't know. That's not a cop out. I appreciate the honesty. And I love what you said there,

because when you look at forgiveness, it doesn't excuse the other person of their behavior. It just exits you from the baggage of carrying it. And so, I think that distinction is really important that you made there. That, hey, I was put in pain. I was almost killed. This is as bad as it went,

but I don't want to carry all of that with me. And I think the zooming out and the broader perspective of, hey, this is just how they're interacting with everyone. It's not just me. I think those are really practical steps actually that whether you took them knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously, they're really powerful things for everyone to take away.

I wonder now as a father, you know, you've got your adorable son, we see a picture of him in the back of the book. Yeah, a little private. Yeah. I wonder now when you're as a father, which is such an amazing step, and you said it was February last year,

so he's like, well, 18 months old now. Yeah, 19 months. Yeah. 19 months old. Tell us about how you're approaching parenting. I want to hear about as a father, how you're thinking about it. What are some of the values or principles that you're hoping to teach you more? Or you're hoping that he'll learn? My biggest thing is communication. I think it's so very important to be able to communicate with your children and also not getting amnesia. My godmother Mary Jo who took me in for a nice time in my life when I was a teenager, she told me that. You can't get amnesia.

You can't forget that kids do stupid things or kids. Even just I don't know if you're in seventh grade and your heart gets ripped out by some boy or some girl that you were dating for eight days and it feels like the end of the world like even just I don't know if you're in seventh grade and your heart gets ripped out by some boy or some girl that you were dating for like eight days and it feels like the end of the world and they broke up with you just before the school dance and your life is over.

And it's like, as an adult, it's so easy to brush that off and be like, oh, you'll be fine, shut up. But it's like even though that's true and even though you should say that, maybe not as callous, you know, but it's like, don't forget, man, don't forget that you were there and that seventh grade is your child's entire world.

So it's kind of having those things in my mind while moving forward are very important. Spending time with them is very important. And yeah, but I think communication really is the biggest thing. A lot of people will just get mad when he's in a slight hitting phase right now, where he'll kind of like, if he's frustrated, he'll throw something. And somebody could be like, no, you don't throw things. You don't, but it's like, he's so frustrated because he lacks the ability

to be able to communicate with us. So it's like, okay, stop, pause, let him know. No, we don't do that. Like you don't throw things. No, you can say it sternly, but not choking them to death. Like I think that's what's really important. And once again, just seeing this little beautiful, perfect slate of a human being is,

I just don't know how people can do some of the things that they do to children or that have been done to me. It's kind of very sickening, but I believe that it's up to me to break that cycle and be one of the first people in my family to do so. Not the only one. There's some great people in my family who have made it out. But yeah, so when I look at him, I think about that love, compassion, communication, and not getting amnesia. I am Yonla, and on my podcast, The R-Spot, we're having inspirational, educational, and sometimes difficult and challenging conversations about relationships.

They may not have the capacity to give you what you need, and insisting means that you are abusing yourself now. You human. That means that you're crazy as hell. Just like the rest of us. When a relationship breaks down, I take copious notes and I want to share them with you. Anybody with two eyes and a brain knows that too much Alfredo sauce is just no good for you. But if you're going to eat it, they're not going to stop you. Yeah. So he's going to continue to give you the Alfredo sauce

and put it even on your grits if you don't stop him. Listen to the R-Spot on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts. I'm Jay Shetty and on my podcast on purpose, I've had the honor to sit down with some of the most incredible hearts and minds on the planet. Oprah, everything that has happened to you can also be a strength builder for you if you allow it. Kobe Bryant. The results don't really matter.

It's the figuring out that matters. Kevin Haw. It's not about us as a generation at this point. It's about us trying our best to create change. Louren's Hamilton. That's for me being taking that moment for yourself each day, being kind to yourself, because I think for a long time, I wasn't kind to myself.

And many, many more. If you're attached to knowing, you don't have a capacity to learn. On this podcast, you get to hear the raw, real-life stories behind their journeys and the tools they used, the books they read, and the people that made a difference in their lives so that they can make a difference in hours. Listen to on purpose with Jay Shetty on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Join the journey soon. This is what it sounds like inside the box car. I'm journalist and I'm Wharton in my podcast, City of the Rails. I plunged into the dark world of America's railroads, searching for my daughter Ruby, who ran off to hop train. I'm just stuck on this train, not now where I'm gonna end up, and I jump. Following my daughter, I found a secret city of unforgettable characters living outside society off the grid and on the edge. I was in love

with the lifestyle and the freedom this community. No one understands who we truly are. The rails made me question everything I knew about motherhood, history, and the thing we call the American Dream. It's the last vestige of American freedom. Everything about it is extreme. You're either going to die or you can have this incredible rebirth and really understand who you are. Come with me to find out what waits for us in the city of the rails.

Listen to city of the rails on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts or cityoftherails.com. Yeah, yeah, I liked that point about not gaining amnesia and the idea of I feel like one of the biggest mistakes we all make as humans is that we keep communicating people with people from where we are, not where they are. And so we forget that we were where they are right now. And if we just talk to them, recognizing that that was us 10 years ago, 20, 30, 50, whatever it is, that that would make all the difference. And now you have a vocabulary for it.

