The Rich Roll Podcast - Russell Simmons: The Yogi Path From Hip Hop Mogul To Happy Vegan

Episode Date: February 1, 2016

It's rare to find a pop culture icon as devoted to raising consciousness as the man they call Rush. Hip hop impresario, entrepreneur extraordinaire, devoted yogi and long-time meditation practitioner, Russell Simmons is truly one-of-a-kind — incredibly warm, always quick with a captivating story you won't soon forget and authentically committed to spreading awareness concerning important issues of our time — the horrors of animal agriculture, the declining state of human health (particularly in African American and lower socio-economic demographics) and the disastrous state of our planet’s dwindling environmental health. Most are familiar with Russell's background, but in case his name is new to you, let’s break it open. Alongside Rick Rubin, in 1984 Russell co-founded Def Jam Recordings and quickly established himself as a prominent, guiding force in the quickly growing cultural revolution that became hip hop. Championing its breakout stars, Def Jam became the label by signing the movement's ground-breaking forerunners – acts like the LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and The Beastie Boys. But Def Jam was just the first step in Russell's empire building quest. Before selling the label to Universal Music Group in 1999 for $100 million, he formed RUSH Communications and quickly expanded his reach into artist management, apparel, and film & television projects like The Nutty Professor, Krush Groove, Gridlock'd and Def Comedy Jam. Russell's current holdings include a vast array of entrepreneurial interests and philanthropic efforts, including All Def Digital, Argyleculture, RushCard, Global Grind, The Foundation For Ethnic Understanding and Tantris, a yoga & lifestyle destination currently in development. All of this is fascinating. But what interests me most about Russell is his personal journey. How discovering yoga and meditation led to his embrace of a vegan lifestyle. And the tremendous extent to which his commitment to cultivating an inner life based on the spiritual principles of ahimsa — a Sanskrit term for no harm — has impacted both his private and public life, his approach to business and his commitment to service and advocacy. Today we unpack all of it. This episode is definitely my most unique to date. Generally, I endeavor to architect the basic trajectory of my conversations; I know where I want to start and I know where I want to go. Suffice it to say this did not happen with Russell. Within the first 5 seconds of our conversation one thing was clear — I was not in control. Russell's show, Russell's flow. When the dust settled, all I could think was, what just happened? That's charisma. This one's different. But I loved every minute of it. Topics explored include: * yoga, meditation & consciousness * the karmic debt of animal agriculture * the ecological havoc caused by food systems * the health implications of the American diet * Russell as agent for change * happy vs. angry vegans * using cryotherapy to revitalize * animal cruelty in factory farming * raising awareness from the top down * the benefits of meditation * the primacy of service * parenting & privilege * the effect of branding on consumer choice * empathy and compassion for others Note: This episode is chock-a-block with expletives. I typically run a clean, family-friendly show, but it's more important to me to allow my guests to be who they are. Enjoy! Rich

It's okay to get along with people you disagree with. In fact, it's critical that we all try to put ourselves in other people's shoes because I believe that we all have the same hopes, desires. We're all inspired by the same kinds of things. We want to love and be loved. That's the one and only Russell Simmons, and this is The Rich Roll Podcast. The Rich Roll Podcast. Hey, everybody. How you guys doing? My name is Rich Roll. I am your host. Welcome to The Rich Roll Podcast, the show where each week I sit down with thought leaders,

paradigm-breaking minds and personalities across all categories of health, wellness, diet, nutrition, fitness, science, entrepreneurship, mindfulness, meditation, spirituality, and the like. And the idea behind all of this is to help all of us, myself included, unlock and unleash our best, most authentic selves. Thanks so much for tuning in today. I appreciate everybody who is sharing the show with their friends and on social media. And, of course, massive shout-out for everybody out there who is making a habit of using the Amazon banner ad at richroll.com for all your Amazon purchases.

It really does help us out a lot. The banner is right there at richroll.com on the podcast page. Can't miss it. And it's a great way to support the show. It doesn't cost you anything extra on your Amazon purchases, but it really does put some much needed wind in our sails so that I can do what I do here. So thank you so much. Pretty pumped about this episode. I've got yogi, meditator, hip-hop pioneer, and entrepreneur extraordinaire Russell Simmons coming at you in a couple few to talk about his life, his path, and his new book, The Happy Vegan. He's a super interesting cat at first. All right, everybody. I got to tell you guys up front right before we get into the interview that this is perhaps my most unique conversation to date for a wide variety of reasons, which I'm going to get into in a second. It's with the empresario of hip-hop, the vegan entrepreneur, yogi, and meditator himself, Russell Simmons.

This guy is a straight-up pop culture icon. Most people are familiar with Russell, his story, his entrepreneurship. But in case his name is brand new to you, I thought we could do a brief bio and break it wide open. In 1984, Russell co-founded Def Jam Recordings with Rick Rubin, and he quickly rose to prominence as this guiding force in the quickly growing cultural revolution that became hip-hop, and he did it by championing all its breakout stars. Def Jam became the label signing all the movement's forerunners, acts like LL Cool J, Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys, and of course Run DMC.

But Def Jam was just Russell's first step in empire building. Before selling Def Jam to Universal Music Group in 1999 for $100 million, he formed Rush Communications, and he began branching out into a wide array of interests and philanthropic efforts, including All Deaf Digital, Argyle Culture, Rushcard, Global Grind, and even a yoga studio play in development called Tantras. And all of this is fascinating, of course, but what most interests me about Russell is his personal journey, how discovering yoga and meditation ultimately led to his embrace of veganism, and how all of this has tremendously influenced his life, his business, and of course his advocacy. And I think it's really rare to find an entrepreneur, a pop culture icon of his stature, who is so open, honest, very human, outspoken, and really devoted to raising consciousness around the issues of the day, issues like the horrors of animal agriculture, the declining state of human health,

particularly in African-American and lower socioeconomic demographics, and the disastrous state of our planet's environmental health. And today we unpack all of it, everything from the impact of yoga and meditation on the evolution of his personal consciousness, this karmic debt accrued by virtue of our cultural addiction to animal products, the ecological havoc and deleterious health implications of the standard American diet, the responsibility he feels to be a change agent. And, of course, it's all about his new book, The Happy Vegan, be a change agent. And of course, it's all about his new book, The Happy Vegan, which is this really easy-to-digest primer on all of the aforementioned issues with basic, comprehensible,

and budget-conscious solutions for improving personal and planetary health through simple diet and lifestyle alterations. I will say this. I usually try to architect the general direction of my conversations. I have this idea of where I want to start and where I want to go with my guests. This is not one of those conversations. primarily because I don't really think I was ever in control of this conversation. I was definitely not in command here. I'm not quite sure about how this one is going to land. There was a little chaos here. We did the interview in his office. The door was open.

