Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin - Pharrell Williams

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

Pharrell Williams is a Grammy-winning songwriter, producer, and performer. Getting his start in music alongside Chad Hugo as the production duo known as The Neptunes in 1992, Pharrell has produced chart-topping hits for artists including Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Snoop Dogg. He has co-composed the music for the Despicable Me film franchise, including hit “Happy,” which became the best-selling song of 2014 and earned Pharrell an Oscar nomination. Pharrell’s collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, and Gwen Stefani, alongside his work as a solo artist and frontman for alternative band N.E.R.D., have solidified his reputation as a creative force in the music industry. With 13 Grammy wins and two Oscar nominations, Pharrell continues to progress the sounds of post-new jack swing, R&B and rap, and pop.  Currently, Pharrell serves as the creative director of Louis Vuitton, and he has recently announced his role as a co-chair for next year’s Met Gala alongside Lewis Hamilton and Anna Wintour. In October, his animated biopic Piece by Piece, a collaboration with LEGO, premiered alongside its titular song by Pharrell. The film is now available for rent or purchase to enjoy at home. Link here: https://www.focusfeatures.com/piece-by-piece ------ Thank you to the sponsors that fuel our podcast and our team: Athletic Nicotine https://www.athleticnicotine.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Squarespace https://squarespace.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Vivo Barefoot http://vivobarefoot.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA25' ------ LMNT Electrolytes https://drinklmnt.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Sign up to receive Tetragrammaton Transmissions https://www.tetragrammaton.com/join-newsletter

Tetragrammaton. Music My agent at the time was just very persistent about me doing a documentary because, you know, somewhere between like six and seven years ago there was like this whole rage of like A-listers, musicians specifically, they were just doing these documentaries all over the place. And the dock space just got like, it just turned hot. It was like, oh man, you gotta do one on your life.

And I was like, my life? No way. One, why would I wanna listen to myself speak for an hour and feel that feeling of listening to a voicemail for an hour? Why would I do that? Also, I see myself in the mirror every day, and I am not curious or enthusiastic about any

of my story because I know it. I know what I did two minutes ago, two hours ago, two days ago, two weeks ago, two months ago, two years ago, two decades ago. What am I curious about? I wasn't. And that's a huge issue for me, because anything that I do artistically, I need to be curious and I need to feel enthusiastic about what the journey of exploration and excavation is going to be. And I just didn't see that. I just didn't think it would be interesting.

But he kept pushing and he kept persisting and kept insisting. And then finally I was like, man, you really got to stop asking me about this. And he was like, look, you can do it any way you want. And at that point, it kind of like unlocked something. It unlocked a different way or vantage point of looking at the opportunity. So my brother Zane Lowe was like, actually, you know, that's when you realized, he just summed it up so well. And I was like, man, what are you me? But he was like, you know, that's when you realize that it was an opportunity that was less about like the reflection of the

past, but an opportunity to be creative. Yeah. And that's literally what I felt. And I just thought, OK, well, if I can do it any way I want, I want to work with Morgan Neville, which we had discussed. You know, he's a really brilliant documentarian. You look at 20 Feet from Stardom, you know, a guy that, like, realizes that, like, one of the most powerful entities in a performer's life, you know, especially superstars of the background singers.

And recognize that so well that really interesting vantage point enough to even name the film 20 feet from startling like that guy's genius. Yeah. And he does it again with Mister Rogers Mister Rogers, the Fred Rogers doc yeah, so I'm like oh I, that guy's genius. And he does it again with Mr. Rogers, the Fred Rogers doc. So I'm like, oh, I'd give that guy complete autonomy to my story and autonomy to my catalog to use as he sees fit. But I want to do it in LEGO. How did the LEGO idea come?

I knew that it had never been done before. And if Lego said yes, it was going to be crazy. All the stuff that we get to put in Lego. What was your connection to Lego? As a child, my earliest, fondest memories of toys were Lego sets. That's what my parents used to get us when we lived on a federal subsidy, you know, in

public housing. Got us Lego sets. And I never dreamt that it would turn into this. But at the time, it was like I was grateful for that. And this was way before there were any minifigs or anything. They were just bricks and pieces. And then also, like, right when we decided we were gonna do it, the other thing that made it click for me

is that, like, we had just had, you know, we have four children. We have our 16-year-old, Rocket, who was here the last time. He's 16 now. And then we have three 7-year-olds who we had just had. Three? Yeah.