We do. We understand mental illness better. We understand mental health. We understand these terms a bit better. We're getting there. How, how, when was it when you first started realizing that this was mental illness? This was mental health. This was their conditioning and challenges that were on a deeper level as a, just more than just their addiction. I think just simply like I said by being able to make the connection or lack thereof between a friend of mine's parents and my parents like to see you're kind of normal person who can go and hold a job.

I think my mom only ever had like two jobs. I think she worked at a supermarket for a little bit and she worked at Chick-fil-A and she could not stand people telling her what to do. And I realized that and yet then she would tell me what to do and yet I had to just suck it up and take it. And then even even with my set like I said me going through anxiety was like a big eye opener and I remember my first panic attack I was like 13 years old and It was really scary and my mom had gone away Well, I mean she just went to the store for like an hour, but I had this panic attack and I started to realize I was dealing with like separation anxiety from my mother and that

a lot of our relationship was more based on brainwashing, which sounds crazy, but having this feeling that I needed her and that if she wasn't there, like my entire world would crumble. And I didn't know how to deal with anxiety. And honestly, I only really learned how to deal with anxiety much later in life, like in my late 20s, I'm 31 now. And even right now, Jay, like, I'm pretty anxious right now. I don't know why.

It's really weird. I felt fine before I got on in front of the camera. And even right now, like, I have this like feeling of anxiety. And maybe it's a number of things. Maybe it's, I'm recounting my childhood. I just, I have a book that's come out, you know, so many things that are going on in my mind. I'm fine. I know I'm fine.

I'm drinking water. I'm talking to an amazing human being. I'm, everything is okay. And yet internally, there is still is a part of me that feels a little jittery and a little nervous and a little this and a little that. And I've learned how to deal with that. And instead of like freaking out,

I just go, you're fine, it's okay. Feeling this way is normal. I remember speaking with my therapist and she told me, I was like, I hate the fact that I feel anxious. I was like, there's people out there that don't really, they just have kind of general anxiety, but they don't have that anxiety where it can also affect them physically,

where they feel weird, or they feel like they could pass out or this, and she was like, yeah. And then sometimes it happens to them, like Tony Soprano, when they're in their 50s, trying to feed the ducks in you know, in their pool. And then that's just their life after that. And she said, the thing is, is not like you have to accept that that's just who you are

and that's the way your life is now. And do the best that you can to combat and deal with that anxiety and those emotions and the most positive manner possible. So it wasn't until I started truly understanding what anxiety meant and how much it can affect your day-to-day personal and professional life that I even grew more sympathetic towards my mother and all the things that she was dealing with.

Yeah, well, I wanna thank you for sharing that and also just to say that I do think it's natural and extremely brave when you're sharing such personal accounts of things in your life and you're putting them out there and we know the world we live in, where everything we say is, you know, it's natural for you to feel that way. So I really appreciate you even opening up and sharing that. And I just want you to know that I think you're sharing your story, not just on this interview,

but in this book, in a way that is going to help so many people with their perspective. So I want you to know that. And I also want you to know that, yeah, we all have anxiety. I officiated someone's wedding this weekend, the weekend that just went. And my wife said it to me, she was like,

yeah, I've never seen you this anxious or stressed in your life with anything you do. And I was like, because it's someone's wedding day, I was like, and people were like, oh, but you've done this a million times and you don't. And I was like, it doesn't matter how many times I've done it, it's someone different. And it's their wedding day. And this is an important moment for someone. And what I've realized, and I love what you said there, because I do something similar. I've redefined my relationship with anxiety

that I feel anxious when I care. So I know that when I'm feeling anxious, it's because it's something good about me is that I care. I'm a human that loves and cares and is compassionate and wants to serve these two beautiful people that I wedded, that I love and that love me and I have a relationship with. It's because of that, I'm not scared about what someone thinks about it or how it goes.

I'm anxious because I care about these two people and I feel they deserve something special. It's funny you say that because another thing that I had dealt with for, I mean, I asked everybody deals with it is intrusive thoughts. You're aware of this, right? Intrusive thoughts. So it could be the craziest thing. It could be your baby falling to its death. It could be you, I don't know, punch in a store clerk and you're just like, Oh my God, why would I think that? How could I think something so despicable

or whatever the case may be? These dark thoughts. And I remember talking to my therapist and she was like, Well, one, those aren't really your thoughts. You're not thinking that she was like, that's kind of douchebag brain. She put it, she was like, it's just these thoughts that pop into your head. And you need to understand that that's that's also like conscious, like your conscious recognizes that and is then terrified. And so I think when it comes to anxiety and the things you care about, it's like, oh my God, if I think about my baby dying, it's because that's the most precious thing to me. If I think about, I don't know, like I said, punch in some clerk in the face, it's like violence,

I hate violence. So it's these things that my brain is doing that I'm kind of then freaking out about, but it's about how we deal with that. If we then focus on it too much and obsess, why would I think that? Why would I think that? Why would I think that?

Then every time we're in a situation where that thought is then triggered, then it just becomes more intense. And the key there is to not really focus on it, is to really not think about it, understand that it's a thought, it's a disgusting thought that you didn't even think in your head just somehow popped in and you were like, oh my goodness, to hell with you.

And that's also how I feel about anxiety. I think there's a difference between legitimately like, oh, I'm starting to see stars, or I feel like I need to sit down, like that could be different. Even though it may be anxiety, but it's like, ask yourself, have you been working really hard? Have you drank enough water today? Have you eaten?