People were coming and going. And when it was all said and done and the dust settled, I wasn't quite sure what exactly had transpired. And I suppose it goes with the territory. When you interview someone this busy, someone with this level of charisma. It's part of the vibe that makes Russell, Russell. And I loved every minute of it. And I think you guys are going to enjoy it as well. Lastly, before we get into the interview, I've got a special guest coming on right after Russell for a short segment.

So please stick around for that. I promise you guys it is worth it. And a final note, this episode is chock-a-block with expletives. And generally, I keep things clean and family-friendly here. But it's more important to me to be real, to be authentic. And of course, allow my guests to be who they really are. And Russell's just a guy who rolls thick and deep with the language, just who he is.

And to edit it out or to bleep it out, I think would just hit a false note. So just a heads up if you're queasy about this kind of stuff or you got kids in the car or whatever. In any event, let's dig on Russell. Without further ado, enjoy my conversation with Russell Sands. Conversation with Russell Sands. Movie project? Yeah, some film project talking about this great script, kind of good script. I mean, good script, good idea, depressed comedian. Everybody doesn't know, like I know, like everybody in Hollywood knows or anybody who lives in this circle knows that comedians generally depress people.

So it's a script about a guy who's, you know, has a writer, writes comedy, almost kills himself. Does kill himself. I think if I made it, he would almost kill himself. I don't like depressing endings usually.

I didn't like the end of Birdman. I don't know why the fuck he had to go out the window. Do you know why he went out the window, Simone? Did you want him to die? One in the die is a stretch.

Did he die or did he fly? I think he died. That nigga just jumped out the window and died. He never flew before. He died. That was stupid. His daughter looks up in the air like, come on. I think it could have been okay if he just came out of the thing and was thrilled to be alive. Had a little bit of revelation. I'm always happy with the revelation that it okay to live rather than kill yourself that's not the best ending for a movie so you're doing this outside the studio system well i mean i read it from a studio they gave me they want me to produce it we're talking about it we'll see if we can fix it right but anyway that's i don't even know how that begins our conversation i know it's all right man. I appreciate you taking the time. It's been quite a media blitz for you the past two weeks. So thanks for taking a moment with me. I really believe passionately in this subject. And I'm not sure if I should call this the Poisoning of America. Depending on the radio show, the Poisoning of Black America.

Was there a conversation about the title? Yeah. I called it The Happy Vegan because all my books are so happy, and I wanted people to be able to digest the ideas. I'm not an angry vegan. I like angry vegans. I'm sure that Martin Luther King was happy, Elijah Muhammad called a white man a devil.

It's funny because they got Martin Luther King a certain way. They got him as such a pacifist, nice guy. But he said a lot of tough shit nobody even ever talks about. And I think he liked it. There was a really more honest and not even angry. I don't think the black Muslims were angry. They were just kind of straight. They just said things that he didn't have to say.

And they gave him the benefit of the anger that was brewing. I think militants sometimes are part of a process. Well, I think you need all voices. Yeah, I'm always the bitch. You need Malcolm X and you need Martin Luther King. Right. I'm always the bitch. Yeah.

I mean, right, Simone? You would say that? Simone Reyes is an animal activist. She'll lay in there. Right. So Simone's voice is different from your voice. And there's a place for both of those in these conversations. Yes.

Well, we need Simone to throw some paint on somebody's coat. I mean, that's my friend's coat. I mean, I didn't want her to wear it, but, you know, I mean, shit like that's what she does. Yeah, yeah, but that is the barrier, especially when you're, you know, doing mainstream media. You're sitting down at CVS this morning. I mean, you did O'Reilly.

You see how angry my good friend? Well, they accuse you of being the angry vegan when you're really coming at it from a really palatable, sort of optimistic. I told Gayle, who I love, Gayle King, I love. Good friend. Backstage, we're laughing, talking, everything. I said, I'm not an angry vegan. She got on stage and said, I'm not an angry vegan. But she said it in a mean way.

I told her that 50% of African-American women over 20 have heart disease. She said, I'm healthy. I said, I know you're healthy. I assume you're healthy. You're Oprah's best friend and you have all of the resources in the world and you probably never ate anything non-organic since you heard about organic. And some of that stuff is actually organic, some of it. So there's that.

And you probably have every... She's probably doing cryotherapy. I just did it. Fuck. Ever been in there? No, I want to try it though. Oh, I go every fucking day. Somebody died recently though doing that.

Yeah, they always say that. Every time I bring up cryotherapy, they say somebody died. If you bump your head and fall out in minus 300 degrees and stay there for 10 hours, see what happens. I think the person that died worked at the facility and did it after hours, and there was no one there to monitor what was going on. Yeah, and she did the one that's only, which is where most of them are. The most that they leased out are ones that are made out of hydrogen.