At once? Yeah, three at once. Wow. And they have had Lego sets at different points in their lives. So we always get them. It's very generational. And I hadn't thought about all the implications, but I just knew that in my story, if it got objectified,

that I might like it enough to do it. What I didn't realize is that it objectified it so much that I was able to look at it and appreciate it beyond what I would see in the mirror. When you look in the mirror, most of the time, even when you're very grateful for your life and your existence, and even in your physical form, right? Because not everybody has that.

Not everybody is happy with what they were born with, and we have to respect that too. But when you are, it's a thing I don't take for granted. But even when you're grateful for it, you know, you still see your fears, you see your flaws, you see your insecurities, you see the guilt and pressure that you feel from people guilt bullying you into doing things you don't really want to do.

You know, like something your boss may suggest that you really don't want to do, but you say yes to anyway, you give into that guilt bullying or family or a significant other or community or even voting party. Like, there's always these pressures, the things that you really- Sense of obligation. or a significant other or community or even voting party. Like there's always these pressures, the things that you really- Sense of obligation.

You know, yeah, obligation that you really don't wanna deal with, but it's on you. Yeah, yeah. And the pressures that come from that. But this allowed me to see beyond all those layers of distraction. Yeah.

And then significance. Yeah. beyond all those layers of distraction and insignificance to see my true soul's purpose. And that is to be liberated, discover the tools of liberation and share them with as many spirits as I can. I love that you use the word objectification because typically we think of objectification as a negative in our society, but you're describing it as a way to distance yourself

and actually see what it is. Yeah. Beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. I mean, that's what happens when you get Legofied. You know, there's an objectification to you and also to your story. And it makes it very relatable because when you see Atlantis

apartments in there, like, it doesn't look as heavy as it would have if it was a real live action documentary. Yeah. That's the power of LEGO. Yeah. It allows the power of LEGO. Yeah. It allows other people to see things that their prejudices would not allow them to really take in just because, oh, that's the projects.

It's a more poetic interpretation. 100%. Yeah. And open to you can see what you want to see in LEGO. Yeah. So did you film the scenes live action, then make them in Lego? Technically, how was it made?

Well, what I'd said to Morgan when we first worked together, when I first pitched it to him to see if he would do it, I was like, yo, I want you to shoot this documentary whatever way you want, because I love and respect what it is that you've done thus far. I think you're the best at this, and you're the perfect person for this. But I want you to shoot it, and then I

want you to throw all the footage away, but keep the audio. And then I want you to do it, and I want us to do it in LEGO. And he goes, yeah. Sure. And it was just that fast. And then he said yes. Then we went to LEGO, and they said yes.

And then we went to Focus, and they said yes. And then they went to Donna Langley over at Universal, and she said yes. And so when you think about it, this film is the sum of a lot of yeses. And when you add them up, you get what impossible looks like. Yeah. It's something no one has ever seen before. Yeah.

Especially because I'm black. I come from a marginalized community. You walking in there saying, you know, hey, we're going to show the projects, and we're going to make it so that everyone around the world will be able to understand it. They wouldn't get it. Yeah.

But when you just say, hey, I just want to tell my life story through the guys of LEGO because I want it to be relatable to people, then all the other details get filled in. And then as you're working on it, you realize all these other things that you can put in there later if you need to, to make it even more rich, even more details about the life

and even more details about these environments. And it just turned out Morgan really crushed it. How did you guys get Carl Sagan to be in it? I don't know. We got permission from the family, but I was surprised when he ended up in it. You know, I don't know. I mean, we got permission from the family, but I was surprised when he ended up in it, because I'm such a Carl Sagan fan. That's why he's there. Makes sense.

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Warning, this product contains with Athletic Nicotine. Warning. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Is there really a statue of Neptune in Virginia Beach? Yeah. Really? 100%. Beautiful.

Yeah. And how important was the beach growing up for you? The beach, for me, you know, even though we live, like, maybe a 10-minute walk from the beach, Black folks didn't really go to the beach and swim like that. That wasn't, like, the thing to do. It wasn't that it was illegal. Although Virginia Beach, 10 years before I was born,

it's not, blacks were not necessarily welcomed. Blacks would swim in another city in Norfolk in an area called Ocean View. But Virginia Beach was pretty much like whites only. But when you were growing up, what was the vibe? I think there was residue of that energy. I see. We were welcome to do it.