Have you this? Have you that? And having the mindset to be able to just ask yourself what is going on? And that was something I couldn't do for a long time. I was very unhealthy, both physically and mentally. And once I really learned how to utilize these tools, my life became better.

But I mean, I still get anxiety. Like it sucks. Yeah. But it also is great. I mean, I'm not going to say anxiety's great, anxiety sucks. But it's, look at this great conversation we're having because of it. I've, I'm not gonna say anxiety's great, anxiety sucks, but it's, look at this great conversation we're having because of it. I've made songs about it. I've written parts in scripts about it. I've like, I get it and I understand it. And because of that, it's actually allowed

me to connect with people on such a deeper level and being willing to go, because I'll, I'll tell you this man, I love rap, I love hip hop, it's a beautiful place, it's also a negative place, just like the world is. And but I've met a lot of rappers where I try to have like deeper conversations with them and they just don't do it because I think they're also scared and to internalize how they're feeling.

But I did have one guy, and he, I'll never forget, he was like, bro, I wish I could be you. And I was like, what do you mean? I'm like the nerd rapper who solves Rubes cubes and wraps about sci-fi you're like you're that dude you know you got the cred even though low key I've shot guns and cook crack so I guess I have the cred as well but I don't really perpetuate that life and he was like look man he was like I'm scared he was like that was so long ago that's not who I am anymore and he's like I like video games I like this I like that I wish I could just be myself.

And when he said that to me, I realized that all the years and times that I'd been made fun of in hip hop or this or that, well, at the end of the day, I may have been made fun of by a certain sect or quote unquote cool group or the jocks of rap, but at least I was always myself and never had to pretend to be somebody I was not. And then that led to, you know, just saying, I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I'm not,

which I think like Kurt Cobain or somebody said. Yeah, but yeah, there it is. Yeah, no, that's a beautiful message, man. I think that something everyone can relate to. And what you were speaking about there about the douchebag brain in the monastery, we used to call it the monkey mind and the monk mind. See, if the monkey mind that's, you know, saying all these intrusive thoughts, as you said,

saying all these self-doubt and ziety, and then you have the monk mind, which is the calm, distilled, balanced, and to bring that monkey mind back onto control. And so, yeah, for me, that was always a fun way of thinking about it. It's just like, I've just got this monkey that's jumping from branch to branch in my head, and, you know, it doesn't know what it wants, and it's about it. It's just like, oh, I've just got this monkey that's jumping from bronze to bronze in my head and it doesn't know what it wants and it's confused and it's moving fast, but the monk mind can kind of ground it.

So that aligns very strongly. I always saw this guy who looks like, I want you to imagine like a cartoon. There's this episode of Futurama. It's one of my favorite cartoons, but I forget the episode. But there's like this liquid guy and he's like blue and he looks like just kind of moving water and his head's all back and he looks kind of cool.

I imagine that guy in a leather jacket sitting on a beach chair in my brain and he's responsible for these thoughts. Like you said, the monkey mind. It's like this monkey, but it's like, that's how I see this guy. And I've actually had conversations with this guy. Like get out of here, dude, like chill, like stop. And then he'll say something to me that I hear. And it almost sounds like I'm crazy, right?

Because it's like I'm having a conversation with myself in my head. But I have had this and I'm like, no, like not today, man. And sometimes he really, he'll hit me with some crazy images or me freaking out or going to the emergency room or just all these things because I'm always constantly thinking about my health. And I have to have those conversations until the water blob or monkey man or whatever to calm down and do my best to be in control, which is actually really funny because I'm not in control. We're to be in control, which is actually really funny because I'm not in control.

We're not really in control and I think accepting the fact that you're not in control in some weird way gives you a bit of control at the same time, but yeah. Yeah, it gives you more control over what you can control if there's any of that that you can do. So, no, I like that. And I love the Futurama reference

or the Futurama references. What would you say was your early, you referred to this earlier, so I'm bringing it back. What would you say was your earliest memory of becoming aware of racism and experiencing it for yourself or trying to understand it as a young person who obviously has a very diverse childhood

but people not being able to understand, contextualize. I wanna know what that's like from your perspective. Like I say in the book that racism for me when I first experienced it wasn't outside and it was inside out, right? Because it was my mother who uses this word. I mean, it's really disgusting, but the way she would do it, she would do it in a way

where it's just, whatever would cut deep, you know? Like if you were a fat, she would do it in a way where it's just, whatever would cut deep, you know, like if you were fat, she'd call you fat, if you're ugly, she'd call you ugly, if you were black, she would use these slurs, anybody, any race, any this, any that, which I was just thought was so disgusting because she would say this, and then next week, she'd take me to the library,

and we'd be getting black history month, like DVDs and VHS, and she's like, you need to be proud of your heritage. And I'm just like, what is wrong with you? So like there was that. And then the crazy thing about racism is like, okay, first of all, it's 100% it exists. It's a real thing.