The one in the tank is hydrogen and oxygen, and she put her head under the smoke. You get in the one that's hydrogen, and it has this thing that lifts you up. You can only lift it up from the smoke. You get into one that's hydrogen and it has this thing that lifts you up. You can only lift it up from the outside. So she's in the shit with her head in the hydrogen, inhaling the hydrogen. She fainted and she died. Ten hours later,

they found out, I guess she was frozen. If you spit on somebody, it'll freeze up on their face the second it gets on them. It's minus 300 fucking degrees. But do you feel it? What does it feel like

when you're in the chamber? It feels kind of invigorating. It's in Larchmont, right? Is that the one that you did? No, the one I did is right on La Cienega. And it's by the owners. So they have the big tank, which has hydrogen and oxygen. And it wakes you up,

but it also puts you to sleep. Because for 48 hours, your body is racing back. The seconds you get in there, all the blood races to your heart. It cleanses all your organs and all this shit revitalizes a lot of stuff and it gets rid of inflammation and it's got a lot of benefits they say and psychosomatic uh any asshole that i am i believe it all what i feel good is i feel high after and i'm a junkie you know i like high high anything gets me high so you know morning

meditation is a different high from late night drinking, but I like that best, right? And then there's shifts that I meant, but they're all they get high. Put this amino acid under your tongue. Oh, shit. How'd that feel? Wow. I felt that.

In fact, I have Oz send me that shit. Dr. Oz Garcia sent me the amino acid he'd been bragging about. Uh-oh. You're in trouble with that. Just put it under your tongue. You know. But yeah, it's cool. Tony Robbins swears by that.

I think he's got his own chamber. Yeah, his own chamber. Yeah. Oh, you know all about it. Yeah, Tony Robbins has his own chamber. LeBron. Oh, it's here to rich people. That's why you...

I'm not fucked up. Yeah, but a lot of people are. Underserved community members. And the book teaches people who don't necessarily have all the resources how to live as a vegan lifestyle cheaply. Well, that's the biggest thing, right? Oh, call it Ditas, too. I meant that. The second thing.

Yeah, call it Ditas. It's time now. Give me a vegan line. How do you overcome this idea that veganism, plant-based diet, is really something just for the elite or the well-heeled? How are you going to penetrate the food deserts? The book talks a lot about that because I know that's a challenge. I'm also going to do a vegan soul food book.

I just realized it's pretty much written, so I might as well do it. And it's like, it's easy. You know, it's like a lot easier than people think. And that's what people don't realize. No one wants to promote. There's no interest in promoting how cheaply you can live a plant-based diet. And, you know, it's a small community. Lots of investment in companies like Beyond Meat, where they are studying the 40,000 plants on the plant.

And the idea, and what's the other one, Hampton Creek. Yeah, Hampton Creek. I had Ethan Brown. Hampton Creek got a better promotion, but Ethan's shit is a little bit bigger it's actually distributed every store so so beyond meat is everywhere and you can get it like meat substitutes because a lot of people they're just so used to it they need something that you know it's like you need methadone to get off heroin right that's what beyond meat the meat stuff. But the other stuff is beyond that. It's just healthy stuff that is good fuel. It doesn't give you cancer or diabetes or heart disease,

which is what the animal product is doing to a great majority of Americans. It's killing more people than any lobbyist. No lobbyist is fucking with the American people. Not even close. ISIS is not even in the running of a threat to America. No, we should talk about the FDA instead. FDA is the worst motherfuckers, dumb niggas.

Well, there's this idea that they're looking out for our best interests. People assume that. Yeah, that's the thing. They assume always, people always trust in government. I mean, our country, especially, you know, they're a civilized society, they do civilized things, and then they abuse 100 billion animals per year.

And then they say dominion over the animals. Yeah, what are the subsidy numbers? It's like two, three billion or something like that? No, billion, 38 billion money, $38 billion of American taxpayers' money going to making what they call affordable food and it's meat and dairy and the vegetable industry gets 17 million that's caught in a pita they're going to sue the shit out of me

I know they're coming after me these fuckers are you concerned about that with this media blitz I'm not that rich man I don't really can't afford to battle these niggas like that I'm going to need help from the animal rights community you fuckers better help me because I know I'm saying shit and it's traveling I'm surprised I need help from the animal rights community. You fuckers better help me because I know I'm saying shit and it's traveling. I'm surprised I got in all these shows.

I actually thought they would say my sponsors won't let me have you talk that kind of stuff on my. Yeah, it is interesting. Well, I feel like they always have to temper it. You know, they'll let you say what you want to say. But then afterwards, they'll be like, well, but you should be careful about this or that. I mean, so. So, yeah, vegetables suck too. Or just, well, i still like a little meat

or whatever there's always like an exit door i don't think she was doing it for the sponsors she was just defending herself what was o'reilly like uh i knew o'reilly this time i did o'reilly on the last book when he went into that beyonce shit went in my head got him he actually believed in meditation it was like i've been on i went to visit o'reilly when i Fox. I was on Fox News, on a bunch of Fox shows. I went up to his office. I get along with everybody. So O'Reilly, he's my man. I like his daughter.

His daughter is so sweet. She's a progressive. She doesn't believe a word he says. She's just like me, and she's only 14. And she's brilliant, and he's very lucky to have her, and I'm glad that she doesn't adopt any of his views. I don't think she'll grow up saying, oh, now suddenly I don't like people or now suddenly I'm angry too.

I don't think that'll happen. And he, you know, he's, to his credit, he says, yeah, my daughter's a liberal. We're sitting together at the table. He's a smart conservative. Like, there's such a thing. My friend Glenn Freeman might not agree. He's a showman and he's affecting us.

No, no, he believes his shit. Does he? On the level that he talks on air? Fuck yeah, he believes it. So you niggas take drugs, go to jail. He believes everything shit. Does he? On the level that he talks on air? Fuck yeah, he believes it. You niggas take drugs, go to jail. He believes everything he says. What about the crowd? He believes his stuff.

That's why he's good at talking about it. Hannity believes his stuff, but he's stupid, so it's different. I shouldn't say that. He's not as smart as O'Reilly, who seems to be more thoughtful. There's a black guy on Fox. I can't believe this. He told me that there's no global warming. I was like, did you forget?