It was open for us to do it, but I don't know if we were necessarily welcomed. You know, even when I did my festival down there, there were, like, signs that said that if you cursed, you could get locked up. But then we know who was getting locked up when they were, like, cursinging out loud down in the ocean front. You know, or like, you could get a ticket or a citation

if the top of your underwear or boxers were showing above your shorts or pants. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we had a lot of that. But the city wanted to do something different, and so when we did our festival, I think it changed a lot of energy down there the city wanted to do something different. And so when we did our festival, I think it changed a lot of energy down there because we couldn't do it alone.

And the 30,000 students that weren't necessarily as welcome before, they couldn't do it alone either. It took everybody coming together and seeing the bigger picture. And I think Virginia Beach has gotten a lot better. It's still got a lot of work to do. Tell me about the festival. Well that was just it. It was you know 30,000 students that would come there every year on week 17 to blow off some steam right before exams and they weren't particularly welcomed and that's when like the whole Greek Fest thing happened and the riots and

and that's when like the whole Greek Fest thing happened and the riots and, you know, National Guard. And it was a very tough time. And a lot of that residual energy was still laying around. And so they weren't necessarily being as supportive and as welcoming as they should have been to those students. So the chief of police, Chief Savera at the time, he asked me if I had any ideas and we came up with something in the water

and that's where the festival came from. And I know we digressed a little bit, but that was like, I've always just given back to Virginia Beach and given back to the state of Virginia because that's what made me good, bad, or indifferent. In what ways do you feel like Virginia Beach made you? There wasn't a blossoming music industry there.

You were outside of it. Yeah, we all were. Myself, Chad, Timbaland, Missy, Shay. There wasn't really anything there. But when Teddy moved in town, Teddy Riley moved in town. A lot of that changed, and that gave us opportunities. And Tim and Missy went to Jersey, and they were working a lot with the Devontae Swing.

Like, things happened then, but even still, it wasn't that. But Virginia happened to be this really peculiar state that was in between New York, D.C., and Atlanta, and Miami. between New York, D.C. and Atlanta and Miami. And it was like, people would just go there. All the hustlers would come down, you know, and if they weren't necessarily hustling in the city, they were partying in the city, in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

And it was just like this different time. You think the beach played a role in that? It was just like a thing. But musically, because we weren't as northern and we weren't the most southern, and we definitely weren't the Midwest or the West Coast, we listened to everything. And I think that shaped us as,

at least the group that I'm referring to now, like it shaped us as musicians. And I think it really shaped the area because we loved anything that just was coming from any different area, but like amazing. Then it got play and it got spin. And I think that developed our like taste buds to be eclectic to like all kinds of music.

Virginia is a very, like, it's a very interesting place that seems like it's just normal, though, but there's so many other hidden talents, people with great taste. It wasn't reflective in what you're seeing, but like, like for example, like one of the biggest

Warhol collectors ever lived in Virginia Beach. People wouldn't know. We used to have this Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome down there that everybody performed at. I didn't even know, but like, some of everybody performed there and it sadly got torn down. But then we ended up acquiring that property to build like this whole big multi-use

venue and hotel, wave park, like all this other stuff. But it's like, it's always been a magnet for very interesting people. The Edgar Cayce and the ARE Foundation is down there. Wow, I didn't know that. Oh yeah, that's where he moved from Kentucky. He moved there. He moved to Virginia Beach.

So cool. Yeah, no, it's a lot there. It's just, I don't think that we've been very good at marketing it and celebrating it. But maybe that keeps it what it is. Sometimes the harder it is to get to where the fact that it's a secret preserves it. Some things get watered down.

You're right. And I agree with that philosophy, like cap for a cap for a, or, you know, like a Hamptons type of vibe, or like, you know, a lot of states and countries have like those kind of like, if you know, you know, places. But then you would need the powers that be there to know that, to know what they're protecting.

And a lot of times they don't. Understood, understood. I love't. Understood. Understood. I love them. Yeah, yeah. But like, what I don't love when they don't have the self-awareness or the wherewithal, and I mean the powers that be, to know how special the place is

and how we could really take it to the next level. And that's why I feel like a lot of us are raising our hands and making major investments and bringing big investors from all over the world so that we can make it an international treasure. And even if it's gonna be an international secret, let's treat it that way. Do you think of Virginia as your home?