But like, especially kind of like in the hood and where I grew up, it's just different. It's like the white boys are hanging out with the brothers and, and, and, you know, the Mexican cats and everybody. We're all just hanging out together. Like, unless it's like gangs who are like, just don't mess with a certain demographic of other people, but for the most part, man, like, oh, everybody was just hanging. It wasn't really like that. And then once you start growing up is where you realize like these sects and

these, like this division really comes in. So for me, it was very weird to to enter hip hop, a place that I love and loved and is built on positivity and all the way from Sugar Hill gang and Keras one and you know, it's it is built on a message run DMC like be yourself and it was also a fun, Braga, nocia. But for the most part, it was like, you know, this is the story that we're here to tell. And so for me, I was like, oh wow, I can tell my story. So it's, I was like there in these last 10 years at the cusp of hip hop becoming like

low key the most popular genre of music. And the more, quote unquote, pop that it got, the more attention was brought on all of the people who were heading it at the front line. And I'm being one of those people received a lot of hate that was basically all based on my race, which was very difficult because it was like a double edged sword and there was really no winning your damned if you do your damned if you don't. I go in an interview and they'd say, okay, yeah. So we hear with this with this rapper name logic. So what's it like being white in hip hop and blah, blah, blah, and I have to go. Well, first of all,

I'm not, I'm black and white. So I mix and then, and then that turns into comments on the internet. Like, why is he always got to be proven himself? Why is he always got to explain? Why is he always getting, it's like, well, one, I'm just telling you who I am. So first and foremost, like, you know, you're for you to look at me and just claim that I'm one thing, no, I am proud to be this thing, which the double edge sword is then, what if I never set it? And then you find out that my dad's black, and then a year later, you're like, so what you was shame to be black, you're trying to use this whole white thing to get, and then

it's that. And you know, you have incredible artists like Kendrick Lamar, Jay Cole, Killer Mike, Black Thought from the Roots, talking about their Black and every song. How they're happy to be Black, they're proud to be Black, I'm Black, I'm Black and I'm Black, I'm the Blackest. And then for the first time in my career on my third album after constantly being called this thing that I didn't necessarily identify with, on three songs I go, hey, I'm biracial, I'm mixed. I'm actually black and white. And they turned it into this like biracial meme.

And then I have white kids and black kids and brown kids. And all these other people trying to tell me what I am or what I'm not. And it was a very difficult time in my life. Until I realized, it's literally just a meme. It has nothing to do with anything. The music is so good, the music is getting billions of streams, the music is platinum, the did it, I'm in arena,

I'm selling out, oh this is just a talking subject, it's low hanging fruit, it's easy for these people to try to identify me for what they claim me as, put me in that box and leave it at that. And that was a big part of me stepping away from the internet and realizing, oh, that doesn't even matter. Yeah, and it's almost like, you were repeating what you had to do as a child, like as a child,

you had to be like, okay, this is not my mom, this is a realness, this is a challenge. So not about me. And so now it's like, mom is kind of like the internet where it's like, oh, you're good, right? Yeah, like, whoa, actually, like the way you said, it's kind of insane Because yeah, I then had this like very negative but also beautiful relationship at the same time with the internet and social media And all this which in many ways was constantly berating me and harassing me and yelling at me and screaming at me the same way

My mother did when I was a child wow nice pool. You're a genius. No, yeah, no, it's just interesting I just I love seeing how like patterns repeat in people's lives and how we have to, it's almost like you, you've overcome the first challenge of their upbringing and then it's like, well, here's the escalated challenge of it with now like millions of people who don't know you. And then as you said, you're selling out arenas,

people love the music, the music's awesome. You know, you're getting to see the real version of that. Tell us about how you, with all of this that we've already talked about, and I saved this for this part of the interview, and you write a book called This Bright Future, which is your memoir. And I'm like, I love that. I just, I want to know how much I love that.

Like, tell us where that title comes from and why This Bright Future, when, was that a, from and why this bright future when was that a, I'm asking this, was that an imagination, was that a vision? Where did that come from? So there's a band called Manford Man's Band. And they have a song. I've actually had tried to sample them for years and years and years because they have some really cool stuff. No ID sample, who homies with, sampled them for a bunch of Kanye West songs and things like that back in the day, beautiful twist of fantasy. And so I've been searching and searching and searching.

And finally in 2020, I found this sample and it's called Lies Through the 80s. And there's this lyric and it goes, I saw a boy with no smile on his face today, whereas my bright future in this world or whatever. So I love that and I sampled that and chopped it up for a song called Herdom Say on my last album No Pressure.

And that to me is like the epitome of what the book is about, my place and rap is about hip-hop. Like, it kind of sums that up. And then we just had this idea, like, wow, what if that was the title. And I love it because if you look at the cover, you'll see it's actually, so the under, excuse me, the No Pressure cover is me kind of levitating So the under, excuse me, the no pressure cover is me kind of levitating in a basement that's breaking up into space. Now, nine albums before that was my debut album under pressure, and that was me in a basement in my homie Lenny's basement. When I was broke in College Park, just trying to get a record deal, which I eventually got, and we all moved to LA and that was awesome. So when you're looking at the no pressure cover, you'll see I'm facing you and I'm levitating and you see my feet in the air.

For this bright future, the memoir cover, you'll see it's actually from the back of my legs and then it's a reflection. So I'm this grown man kind of like rising and heading towards the light, you know, not the darkness. And then you see a child falling into darkness, which to me kind of represents my birth and where I spent my entire childhood.

But somehow falling into darkness, I levitated into lightness. And I don't know, or into the light, excuse me. And I have no idea how that happened. But that's what that all means. I'm Danny Shapiro, host of Family Secrets. It's hard to believe we're entering our eighth season, and yet we're constantly discovering new secrets. The depths of them, the variety of them

continues to be astonishing. I can't wait to share 10 incredible stories with you, stories of tenacity, resilience, and the profoundly necessary excavation of long-held family secrets. When I realized this is not just happening to me, this is who and what I am. I needed her to help me.