Didn't get the memo? Republicans stopped saying that? That you don't have to say that anymore because now you're starting to look dumb? He said, no man-made global warming. And I looked at him. He's a black guy. I remember meeting him at Occupy Wall Street. He was interviewing people.

Everybody was mad at him just because of the tone he took. And he said, you're black. Black people have one thing that makes them stick together. Jews have Israel. Blacks have poverty. Rich black people don't give a fuck.

They're Democrat. They hope that someone like Bernie Sanders will come along. They're happy to pay the little extra tax. They're happy to shift the paradigm. You know, they're okay with it. They got too many broke cousins, I guess, not to be. And just like Jews, for the most part, have Israel in common. They don't like each other for a lot of reasons. You know, you think you can reform Orthodox and Orthodox and Hasidic and Syrian Jews.

I mean, I know the whole communities. You don't really, you don't trust that Israeli bastard. You know, one guy will say, right, because they're separate but equal, right, just like Latinos. And blacks have separation on many issues as well, but not on political choices because no matter how rich you are, you know you're still sucked in by your family,

and you know no matter how selfish you think you are, you know that you'll be an asshole if you don't support anybody who supports the underserved communities. Interesting. So I feel like you are, you know, progressing through this evolution of consciousness that began with, you know, getting sober at 30, finding yoga, then finding meditation, and then becoming a vegan. And I followed a very similar track. I got out of rehab when I was 31. I found myself in yoga. This was back in, quick little story.

Only girls, right? You and the girls. Well, here was the thing. I got out of rehab, and I'm like, I need new friends. I just need it to change my community, and I need to raise the vibration of the people that I'm hanging out with. I find myself in Steve Ross's yoga class. You too?

This was like 98, 99. How about that? And there was Russell every night. And I became really good friends with Steve. I met my wife in that class. And that became my community. Not a lot of wives in that class. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, I mean, originally, I was like, of all the yoga classes in LA, I was going to Steve's because there was a lot of, there were so many beautiful women in this class. You too? Yeah. It was insane at that time. I went to a similar path. I went to Steve Ross' class just for the women.

I didn't see you that much because mostly it was just girls and me. You were looking at the girls the whole time. And a couple gay guys. But it's funny because I remember. There were no straight men in yoga. You remember that? I know. Wasn't that amazing?

It was you and Dennis Quaid would go from time to time. Yeah, he would go. But like Meg Ryan was going. I mean, it was crazy. Well, look, Meg Ryan. Look at all the Hollywood actresses. It was typical of what they make jokes about in Hollywood. Because Steve Ross,

he told me the last problem Lord Buddha had was like pussy, indiscriminate pussy too. That's a big problem with the gurus. Yeah, he said that was Lord Buddha's last problem. Of course, the temptress, as you remember in Siddhartha. And I asked my wife this morning when I was leaving, I said, you know, is there anything you want me to ask Russell that's not, you know, an obvious thing?

And she said, oh, yeah, just she was remembering a time after one of Steve's classes going down the little elevator in that little shopping center there. And you were, I don't know, maybe. But you were tripping out at the time because you had some business deal that was going left on you and you were like i gotta i don't know if i could keep doing all this yoga and meditation i i gotta keep my eye on the ball with my business if i keep doing all this stuff i'm gonna lose all my money you know that was something that bobby always says that i i said if i keep i was my first response to yoga if i If I keep doing all this shit, I'm going to lose all my money. Because those seconds of presence, I used to think anxiety drove me.

And I know stillness drives me faster. Anxiety has no place in the workplace and no place in service. We're here to be present, awake, and smile in difficult poses and do our job. Our dharma is not served by being anxious and not thoughtful. You need to be thoughtful and awake. So yoga and meditation and these tools you have are meant to, as you know, the Yoga Sutras, the second sutra is about yoga or Christ consciousness or nirvana or samadhi or takvap or Muslims or whatever you call God consciousness is a state of needing nothing or the end of the fluctuations of the mind stuff. The noise in the mind is yoga or those things I mentioned or Christ consciousness, etc. So we want to quiet our mind.

And then once that's done, we become so much more effective. So the first chakra first, the Muladhara chakra first, because you can't serve the world unless you take care of yourself, Simone. Simone. Because you're always out saving animals. Why are you calling her out like that? Because she'd be just doing shit without taking care of yourself, Simone. Simone. Because you're always out saving animals.

Why are you calling her out like that? Because she'd be just doing shit without taking care of herself. Right, I mean, the translation of that is... She's always saving animals, and you can't save animals if you're sick. You can't help others unless you tend to yourself first. What attracted you to this yogi path?

It's not selfish to take care of yourself first. If you're selfless, the blind dog comes first. All right, well, the blind dog's going to outlive you. Who's going to fucking take care of yourself first if you're selfless he kept the blind dog comes first all right well the blind dog's gonna outlive you who the fuck take care of blind dog i know for the listeners simone reyes is sitting right over here who who you've you've been russell's assistant for a long time assistant uh executive like how do you what i don't know what the what you would how you define the relationship now she's a film and television executive. That's what she does. But very avid animal activist, right?

Of course. And she's sitting there with Yoda, the blind dog. She takes care of except she spends time taking care of blind dogs. I personally couldn't give a fuck about a blind dog. I mean, I really don't care about animals as individuals. I don't understand how people could walk their dog about a blind dog. I mean, I really don't care about animals as individuals. I don't understand how people could, you know,

walk their dog with a fur coat. But at the same time, I don't understand how we can worry about one animal, saving the life of one animal. Of course, I do get, and it's in Scripture, and certainly it's such a non-translation of the Yoga Sutras, the story about the boy throwing the starfish back in, you know this story?

He's walking down the beach throwing starfish back in the water. Thousands of them scattered across the floor of the sand by the ocean. And the guy says, why are you trying to save these starfish? You can't save them. And he threw one in the water. He said, not that one. I did save that one. So that's the one at a time.