Yeah, I mean, Miami's my home too. Virginia Beach, Miami, Paris, Tokyo. But when you think home, which one comes up? Virginia's always going to be my home. But we live in Paris right at the moment. My kids are there going to school. But then Tokyo is my home for another reason. And in Miami, it's just like, that never gets old.

Tell me about writing new songs for the movie. I needed to see myself objectified first to write about myself. I've never really written good music for myself. I think I told you this the last time, like all of my best songs are songs that I wrote for somebody else and we just used the demos. But I need to get me out of the way

because when I see me, I just, it's like a mirror looking at itself. Like there's no image there, there's nothing inspiring. But when I'm channeling somebody else and it brings something out of me and they don't use the record, that's kind of like, because I'm channeling somebody else and it brings something out of me and they don't use the record, that's kind of like, because I'm in service to others.

So my best work naturally is gonna be when I am channeling someone else and not me. And seeing myself objectified allowed me to have enough separation to get inspired. And so that's where Piece by Piece came from. And there's another one called Lego Odyssey. And in French, the way you would say the ego is le ego, L apostrophe ego, and it would be pronounced Lego.

Wow. And that was based on most of my life, my first 50 years of my life, at least the first 40 were just egocentric. And look, society sort of reads that and supports that. You know, I'm the best, I'm this, I'm that. And you're not, you're actually part of an equation. And what you are, when you say I am,

you are part of the greater I am, and you are lucky to be just existing. Am is a noun and am is a verb. Just like God is a noun and God is a verb, and love is a noun and am is a verb. Just like God is a noun and God is a verb and love is a noun and love is a verb. I wrote about the first 40 plus years of my life because from 40 to 50 is how I made it. It's like a 10 year transition of just this.

How did it happen though? What triggered it? I think I explained this to you the last time like you know happy blurred lines get lucky three songs that I was commissioned to write and eventually got attributed to me due to circumstances and they were also like I said they were commissions so it wasn't like you know how like you wake up one day and you're like, yo, I'm gonna make, I don't know, you woke up one day

and decided you wanna do 99 Problems, right? Yeah. Let's pretend 99 Problems was solely your idea. Yeah. And most of the songs of your catalog are solely your idea. You woke up that day and decided you wanted to do that. That would lead you to believe that you are controlling your destiny.

It would lead you to believe that you sold that many records. It would lead you to believe that like your willpower and your existence is solely in control of everything, every part of the process. Then one day you get three different commissions to do something.

So they're not, it is gonna be your idea, but it's because someone prompted you, hey, we need the right song for this scene. Hey, we need a song for this artist. Hey, we need you to write a song to be on our record. You do all of that. You end up being on all the records. They all end up being like number one records

and with huge, not just number one records, but like 22 million records sold, you know what I mean? Like on just one song alone, like, you know, and counting type shit. And then you go, oh, I'm not in control. And then it dawns on, I'm not in control. And then it dawns on you that you didn't sell that many records, you wrote a song, you produced a song, and the fans decided to download,

share, or like actually buy physical copies. And then those songs are bigger than anything you've ever done. The songs are like helping people get through their day. Some songs is helping people through their chemotherapies. Some songs is helping people through divorce. Some songs are just giving people hope. Like just a whole bunch of things that like are humbling to you.

But then at the core of all of it, you didn't commission these songs from yourself. These songs were commissions. The universe conspired to show you all these things. And it just made me ball. And so that was when I was 40. And you saw it clearly? Clear. That's great.

I noticed things. And you saw it clearly? Clear. That's great. I noticed things. Did you feel relief? What was the feeling when you saw it? The relief that I felt was not quite how you're saying it. It was a different context. It was more like you didn't give up on me. I point to the sun, but this sun is one of trillions upon trillions upon trillions upon

trillions of stars. But existence, the air between you and I, the molecules in you, the molecules in me, the molecules in the trees, the breeze that we're feeling right now, any and everything that we're in, this matrix that we are in of existence. That's my God. The Alpha and the Omega, the all that is, all that ever was, and all that ever will be, existence. You didn't give up on me.

And you gave me another shot. And you really, really, really demonstrated it through these three songs that I was commissioned to do. And you left me in on it, because I never thought I could ever do anything so big with me being the featured artist. Yeah.