Something was gnawing at me that I couldn't put my finger on, that I just felt somehow that there was a piece missing. Why not restart? Look at all the things that were going wrong. I hope you'll join me and my extraordinary guests for this new season of Family Secrets. Listen to season eight of Family Secrets

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Out 20s, As seen as this golden decade. Our time to be carefree, full in love, make mistakes, and decide what we want from our life. But what can psychology really teach us about this decade? I'm Gemma Spagg, the host of the psychology of your 20s. Each week, we take a deep dive into a unique aspect of our 20s. From career anxiety, mental health, heartbreak, money, friendships, and much more,

to explore the science and the psychology behind our experiences, incredible guests, fascinating topics, important science, and a bit of my own personal experience. Audrey, I honestly have no idea what's going on with my life. Join me as we explore what our 20s are really all about, from the good, the bad, and the ugly, and listen along as we uncover how everything is psychology, including our 20s. The psychology of your 20s hosted by me, Gemma Speg. Now streaming on the iHot Radio app, Apple podcasts, or whatever, you get your podcasts.

I'm Eva Longoria. I'm Maite Gomes-Rachon. We're so excited to introduce you to our new podcast, Hungry for History. On every episode, we're exploring some of our favorite dishes, ingredients, beverages from our Mexican culture. We'll share personal memories and family stories, decode culinary customs,

and even provide a recipe or two for you to try at home. Corner flower. Both. Oh, you can't decide. I can't decide. I love both. You know, I'm a flower tortilla flower. Your team flower?

I'm team flower. I need a shirt. Team flower, team core. Join us as we explore surprising and lesser known corners of Latinx culinary history and traditions. I mean, these are these legends, right? Apparently, this guy Juan Mendes. He was making these tacos wrapped in these huge tortillas to keep it warm, and he was transporting

them in a burro, hence the name the burritos. Listen to Hungry for History with Irolandoria and Maite Gomez Rejón as part of the Michael Tura podcast network available on the iHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I love that. I want people to see that because I do think it's beautifully artistic and, uh, thank you. And absolutely stunning.

And I wanted to hear you describe that to everyone because, yeah, I just love symbolism and I love visuals that can make you feel something. And I think when you see this, everyone can, I'm looking at it right now and I'm going, I can relate in my own way to what it feels like to be that kid that's falling. And I can relate in my own way to what it feels like that person that's elevating. And I wonder this, you know, when I speak to you or I read the book, Bobby, it's like, you have such a great understanding of psychology, thought, the mind. I wonder when did you get fascinated

with how this all works? What were you reading? What were you listening to? Who were you speaking to that help you understand that the way you speak is so structured and thought out and you recognize where things sit and how they are. Where did that come from? Where did it get nourished and how did you grow that? Well thanks man you make me sound like smart or something dude you've heard I mean I really mean it I really mean it. I think I've always loved language and I think it's a beautiful thing. I wish I had a doper

vocabulary like Neil deGrasse Tyson or something. I was hanging out with Neil deGrasse Tyson and he was like saying, equivocal or what I was just like, not to eat a step my game up. When I was younger though, I saw the power of words and I would study the dictionary and I would study the Thessaurous. I also wanted to separate myself from any of my contemporaries or even my predecessors in hip-hop as well. Now, I'm not saying that I think I'm this like, you know, oh, I use words they don't use not at all. You take somebody like Noss.

I mean, this dude was doing the same thing back in the day in the projects on Queen's bridge and he was using like the, he was using words like cerebral, like nobody would say that. Like he would be the other cast were just like, yeah, you know, take a gunshot to the head. He'd be like, take a gunshot through this cerebral cortex in the spine, and I'm just like, yo, this is so cool.

I also have always just been so inspired by Quentin Tarantino. And you know, he didn't go to film school. He just did it. And he was like, he made movies his life. He studied film in a way that you just couldn't even do at film school. He learned things like on the street. And that's how I felt when it came to,

I guess just my mentality about life. Like I looked at people like Alan Watts, who has one of the greatest quotes I've ever heard personally, does anything you can be interested in, you will find others who are. And that, in and of itself, alone, is what inspired me to be me, is to be this guy who did, yes, has come from being surrounded by drugs and guns and violence, but wanting to wrap about anime and sci-fi. And I think studying great minds and reading and I'm mainly a visual audio person, honestly. But yeah, taking the time to read and just study

is what helped me grow as a man and a musician. I mean, I didn't even graduate high school, man. I got kicked out. So it's like, I think formal education is awesome and it's important depending on where, you know, the trajectory of your life and where you see your path going and your career, but not for me, man.

School of hard-knocked dog, like, I don't know how it worked, but I'm glad it did. But I also think that it's like, I'm just like a regular dude who made some kinda okay decisions. And I also love that, I always hated teachers who spoke down on you. Like when you ask a question, they almost made you feel stupid for doing so. So it's like, I'm a professional at my craft.

I'm a master at what I do. But in no way do I ever want anybody to feel either intimidated or like I think I'm so knowledgeable in my world that they feel like we can't even have a conversation? So I think there's levels to also the vocabulary that you use when having conversations with people because it's like, dude, you wanna be down to earth, you wanna be regular, but you also wanna let people

know that you know what they're talking about. So yeah, for sure, man, it's a great, I was literally just about to ask you about school after when you mentioned it as, gonna say, is you felt like school gave up on you. And I think there's a lot of young people that feel that way where school gave up on them.