And one at a time always seemed not fruitless, but not as fruitful as making people aware of the massive suffering. But I think they need to identify to really help. So it's kind of a little two-edged sword. But like the 200 horses, they say, oh, they did a good deal. I said, I don't give a fuck if you say 70 of the 210 horses. I don't want kids to see the horses, Mayor de Blasio, at all, because then they see our exploitation, our nasty habits, our lack of concern for life. So it doesn't matter if there's less horses. I couldn't give a fuck about the 70 horses. And when I said it was the Holocaust,

they got all mad, Abe Foxman. I said the Holocaust was the 100 billion animals, 10 billion in America alone, birthed into a horrible life of suffering through rape and every other factory practice just to destroy the planet and poison its inhabitants. just to destroy the planet and poison its inhabitants. That, to me, is the big thing. And not saving one. The cow that jumped off the truck that ran away,

and most cows couldn't run. It was amazing. Ran around through Queens. Everybody chased it. Finally caught the cow. Put it in the animal reserve. People visit the cow. Yeah, well, it's like... But what about the other cow in the fucking truck?

I mean, it's like... It's half a steak after we see the cow yeah well it's like what about the other fucking truck i mean it's like i mean i have a steak after we see the cow i talked to gene bauer about this on the podcast a couple of times because of course at farm sanctuary he's rescuing these farmed animals right and he can't rescue all of them but it's almost like this symbolic act of just being in this place of being of service to these animals in whatever way that you can so it So it goes back to that starfish analogy. God favors those who do have high intention and do good work. I know that that's it. They say the world is in perfect order.

There's suffering, there's this, there's that. And you have to live in it and be a servant of it. And that's the spiritual path. I break from that path in some ways but then again i think it's still the same thing do the best you can with what you have what i have is a voice that can talk about the hundred billion animals not the dolphin they talk about the dolphins y'all want to talk about dolphins let's talk about it that's fucking horrible y'all want to talk about the two hippopotamuses that got their head cut off or whatever, they take their tusks? Yeah, talk about it. We don't

want extinct species, but it's not about each species, it's about each life. It's each life that matters. Rhinos? Rhinos, whatever. I'm saying, I like that Shannon Elizabeth went to save some rhinos. I like that people are saving one or two animals, but the massive slaughter is the worst karmic disaster in the history of the world. And that, to me, is a focus that, you know, without the kind of compassion that saves one animal, then I guess we won't ever, you know, save them all or change the way that we birth them, treat them. or change the way that we birth them, treat them. How do you think that you can most effectively get mainstream culture to remove this blind spot and get to actually understand what is going on on a fundamental kind of legislative, regulatory, and commercial level with respect to how we're raising animals for food? Because it's systemic. Like, we can all go vegan, and certainly that is the most powerful thing that we can do as an individual

on an individual basis to correct this horrific wrong. I mean, do things like the Happy Vegan. My daughter thinks my books are very simple. They're just so simple. She laughs at them. My last book, she was 11. She read it about meditation, said it was remedial at best. This book is no more highbrow than that. It's simple. 11 she read it about meditation said it was remedial at best this book is no more

highbrow than that it's simple you can read it uh i relied heavily on the the damage that the factory farming industry is doing it's an indictment of the factory farming industry in america and and it's a threat to your personal well-being. Aside from it talking about the karma and aside from it talking about the destruction of the planet, all those things that are very real reasons to go vegan, most people don't want heart disease. And if you're 20 years old or older and you're an African-American woman,

it seems like you're 50% likely to have some kind of heart disease. That should be enough for some people. They're afraid for their life. They're disconnected from the suffering. They don't believe the earth is going to stop spinning. It won't, but people won't be on it, but that's a different subject. They don't believe in those things. That doesn't touch them.

But going to the doctor and getting a bunch of new pills and getting really sick is what touches them. So the book relies a lot on that as a way to transform the lives of the people who read it. Yeah, and we were talking a little bit before the podcast. I mean, I read the book the other day. It's a very easy read and it's very, it's very extremely digestible, right? So anybody can pick this book up, read it, you know, pretty quickly and completely understand where you're coming from and also walk away with, you know, really practical tools and advice for how to make those changes. I don't know if you know this, but

in the back where you have a list of cookbooks, you listed our cookbooks. So I have you to thank for that. I appreciate that. Thanks a lot. But anyway, yeah, I think it has the potential and the power to really impact a lot of people. And for that, you know, I'm grateful that you've written the book. And my hope is that, you know, millions and millions of people read it. But as someone who kind of navigates the highest upper echelons of culture and business, when you're rubbing elbows with policymakers and CEOs, et cetera, it seems like the book is an effort from the bottom down to raise that awareness and help people make that change.

But how do we approach the problem from the top down with the people that are really responsible for policy? You get people like Bernie Sanders, and they say things. And everybody says, oh, yeah, well, what good is having them as president? They'll never get the shit done. Everybody should have health care. Everybody should have a two-year education for free. Everybody should, you know, we should raise the minimum wage dramatically. We should force people to have jobs on shore.

We should tax corporations at a reasonable rate. We should help, we should not let the one-tenth of one percent get all the money. We should have some distributed amongst the poor. These ideas. get all the money. We should have some distributed amongst the poor. These ideas. We should stop global warming, stop allowing them to waste our resources on building out these cows and, you know, and other animals. But, you know, when you have leaders who have big voices like a president who says things, whether the lobbyists have every senator or congressman in their pocket or not, there comes a time when a Republican congressman stops saying there's no man-made global warming. There comes a time when the people are educated on one subject or another so much so that you can't say that shit anymore.

You back away from the lobbyists like, I'm not fucking with you. What you're telling me to say is going to ruin my career. Your money can't even get me in office if I repeat what you're messaging. NRA convinced America they need guns. It's different. They got a little platform. Convinced people that the president's trying to take their guns away. They got a good little campaign going. People believe this shit. You see the president, but they're not wrong when they say the president wants to take guns. I thought it was so funny. He says, Michelle and I were riding, and Michelle said, I lived all the way out here in the woods somewhere.