It was all of that. And I never looked at it the same. And it took me from 40 to 50 to, like, really get to a full place of, like, just humility. Like, there's no need for me to brag. There's no need for me to, like, and be dramatic and... for what?

I'm so blessed to exist. I exist at this time, in this space, this longitude, this latitude. At this particular juncture, I exist. I'm so grateful. So much of today's life happens on the web. Squarespace is your home base for building your dream presence in an online world. Designing a website is easy, using one of Squarespace's best-in-class templates. With the built-in style kit, you can change fonts, imagery, margins, and menus, so your design will be perfectly tailored to your needs. Discover unbreakable creativity with Fluid Engine, a highly intuitive drag-and-drop editor. No coding or technical experiences required. Understand your

site's performance with in-depth website analytics tools. Squarespace has everything you need to succeed online. Create a blog, monetize a newsletter, make a marketing portfolio, launch an online store. The Squarespace app helps you run your business from anywhere. Track inventory and connect with customers while you're on the go. Whether you're just starting out or already managing a successful brand, Squarespace makes it easy to create and customize a beautiful website. Visit squarespace.com slash tetra and get started today. Tell me about your relationship to the church growing up. Church was everything. That's when we first saw spirit.

You know, we saw the spirit moving through people. You know, we're out here in nature right now, and as the wind blows, some of these trees with the longer branches, you can tell which way the wind is blowing based on which way the leaves are turning and which way the, and how the sections of branches

are blowing in the same direction. And that's how the spirit is in church. When the spirit is really moving around in there, it's like a wave, you just see it. You know how like you go to a big football stadium and you see people doing the wave? I seen the spirit do that. Just moving around.

People just throwing their hands up and screaming and shouting. And I would see that at, you know, my dad's church, which was a Pentecostal church, and then my mom's church was a Baptist church. And they didn't really like shout as much in there. You would hear it, but it wasn't like it was in a Pentecostal church.

Was there music in church? Oh yeah, there was a lot of music. And it was usually, it would begin with something very powerful that the pastor would say, you know, Elder Bishop Theragud, he would say something that would just connect with all of the congregation. But then the organist, which was most of the time

was my uncle, my uncle, Lezik Hill. Really? Yeah. He would play along as this guy's preaching, but he's preaching in a note. Think Future with autotune. Yeah. Right?

And as he moves, Future, when Future is rhyming, he's rhyming and he's picking a note and he's having these pockets that correspond with whatever the chords are in the beat, right? Yeah. That's what they would do in church. Yeah. They would hit, you know, that A flat or A sharp,

you know, that A, like they would hit that. And then all of a sudden, as he's preaching and saying what he's saying, he's doing it with a melody. And then all of a sudden, as he's making his next point, the organist would modulate up to a half step. And it would be like, and they would continue to do it up another up to a half step. And it would be like, and they would continue to do it, up another step, up another step. And you're just feeling this welling feeling

that's in there. And man, at a certain point, it just would explode. The pressure like a pipe, it would explode. And all of a sudden they do, they go to a cut time beat. Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do. And then, and literally you're seeing people shouting and you're seeing people run up and down the aisles and you're just seeing waves and waves of wafts

of the spirit, just people just moving. And I grew up in that. Wow. And from the pastor and the organist, none of that was rehearsed. Zero. That was a moment in time. Where they just connected to the spirit. All improvisation, feeling the moment.

Period. Amazing. Period. Amazing. And I would even venture to say, now that you just said what you said, I would say that was my first. That was the first time I ever encountered urgency live. You could literally, if you could cut the air,

you could cut a block of the energy out in that room. And if one could consume it, you don't understand what you would feel. Yeah. Nobody wasn't paying attention. People were. Everybody was engaged. Everybody.

Yeah. You could feel it. Yeah. That's amazing. You could feel it. And that still happens today. You know, at my uncle's church, Faith World Ministries,

you know, that still happens today. I mean, when he preaches, he went from being an organist and piano player, which he still is, to now being a pastor of his own ministry and congregation. And you go there, you sit, and you feel... It's right off of Azalea in Norfolk, Virginia. It's either Azalea Gardens, Azalea Boulevard. When he speaks the word,

and him and the organist there, the head organist there, Larry, man, what they make... The feeling that they're able to conjure and the way that the Spirit just comes into that building, it's just something else. There's a reason so much great music comes out of the church. Oh yeah. The best musicians, the best singers. Yes.