And I loved what you said. You're not discouraging anyone from following a traditional school pattern or whatever it may be. But when you think about school, I wonder if logic was to set up a school, inspire a school, what would be some of the exciting classes and lessons that would go on in that school? Video game testing? That's the number one. I'm serious, man. Because

think about how long all these parents were always like, video games, a ratchet brain, there's no future. And now you've got pro video gamers making millions, hundreds of millions of dollars playing video games and having fun and doing this thing. So it's like, I sucked at math, but me and these teachers, we didn't speak the same language. These are people who like wanna make a difference in a kid's life,

but has no idea that his mother is suffering from this insane mental illness, or how to deal with that. It's like, there was no real line of communication and understanding between me and these people who were supposed to essentially teach me not only about academics, but life in many ways. So I wish I had somebody who spoke my language.

I wish I had somebody who understood, oh wow, like this kid really likes video games. Have you ever thought about coding video games? What do you mean? What do you talk about coding video games? Well, creating this world. What are you talking about? Well, it's all binary.

It's ones and zeros. It's math. Yeah, but if you actually focus on math, you could engineer an entire world that a video game takes place in. Well, you don't say like it's like, I never had that conversation. It was just do algebra or drop out. And that was very difficult. Yeah, I think that's smart.

I couldn't agree more. I think I was grow up thinking I didn't know that any other industries existed from medicine, law and finance. Like beyond the, I didn't even know there was a potential to have another job because I didn't meet anyone outside of those industries and I didn't know anyone who had been accomplished or successful outside of those industries. And I didn't know anyone who had been accomplished or successful outside of those industries.

And so you end up just going, well, well then these are just my three options. And I think there is such a limitation placed on that because you're just unaware. When you think about now, obviously you've made it in an industry which is highly competitive, it's difficult, it's saturated, it's like every kid's dream to wanna be a rapper,

I have their music or their song be heard. Yeah. When you go back to the days when it wasn't working musically, what was the thing that kept you going? Was it that you were chasing a deal or a hit, or was it that you just loved it so much that you just believed in it anyway? Where was that? What kept you going?

Probably craziness. Because it's like, you have to be crazy to think, oh, I'm going to make it as a rapper. But the difference with me though is like, I looked at it from a business standpoint. Like I was like, okay, if I could take a brand myself, be myself, be honest, I feel like, there's not really a lot of me in rap, and there's not really a lot of me in major rap or major music, mainstream music.

So I wanna feel that void. And as I started to write these songs where I'm like, believe in yourself, peace, love, and positivity, you can do it. You can be whatever you want. Like people started engaging with that. And we're like, wow, this isn't just the traditional, what is rap or what is this or that or whatever the case may be. And I don't say that in any, any negative connotation or anything, you know, it's like literally, there's a bunch of rap that's kind of negative. There's rap that's really good. But I felt this kind of nerdy sci-fi me could break through.

I don't know why. And I think it was insane to even begin to think that. But it was just like week by week, little by little, things were improving, whether it was 10 extra followers on Twitter. I was also utilizing and using social media in a way that these platforms hadn't known about it or They weren't ready for what was coming because it was cats like me Kendrick Lamar, Jay Cole, Mac Miller was Califa

We were utilizing this as a space where we didn't need a major label and if we put out a song that was catchy enough People could decide what they wanted to listen to. And so radio was dying, MTV, all that stuff was kind of out of there. And there was just this pocket of where you have these like blogs like this song is sick and two dope boys and people could go to a blog to find what they want and what they love. And that allowed me to shine and do it. And the bigger I got, yeah, there were certain things that I was chasing. I was chasing being able to go on tour by myself, being able to make a lot of money, hopefully having a hit record. But it's funny. I had a very slow burning career. And I am asked a lot of fans, I was playing arenas before I ever had a hit song with 1-800.

And it's funny, because when I gave up trying to chase the hit, I ended up making the song from my heart. The last nobody, trust me, nobody was like, in the studio like, yeah, song about suicide, about to take over the club, like nobody was thinking that, okay? So I made this thing from my heart and it blew up. And then after that, I was just kind of like, well, I'm here. I made $30 million that year.

I was doing records with Marshmello and Eminem. And I was just like, let's go, go, go, go. And then I realized after over a decade, I was on this hamster wheel. And I was doing it. And it's like, how many number ones can you have? How many platinum blacks can you have? How many this can you have? How many that can you have?

I've literally attained and accomplished anything that a musician could dream to attain with the exception of winning a Grammy, which is merely just a glorified pad on the back. And so I had to look myself in the mirror and say why? And I have purposefully slowed down so that I can focus on my mental and physical health, so that I can focus on being there for my child and my wife,

and that I can love and enjoy this life, and this house that I've spent the last 17 years of my life building, and it is terrifying, Jay. I'm just gonna be me and do me, and it's not about the money. It's about value over fear. And I used to value money and success and being that guy over my health. And I will never do that ever again.

That's beautiful, my. Well, said, I actually, I'd picked out a few of your lyrics that were my favorite. I want to read this one. It's from a conf confession of a dangerous mind. You said, searching for bliss only led me to searching for hits. Only led me to battle this pressure. I don't learn my lesson because fame never lessened the pain.