I lived by myself. I think I'd want a shotgun. He didn't say, yes, honey, that's a good idea. He just didn't say anything. And what he really would like is to take everybody's assault weapon first. And then their rifle. Then their pistol. He would like it.

Then already, you know, you're right when you say the president would like to take all your guns. He wouldn't be wrong. He'd be like every other country that has good sense. But they have been convinced. And he's not going to be able to do it. All he did was try to enforce what laws we do have and he's still there crying about it, bitch ass. It's unbelievable that they're so powerful. Lobbies

run this country. We have to get rid of Citizens United. Two candidates both outsiders are saying how bad Citizens United is. One used to be my friend and said one of the most horrific things I can imagine. I hope he wins the nomination. It's Trump.

He said the best thing on stage, one good thing. I always watch it, entertaining as shit, until he's president. But he said, he's standing in the middle, he says, you know, money corrupts good people. He looked around the podium like, and all of the candidates looked like little girls

with mini skirts that should have longer skirts on. And all looked like whores. And I was sad, but it was true. He said, but I was glad that someone said it, and it was funny that Trump was the one to say it. Bernie Sanders, of course, exudes that freedom, gets his money from underserved community members, stands up for them, and tells the truth in regards to the lobby in some of the subjects that we care about.

Right. I mean, I think the first step is we have to change, eradicate, if not seriously change campaign finance, because without that, you know, that changes the landscape with lobbying and everything. You know, that changes the landscape with lobbying and everything. This is a funny story. I, along with Dennis Kucinich, wrote a constitutional amendment that we introduced that was ratified by Occupy. It was the only thing Occupy and Wall Street ever all agreed on. And then we took it and I spoke to the Progressive Caucus. They said, great idea. Nancy Pelosi was like, this is fantastic. Passed around an amendment written really nicely, really simply.

Legal issues around campaign finance regarding public funding. It had to be written in such a way that was, you know. So it was done, and all Democrats said, yeah, I want to do it. None of them really wanted to nobody nobody wants

a fair shot i'm already congressman fuck i'm gonna give a fair shot away i've been in congress 22 years you think i want my competitor to have to gain as much finance as i do everyone might my guarantee shoo-in shit right so nobody wants that not even democrats no republicans nobody they want it theoretically but they don't want it to impact their personal trajectory everybody wants it theoretically everybody wants people have a fair chance you know and ideas to win and the people to give the ideas that fuel that they need to actually get executed so yeah i mean so you know as somebody who like i i'm trying to like encapsulate your life and think about like the evolution of like how you went from, you know, basically, you know, a kid who's doing a lot of drugs start to become more and more aware of how all of these systems function and your responsibility as somebody who is a leader

and a public figure to speak to these issues. I think a lot of, in my community, if I really call, I have lots of communities, but I mean the hip-hop community, a lot of the guys are big, big voices. And the next thing you know, they realize that their voice is so valuable. And by the time their star has diminished and their voice doesn't shine as bright. So therefore, now they can't make a difference. All they can do now is be one of the people marching. And before they could organize the march just by calling for it.

People have 20, 30, 40 million Facebook followers. People have 25 million Instagram followers. It's unbelievable what they could do. Every so often you get one of them to Instagram something out or tweet something out that matters. It affects change. So I'm older and I'm still breathing, and I'm still, in some cases, my shit travels. So I'm lucky. But you learn when you're older. They all learn something when they're older.

There's more than the money they made. Their purpose is higher than the music, the money, the art, they exuded. Because now their purpose has enhanced. Their ability to execute on everyone's purpose is enhanced. Everyone is here as a servant. Everyone else, everything breathes because something else breathed before it. Every tree, every bumblebee, everything is all connected. If God were the ocean, we'd be cups of God. We are all servants of this one big living, breathing entity.

You realize that more and more as you become older, for the most part. You can't help but eventually realize it. But maybe some people say over lifetimes. Like say if God were a straight line, God or goodness, you walk this straight line. Yogis refer to choiceless awareness, thy will. Like there's thorns on either side, and you're walking. You get out of line, you scrape the fuck out your arm. Other side, scrape the fuck out your arm.

You eventually just walk straight. But it doesn't always happen instantly. So you get out of line, and shit feels good, and you float and scrape your arm. You always scrape your arm. And then eventually you learn to walk in order. This is what life, they say that's life's struggle or purpose,

is to evolve, to move you towards this service space where you work with all seven chakras, including taking care of the self, without feeling selfish. And your purpose is what's in your sahasara, the greatest

chakra, the service chakra. But it's because you've taken care of all the other six. It's the idea of non-harming becomes a natural first instinct. Not lying, not stealing. It's the brahmacharya control of all these. So the first of the eight

parts of yoga, the second, the third, for all in order, all together. All of these scriptural recipes. The science of religion. The sciences of the same one God told by many prophets over and over again in different languages, in different colors. You find out these things are true as you move more and more. So I don't know how in the fuck the Pope can tell you a woman can't preach. He's not quite sure about not judging, but not sure about gays.

But he doesn't know what dominion over the animals is. He hasn't said shit about the animals. How the fuck? Did you not read the Bible? Dominion over the animals. Well, I feel like dominion over the animals is completely misconstrued and misunderstood. Well, I am if they say it's okay to... Well, dominion, I mean, what's the definition of that word?

What does that mean? I mean, for me, I read that as a responsibility to tend and take care of. Yeah. It doesn't mean to dominate in the sense of destroy. No, it doesn't mean that at all. And no one can really actually make a case for that. All they can do is brush over it, act like it never hurt it. That's what they're doing.

They're being quiet on the issue because it's something that's just read it quickly and forget about it. And it kind of plays into just take advantage. But you don't want to say it because it sounds stupid to say it. You know it better than that. You know better than that. So it's an interesting discussion how religious people can have right in their scripture one thing and then do something totally different.