And I think what conditions them is the Spirit, access to the Spirit. And for me, to be clear, when I talked about the all that is, all that is, all that ever was, all that ever will be, you know, the alpha and the omega, you know, the matrix itself, existence. To me, the spirit is the energy of all that, everything that exists. It's the spirit. It's the kinetic side of, it's all that everything that exists. It's the spirit. It's the kinetic side of, it's all that. What makes it happen. What makes everything happen.

Creation. The energy, yeah. Did you look forward to going to church during the week? No, it felt like a chore sometimes. Cause man, you know, the way that we grew up, it was like Wednesday night Bible study, you know, prayer over at the house Thursday or Friday night, you know, choir rehearsal on Saturday, Sunday morning church, go to the first

service in the morning, sometimes go to the second service in the evening. I mean, it was different. It was a lot. And I wanted to do other things because outside of church where the secular music was, was like Michael Jackson and like, you know, the Jacksons and, you know, Stevie Wonder music and James Brown. And that's a different kind of spirit. That's a different side of the spirit.

But I'm very grateful for my formative years. That helped me to see. I learned where urgency and improvisation really was through the church. You talked about that revelation between 40 and 50. Did you learn anything about yourself in making the movie? I did. Again, I saw my soul's purpose for the first time. Tell me about that.

Can I face the sun? Sure. Man, the sun is like amazing right now. It feels so good, doesn't it? It does. It feels so good inside. I never really like knew my soul's purpose. I can see everywhere except the future for myself. I can sometimes discern it through people, what their futures might be, and for them.

But I can't do it for myself. Never been able to. And it was weird having this film as a tool, a therapeutic tool, by the way, but a tool to help me see who I really am and what my purpose is. Because I've never really gotten it. I've never really seen what people see.

I just think I'm just lucky as hell. I'm like, I don't know what y'all see, but I ain't gonna talk you out of it. You know what I'm saying? It's like, I mean, are you like that? Or do you get why you are the Rick Rubin? No. I'm just me and just do what I like.

That's it. Simple. Same. But the fact that you have the fanfare and the respect that you have in the industry and just the audience that you have for anything that you do, do you get it? I'm appreciative of it, but that's it. That's it.

I'm grateful, thankful. Same. Same. But also, I don't do it for that. I do it for the security of the thing. I want to feel the thing, and then other people like it. That's the best bonus. Sure. I believe we would both be doing what we're doing

if nobody cared about it either. 100%. And oftentimes, when they don't get it, we still do it. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and we still love those things as much as we love the wines that other people love. Sometimes better. Those are the fine wines.

Yeah, yeah. That part's not in our control, but when we're making it, we can keep working on it till we love it. Yeah. I want this for everybody, man. Yeah. Everyone can do it. Not everyone's going to like everything you make,

but you can have that experience of making something and working on it until it's a true reflection of what you think is beautiful. Well, we just live in a society that pushes people and really, really hammers into them that they got to go do things that make the most money versus what they love. And I think if you can find something that you love,

even if, like, you love football... Yeah. ...but you ain't nowhere near big enough or fast enough or whatever the requirements might be, listen, to be a therapist, a physical therapist, or to be anything from a water boy to, like, to sell concessions, you're gonna love your job.

If you're around it. Man, that's a great life. Yeah. And I feel like society would be so much better if we had that. But that's not what they do. Your parents tell you, you got to be a doctor or a lawyer. And by the way, there are some great doctors

and who really wanted to be that and some great lawyers who really want to be that. some great lawyers who really wanted to be that. But what about everybody else? Yeah. What would America be if everybody did mostly the jobs or worked in environments or worked within industries that had a subject matter that they love and were obsessed with?

How many billionaires and center millionaires and millionaires hate their lives? The ultimate part about it is not, it's not money. The means are important, but the means and the currency is important, but like the idea of like money being like the end all be all is just not true. Now you wouldn't be able to afford this place

if it weren't for strategy and the right timing. Yeah. And currency. But it's a bonus. Right. But it's not the end all be all. It's not the end all be all. Despite anything you might see. It isn't.