And, and you know, that lyric for me is so powerful to what you just said right now. And I think, you know, for someone who has had so much success, it's, it's incredible because I feel, no matter how many times you hear that, you have to go do it for yourself, right? No matter. The oldest success will be when I speak to the world. I'm like, every one of them feels exactly how you do,

but every one of them will say, I had to go there to be able to accept it. But it seems like you've really allowed yourself to accept it genuinely and your families become such a focus. I want to hear more about what is it, what does it feel like to you to be a husband, to be a father? Like we started there when we were talking about your child. How have you prioritized that relationship in your life? Like what does that mean to you to, you know, be in a relationship in a way that you'd never seen before growing up?

Well, one, I just want to say you quoted one of my favorite albums and an album that was actually commercially my least, quote unquote successful album because of the things I was discussing on that album and yet it's still to this date my most popular album. It's really funny how that works. So I just want to say that. My relationship with

my son and my wife, just family, it's the greatest thing in the world. Because when I was going through things or feeling a certain way, you just look at this child and you go, my kid is healthy. So what if somebody on the internet's like, you're not black? You know what I mean? It's like, my wife is happy. So what if somebody on the internet's like, you suck it, rap it?

Like, these things are so minuscule and they don't matter. And I'm looking at what actually matters. But it is difficult once again to know, but it comes down to value over fear. There is fear that me stepping away, I may not be as big because I'm focusing on my family and my personal mental and physical and mental health. But I value that so much more than the fear of what could come. I mean, I haven't been on the internet in two years and I've only ever jumped in if I like grab my assistant's phone

just to like, tweet something and I could tweet something and as soon as it goes up, I get like auto responses. And a couple of weeks ago, I was posting because I did the, I narrated the entire book, this bright future and I posted something and somebody immediately was like, you fell off hard. And I'm in my head like, I just dropped an album last year and it sold 250,000 units in a week.

Is that falling off? Like, you know what I mean? And then I remember what the internet does to you and it makes you question yourself and second guess yourself. And it's also very paid-of-play. The less time I spend on Instagram, if I have six plus million followers, every time I post, I don't see the same amount of love or likes or views that

I used to because I'm not constantly on it anymore. So now I literally either have to pay for ads and space to get all this. It's just kind of like a sick thing where if you pull away, space to get all this. It's just kind of like a sick thing where if you pull away, you can't leave where you kind of left off. But once again, I look at my boy and I realize that it's the Matrix man, like none of that matters. Also, I'm excited for that new Matrix movie coming up. Yeah. Yeah, shout out to the Matrix movie. But no, I really appreciate hearing that from you because I think as creatives whatever space we're in, everyone focuses on that feeling of becoming irrelevant. I personally believe that the time you take out to rediscover yourself allows you to reinvent

who you are and your new creativity and define a genre and change a genre and upgrade. And I feel like it's all levels, right? Like you can have someone who does the same thing every day, all day, every year, or you see those people that have been relevant every decade because they took it to another level, right? They did something different. They did something more innovative, they did something surprising. And both of them, I respect both of them, I'm not saying one's better than the other, but what I am saying is-

Yeah, but I want the latter, man. Yeah, right, yeah. I want to be bowie and queen. Like, I don't want to just, you're right. Like, I don't want to just be out here, like, work in myself to death. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, but I just so, I agree with what you're saying,

but it's just so scary, especially in rap where it's like you're either on all the time or you're not, but I'm gonna be honest, Jay, like I haven't, I'm not excited. There's not an ounce in me that feels like touring right now, that feels like really going hard and like promoting an album, and like I don't wanna do that,

and if I don't wanna do that, then I shouldn't. I should wait until the music is there. I am excited and I cannot wait to go out and do it. And I think I've dropped one minimum, sometimes two projects a year for the last 12 years of my life. Wow. I'm thinking I'm gonna chill out.

Yeah. Well, I think that's the trade-off, right? Like when people hear that, if you're at the beginning of your journey and you're listening to Bobby right now and you're going, oh yeah, he's right, let me just lay back and let me take my time. That probably is bad advice because, at that time in your life, at that phase,

and I always say that we don't look at what people are doing at their stage, look at what they did at your phase. Like, look at what they did. In your, when they were your age, when they were in your time, when they were just beginning, because, you know, that's the difference that you've now earned a platform. You worked hard for that. You built that, and that now gives you the flexibility to adapt and reinvent and recreate and focus on your family.

Whereas there was a time when all you had to do was give it all you had because you had to be present. And so, and I think the mistake is what you said, it's almost like what you call like broke mindset almost where you continue to live like you don't have anything, right? And if you continue to live that way, mentally, emotionally, financially, spiritually, then you can't sustain that.

And I think that's what happens is that when you're on that journey upwards, if you can't sustain that. And I think that's what happens is that when you're on that journey upwards, if you don't have one point realize, oh no, now I do need to start investing in my health. I do need to start investing in my mind. I do need to, it's like athletes. The athletes that have lasted are athletes that realized after they won everything that they needed to eat right.

They needed to sleep right. They needed to change their fitness schedule. And that's where this, people like Tom Brady still playing right. A Cristiano Ronaldo in Europe, if you're a soccer fan still playing at 36 at the top of the game. So I feel like that's what you see these shifts in in leaders. If that makes sense. Yeah, you just snapped so hard. All the sense of the world. Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. Thank you, man. Well, I appreciate you. We're gonna go to... You've been very generous with your time.