It's a reality we have in all religions. I don't think the Pope, such an enlightened person, for the most part, would say that. What was going on with you that attracted you to this yogi path in the beginning? I don't know. What brought you into this? I went and I told you the same reason you went. Girls. Just us and girls.

Full class. That's where it starts. 60 girls. Loud rap music. Steve Ross, right? Played Fuck the Police when 60 girls, loud rap music, Steve Ross, right? Played Fuck the Police when we were going to yoga. We loved it, right? That's how we got started.

It's amazing we have that scene. It's a landing pad. It's like a starting place. I was in the peaches where they taught yoga sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, the Hatha Yoga Padipika. You had to study the textbook of yoga psychology. If you were there, you were vegan. I mean, it was like this real hardcore yoga place.

My gurus helped me. At Jiva Mukti. Yes. My gurus helped me to evolve more by reminding me of what's the truth in yoga scriptures as well. Who were those gurus? Sharon and David at Jiva Mukti. So they really remove us of darkness, right? Guru.

The meaning of guru. So they were great for that. And then I decided I liked hot vinyasa. So now I'm always in these places that are like gyms sometimes. They're just hot. Like Steve's class, but it gets hot anyway, but not at 105 degrees. So I go

to those classes all the time. I'm building a yoga studio. Yeah, I read about that. It's called Tantras? Tantras. Tantras. Yeah, where's that going to be? It's going to be at the entrance of the solar house. Oh, wow. You know, if I taught Oprah through Bob Roth to meditate, and if I taught Ellen DeGeneres

through Bob Roth to meditate, if I pushed these people with big mouths to meditate, they pushed millions. And that is an amazing... That's what I say about the big picture. So imagine if I have my Tantras, and it's there, the entrance where Sotheby's is, 9200 Sunset, and that's Tantras. And that's where we're going to build out.

It's going to look like a temple. Is that going to be on the, which floor is that going to be? It's going to be on the ground floor with all the clothes and the juice bar, you know, green juice bar. I'm even going to have a dry bar. I mean, now that I have a girlfriend, it's probably fruitless, but I used to, like, take girls to yoga all the time, and they would say, no, I can't go because my hair would be fucked up. And so now I'm going to put a dry bar.

How many girls can't go to hot yoga? You probably have a girlfriend, but if you didn't and you invited a girl, you'd say, I don't know, my hair, a dry bar, a dance, or someone have a dry bar, a juice bar, clothing, and you go upstairs, there'd be three hot rooms, probably two hot rooms and one room that can be hot, you know, in case I want to have. So you can go to yoga, and you can get your blow dry, and then go up to Soho House afterwards. Yeah, you could, if you're a member, exclusive, they are. But I went, you know, and I feel like it'll be a school of yogic science

or a center for yogic science. And I want to play Krishna Das and Kanye West. And I want to give people and I always say, Steve, why don't you fucking teach? Our first teacher, why don't you teach? You're deeply studied. You're a raw foodist for 40

years. Why don't you say, not preachy, just say, share with people something about the path. What are the eight parts of yoga? It's a science for happiness. Why can't you share that? People are happy in his class, but I'm saying nothing. Right. And I feel like it's interesting because he seems to take a lot of heat for being sort of this rock and roll yoga where he doesn't really teach at all. And what most people don't

realize that he is one of the most practiced yogis that I've ever met. The way that that guy lives his lifestyle is like true blue. And he is an incredible font of knowledge. Eckhart Tolle lived in his nigga's backyard. I went and heard Eckhart Tolle speak before he blew up and was on Oprah. Steve had him come and talk at Maha.

And there were like 20 people there. No one was there before anybody who was there. He gave me the book and I gave it to Oprah. How about that? You were the guy. I gave the book to Oprah. That's interesting. She tried to say that Goldie Hawn gave it to her.

I was like, you know, I know. And Oprah is like my girl. She actually let me talk about it last time we were on a show. I said, a blonde woman didn't give you the book. I know it's your audience, but I gave you a book,

a hip-hop nigga. I didn't say nigga, because she's Oprah. But a hip-hop guy gave you that book. She says, I don't know. Goldie Hawn gave it to me. Helen Hunt was always there, right?

Right, that's right. But in all fairness, all the people she said gave it to her as well all went to Steve's class too. Interesting. But I think I gave it to her first because she looked totally... When I gave it to her, me, her, and Gail, having lunch, having

early dinner at Cipriani's, and I gave her the power of now. And the next thing I know, she was blowing him up. So maybe she got it from more than one person. I gave it to her first. I tell her that all the time. And we laugh about it.

Why do you think that Steve is reluctant to impart his knowledge, though? Because there are different roles for different people, maybe. Maybe Steve finds it to be preachy. But I see people in the class, although they're not stuck,

they've been going to the class for 20 years, they have not even read the Yoga Sutras. They've never considered that this idea of smile and breathe in every pose, this idea of the physical asana, is just to gain an asana, a seat in life. To be comfortable in your seat and operate from that space is yoga's goal. So to say it now and then in different ways is okay to me, but not to him. So people, I see people evolve because Steve introduced him to yoga, many, many, many people.

But in terms of their interest in the knowledge about yoga or about yogic science, but I see people who just go to the class. It's a workout. They do it regularly. They might as well go to Pilates. Right. I feel like on some level, though, it's also kind of an evolved perspective that he has because he understands that if you that if that seed gets planted that you'll go on your own journey with it like you have like i have a copy of the yoga sutras right so if you like if you solicit that he will give it to you but if you're like is my leg in the right place in this position he'll just say you're fine because he understands like he's passed up just if you're a girl that's true never put his hand on me i don't want his hands on me but i know he has never adjusted me ever

he adjusts 800 girls per class and never touched me in 22 years so let's talk about meditation for a little bit. This is something you've been doing for three or four years. I'm not looking to get touched, in case Steve's listening. All right. I'm just saying it's funny. I don't know if Steve's listening, too. But Steve, we love you.