At the end of the day, it's like being able to do what you love endlessly. I want that for people, man. I think the best way to do it is to lead by example, you know, show people that it's possible. Yeah, because I love music. Music is the skeleton key that opened up every door for me. The human foot is a true marvel of engineering. With 26 bones, 33 joints and over 100 muscles and tendons, it's built for flexibility, balance and natural movement. Unfortunately, today's narrow, rigid, elevated shoes undermine

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nature. How did you come to be a part of the Louis Vuitton? Got a phone call and I was so like thrown off because I just never expected I'd be able to do it. I mean, I just wasn't even, it didn't even cross my mind because I worked with them 20 years ago. Mark Jacobs tapped me to do some sunglasses with them myself and I brought an eagle along. That was 20 years ago. And then, then I think 19 years ago they came out, they hit the market, but we had started working on them 20 years ago. So I thought, okay, I did sunglasses there. I did, we also did like jewelry. Few years later, I did a campaign with them

and I thought, okay, my time there is good and it's up. And, you know, I eventually went on to Montclair, and I started working with Chanel. And I just thought that was it. My brother Virgil was, he had gotten the appointment. And I thought, that's so cool. Because he was there in the very beginning when him and Kanye were there in the very beginning

when we first got it. In fact, there's a photo of all three of us and they're trying on the sunglasses I did back then. So the idea that like him wearing them glasses existed and then he went on to be the guy, that was enough for me. Amazing. Yeah, that was like, oh no no. Like, that's it.

What were your expectations? And then what were you met with when you got there? I didn't have any expectations, but I did go in there with a plan. I did know the way that I looked at fashion and the way that I wanted to, to like build out my system and what would work for me. And they agreed.

They're like, okay, this works. Very grateful that it's been good. It's been really good. We get to tell stories and I get inspired by different parts of the world. And, you know, it's a travel brand. So we tell this, we constantly tell stories about, you know, humans traveling

and what they learn in different areas. Being inspired by these areas and working with local artisans of these different places around the world. It's been a real living dream. I don't take any of it for granted. I can't believe I'm here, man. The last time I was sitting here talking to you,

I didn't know this was all going to happen. Wild. Yeah, I told you, I can't see the future for myself. Yeah. How has being a father changed your life? Immensely. Being responsible for four new spirits coming into this world, helping to shape their experiences in their formative years, all while making sure that my lifestyle

does not corrupt their point of view on what the real world really is, has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. You know, these are four songs that I co-wrote with my wife, whose bridges continue to rewrite themselves as they grow old. During the holidays, we go and we go and we feed and serve the homeless. We go to different children's hospitals where there are a lot of kids that are challenged with conditions that a lot of times are uncurable or haven't been cured yet. And that's because I want my children to understand

having to have real coping skills and to see what real courage looks like. A child that wakes up and gets bad news that day and realizes that it's going to be a tough ride and where they wake up every day and they face that day for what it is. I wanted my kids to have that. And so I'm on it.

I'm strict about it. I don't play. I'm a strict dad, but because the world is harsh. Yeah. You know, I think when parents say things like, oh, I never want my kids to struggle the way that I did. Well, you have to understand the way your struggle produced you being a hardworking, critical thinking individual. And when you don't allow your kids to have guided struggle, they don't develop the coping skills.

They don't have the courage. They don't... Can't deal with challenges. And... it oftentimes doesn't end so well. Tell me about, uh, Things Gonna Be Alright. The Kendrick song. Yeah. That was a record that, like...

Did you write that hook? Yeah. I had no idea that you wrote the hook. Yeah. Well, that's me on the hook. I had no idea. Yeah. And then my buddy KP, who was an A&R, he was like...

Because I was like, we're gonna be all right. And the way I was saying it, I was saying it on some Virginia shit. And that's what makes it. Well, well, he corrected me to say, all right, to put the R in there. And so I ended up doing it, but you, but it still sounded like I'm saying, all right.

All right. Yeah. But Maybe you put out the street version, the remix with the proper, all right. Yeah. At some point. But yeah, like that was, it was just a feeling in the song. And you know, Kendrick really got it. He really understood it. He really understood it. Who knew that it was going to go on and represent the feeling and thought of the culture in the air that time? Yeah, the timing was unbelievable. Whoa. Would you say you live more in your head or your body? You know, most of my life I lived

in my head. I think I'm now just starting to explore the energy departments of my body. I was also less concerned with, like, my chakras. And now, like, I think about those. Yeah. As I think about my organs, and I think about, like, having everything work in harmony. I think about my organs, and I think about like, having everything work in harmony.