We end every on-purpose segment with a final five. So this is a fast-five rapid-fire round where every question has to be answered in one word, or one sentence maximum, easy for a freestyle rapper and a musician. And you can answer in lyrics if you like to. So the first question is, what is the best advice you've ever received or given? Be yourself. What is the worst advice you've ever received? Be yourself. That depends on who you are. No, explain the why it can be the worst. I'll give you more words.

I think it's the best and it's really incredible because you are not a fraud. You are yourself undoubtedly. You are you and that is amazing. But also when you are yourself, at least in my genre, and you put your whole life in a book and you put your whole everything that you are, your love, your passion into records, and it's you, it's not a persona, it's not, you're not an actor playing, you know, a role that just wasn't received well in this movie and your Brad Pitt, and you go on to make a bunch of other, like you're you. So when your highs are high, they're high,

and when they're low, they're low. And when you are yourself, you're not always loved or you might be kicked and pulled down to the pits of hell. But at the same time, being yourself can open up heaven's gates. So it was, I know it's crazy, but you said fire off rapidly. I love it man.

It was too or difficult, yeah. It's great. All right. Question number three. If you could have a dinner party with three other people dead or alive, who would they be? Be yourself. No, I'm just kidding.

It would be, um, I would have to say Quentin Tarantino. Um, ooh, hold on. Let me think. Dinner party. Um, um, um, Freddie Mercury think. Dinner party. Freddie Mercury. Oh, man. Dude, I'm so happy you said that. I love Freddie Mercury and Queen.

I was not expecting that. I'm getting the best. And probably Carl Sagan. I want to be a fly on the one of that dinner. Either Carl Sagan or Malcolm X. That would be the most, you know, Tarantino and Malcolm X. That's a wild conversation. Yeah. Anyway, no, that would be amazing.

I was asked that question this week by, I was doing a corporate event, Q&A with target and rehab from target. Asked me that question. And I was like, oh, that's a really cool question. I want to know who else everyone would want to sit down with. I said, I said Steve Jobs Einstein and Martin Luther King, those were my three. I was like, those, those minds in the same room would be, would be fascinating. All right, question number four. What is the biggest lesson you've learned in the last 12 months? Really being happy with yourself and knowing,

like, knowing yourself worth and just knowing what's important. And that's what I, my time, my family, my health. That's what I've really, really learned in these last 12 months. I love that. All right, and fifth and final question. If you could create one law that everyone in the world had to follow, what would it be?

There's so many things, but honestly, the first one that comes is to just abolish guns. I just wish guns didn't exist. I wish I didn't need them. I wish people didn't need them. It would be amazing if they were just all gone. There'd be a lot of stabbings,

but at least they're way, you know, they wouldn't be like, yeah, so I would, I, that'd be great if all these mass shootings and things like that could stop and wars and, but I mean, it's a fairy tale, but that's what I would do. Amazing. Thank you, man. Everyone, Bobby Hall, aka Logic, this bright future. That's the book. We're gonna put it in the link in all the comments, the captions. I want you to go out and grab a copy, read it, devour it, you're going to love it. It's poetry, it's vulnerable, and it's a book that I truly think is going to change the way people think about parenting, relationships, and how they spend their life and their legacy

and what they chase. So, Bobby, I want to say a big thank you to you for not just doing this podcast, but for writing this book. I appreciate you. I hope we get a bump into a few, bump into each other. A few more airports, but also some dinners and whatever else. And give my love to Pepe and the rest of the team. And Sammy is a dress.

I want to send him something. But thank you so much, man. I appreciate you. And thank you. Thank you for this time. I just want to say thank you for having me and thank you to everybody watching and listening. It means a lot.

Sometimes I wake up. I can't believe that I even get to have conversations with people like you. I feel lucky. I'm super blessed. And I just want to thank you all. Everyone involved, producers, people behind the camera, everybody. Thank you so much for making this possible. And I really appreciate you guys.

So hopefully we could do this again. And yeah, man, I'd love to have dinner sometime. Let's have a good time. Yeah, man, we get to get together. Thank you so much. Thanks everyone for listening. I want to make sure that if you've heard anything from Bobby that resonated today, make sure you do tag us on Instagram and Twitter. Let us know what connected, what resonated, any of the wisdom bites that he shared with you. We'd both love to see, well, he won't see it, but I'll definitely see it. I'd love to see what resonated with you. Thanks everyone for listening on purpose. We'll see you again next week. What if you could tell the whole truth about your life, including all those tender, invisible

things we don't usually talk about? I'm Megan Devine. Host of the podcast, it's okay that you're not okay. Look, everyone's at least a little bit not okay these days, and all those things we don't usually talk about, maybe we should. This season, I'm joined by Stellar Gas like Abbermote, Rachel Cargol, and so many more. It's okay that you're not okay. New episodes each and every Monday, available on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to podcasts. What do a flirtatious gambling double agent in World War II?

An opera singer who burned down an honorary to kidnap her lover, and a pirate queen who walked free with all of her spoils, haven't comment. They're all real women who were left out of your history books. You can hear these stories and more on the Womanica podcast. Check it out on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. I'm Eva Longoria. And I'm Mike Degelmister Cohen. We're so excited to introduce you to our new podcast, Hungry for History.

On every episode, we're exploring some of our favorite dishes, ingredients, beverages, from our Mexican culture. We'll share personal memories and family stories, decode culinary customs, and even provide a recipe or two for you to try at home. Listen to Hungry for History on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.