The esoteric readings that, you know, the Edgar Cayce esoteric readings that I was like into, you know, in my late 20s are now like, I'm not just curious about it, I'm actually living it. Yeah. I want my organs to be in line so that I can vibrate harmoniously and be. Human being and be. That's also a verb in the now, being.

And I also wanna like, lead by example, you know? Tell me about your relationship to rhythm I've always had a relationship to rhythm. I think I got like ADD just never was diagnosed and so I was always like And a little bit of ADHD When what you get distracted by is music When what you get distracted by is music, then you ask yourself, okay, is it ADHD or is it inspiration?

You know, inspiration and drive. I was always hearing like drum patterns. But if you think about it, I mean- You say drums are your primary instrument? Yeah. If you think about it, you know, the universe is ruled by rhythm. The solar system is what it is.

The planets stay in the pattern that they're in. Even the sun, the planets around it, like, it can all be measured to a beat. There are stages, which is what a technically a beat would be. But we have a pulse, we have a heartbeat, and we're born with the rhythm. I mean, the beginning of the universe is described as a sound, the big Bang. That would mean that's the start of the beat of all the, everything that exists.

The universe started with a beat. Yeah, and then the beat dropped is what the Bible says. Yeah. L-M-N-T. Element Electrolytes. Have you ever felt dehydrated after an intense workout or a long day in the sun? Do you want to maximize your endurance and feel your best? Add Element Electrolytes to your daily routine. Perform better and sleep deeper. Improve your cognitive function.

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but man, when human beings lock in, there's a feeling that you get from it. No machines can make what you described in the church. What will be scary is when AI gets to that place. Can it? Yeah. Anything that is conceivable can happen. Tell me about the tall hats.

That was a Vivian Westwood hat. I was inspired by Malcolm McLaren. This buffalo hat. And, um... It's such a cool hat. Yeah, that was like 10 years ago. Game-changing hat, though. Crazy. I never saw a hat like that before. Yeah, that was like 10 years ago. Game-changing hat though. I never saw a hat

like that before. Yeah, I was crazy. I go through my phases of like moments where you can't tell me nothing. I'm gonna wear it regardless of whether I don't care what you think. I wish you'd pull it out again. And then when I'm off it, I'm off it. Yeah. And I'm off it. Tell me about fashion and hip hop. Hip hop has been like one of the greatest fashion shows and displays. My friend Eric Paul, when he was young, he and I used to listen to the Beastie Boys' License to Ill record back in Salem Village on repeat while we just skated all day, every day. And this is like, you know,

Hussoy, Power Peralta times, Rob Roskopf, like Tony Hawk decks and independent trucks. And back then it was like, if you skated street, you skated on 85s. If you skated on the ramp, you skated 92s, which was in between. But then there was also 97s and 99s, which was super hard. Like that was my life.

And listening to the Beastie Boys and reading the Rick Rubin name, I can't believe I'm sitting here right now. Like the Run DMC music. And then when you... So you think about all the clothes. Like, I wanted a jean jacket because Mike Dee wore a jean jacket. You know, back when he had, like, the...

The Volkswagen. The Volkswagen, like, charm on his... You know, that was everything, man. You know, or the idea that I'm with Adidas now, and that record, my Adidas was everything. You know, we wanted it. That, my Adidas record changed the conversation from Puma back then.

I mean, you know, love and respect to Puma. But like, that changed the conversation. And they actually, that record saved the Adidas business. Wow. So yeah, hip hop was like the stage for like fashion. What do you think the biggest misconception about you is? That I'm a tech geek and I'm so not, I'm the worst. I use technology as much as I need to.

What's your favorite place on the planet? Tokyo. Really? Yeah. Why? The humility is so thick there. So it's the people. The humility is as thick as the humidity is.

What do you do outside of your creative life that has the most impact on your creative life? Pray. Beautiful. What's the rhythm? God is the greatest for me. I have these very long prayers that I pray in the morning. They're very, very, very long. There's two different ones and I do them in the morning. They're very, very, very long. There's two different ones, and I do them both every morning. When did you start doing them?

I think they just developed over the last 20-some years. I pray for people that I don't even talk to anymore. Just lost contact, whatever, whatever, but they just remain in my prayers. The prayers are just very cemented in my mind. God is the greatest, and I am grateful. Yeah, me too. Blessings, big bro. I love you, sir. Yes, sir, man. Me too. Thank you so much. you