Can we get some green juice? That shit must be poison from last time I was here, right? No, I just bought it this morning. Oh, word? Yes. Oh, good. I want one. Okay.

As somebody who's been, how long have you been meditating? 30 years? No. How long have you been doing this? 20 years. 20 years. All right. 20 years. have you been meditating? 30 years? No. 20 years. 20 years. I've been meditating probably 18 years.

Right. And if you had to encapsulate the benefits of meditation in your life, how would you articulate that? My name is Rush. I like my quiet time every day. Love it. Love it. It's self-reflection. It's personal. You get a chance to watch your

life. If you were to be in moving meditation at all times, or if you were to find a second of pure stillness in meditation, it's such an enlightening thing a joke what happens everything goes away but the giggle if you get the future and the past meditation is to get hundreds of thoughts out of your mind slow them down to 4 or 5 or 8 or 10 or 12

or whatever it is or maybe one thought your mantra this idea of quieting the mind or rebooting the mind has so many benefits, it's unbelievable. It's like now, it's not just, you know, the Buddhists and scriptures, and it's not just be still and know. It's not just a bunch of rigmarole from all the prophets all the time. It's not just that crap.

It's Science Journal. It backs up what they've been doing for thousands of years. It changes the way the brain functions. It grows the gray matter in the brain. It connects the left and the right side of the brain. And that leads to a better immune system, better memory, better, you know, able to function and live longer. And it does all these things for you.

So now you know through science that what they've been promising you is good, is really good. So that's like, how could you not want to do that? Right, and I feel like meditation is having a big moment right now. It's really kind of burst onto the mainstream because of all these scientific studies

that are coming up with all of this information that you just spoke to. And I think that people intellectually understand all of this, and yet they can't get over that hump. They just say, you know, I'm just too busy. Like, I get it, but it's just never going to happen. And very few people are as busy as you are. I think I do more, and I do less. I meditate every single day. I don't give a fuck if I was negotiating between Putin and Obama some great deal that had to get done and I was the mediator.

If my last class of yoga today was going to close, I like to be with people. I like to do it. If that class wasn't going to happen because I'm stuck with these two niggas, I would leave them and say, y'all fix it yourself. I would not miss my yoga class at any time, and I would not miss my morning meditation. So first chakra first, and I think I'm a better servant because of it, and I don't make exceptions if I can help it. I mean, I've been on planes. This is a priority.

It's stuck on planes and missed yoga. It's happened, but not possible. If it's possible to get there, in any city, no matter where I travel i find yoga and no matter where i travel i i sit in the space i don't think you need to go anywhere to meditate i don't need to go to an ashram i sit in my bed i sit up straight i meditate but the point i make is that i don't miss taking care of myself and those two things are part of my you know taking care of myself and what is a meditation uh protocol of my, you know, taking care of myself.

And what does a meditation protocol for you look like? Is it like Vedic or TM? TM. Yeah, TM. What kind of TM? I'm on the board. I love to give it to students. I gave away a mass mantra in my book, which I know is, you know, everybody's mantra is secret in TM.

The one I paid $2,500 for, no one knows. I paid for the motherfucker motherfucker and it's my secret and I do use it. Who taught you? Bob Roth. I bet you gave a lot of niggas the same mantra, but it's okay. No one will know because you can't say it. Everybody's vibration is different. I don't know how these monks or

teachers, and I always call my guy a monk. Bob Roth, the guy I sent to Oprah, the guy I sent to everybody, like Russell Brown, that guy, he eats lunch. His last meal is at 2 o'clock. So the sun's fires and digestive system. I said, how did that come to that?

He said, well, it's in our very science. How did you come to do it? I came to do it. Like when you know what's right, you eventually start doing more and more of what's right until one day it becomes your routine. He lives like a, I mean, he's a monk. He hasn't had sex in 38 years.

Are you fucking kidding me? And he said, not interested. He laughed. He gets a little shy. I said, you gay? You want to fuck me? No, no, no, Russ. I'm not interested.

Are you kidding me? That's the last thing I want to do. Do you want to fuck a girl? Not really, no. Do you want to meet a girl? Not really, no. Not interested. He meet a girl? Not really, no. Not interested. He's like a monk for real.

Right. Bob Roth, who runs the Maharishi Institute on the David Lynch Foundation, is a beautiful, beautiful person. He taught Ellen to meditate. They call him Meditation Bob in these circles, like Katy Perry and all of them. He taught Ellen, what's her name? You know, Gwyneth Paltrow. All these celebrities. Right.

And I understood, intellectually, I understand how it is that I get a place at the table some places because I sell ideas to it, a big picture. But I don't get that an enlightened person would buy into the big picture in the stupid way that I do. That's why I said I kind of think it's weird that I don't like one animal, but I like a lot. I care for a lot of animals. Because you should like one. Your compassion should be small or big, and it should not matter. But I think being

effective matters. So teaching Oprah, or putting me at the head of the table, to ask me if I want to host a party for His Holiness Dalai Lama. I said, my house? Yeah, I love hosting parties. I said, fuck yeah, please, great.

He said, $2,500. No. $25,000 or something? No. $25,000? No. If it's a birthday party for somebody else, it's an honor to have it.

I am too. $25,000? No. I didn't want to do it. I don't like, sometimes I feel unworthy. I got three proclamations Sunday. Sunday. I put these things on my wall.

I have them all over my house, these awards. Other people do the work, I get the award. Peace Week. Erica Ford does Peace Week Erica Ford does Peace Week and every year I host through Rushcard I host the Mothers for the Deceased

beautiful dinner in Queens served them vegan food Amadou Diallo's mother example, so many mothers who lost their children through violence. A greater number through police violence are in this group than I would have thought. Because I know it's a lot of kids killed themselves, but it was a greater number.

And I realized, wow, there is a great percentage of these kids. Anyway, they've been very, very successful. The I Love My Life Life Camp program, and I support it, and I support that dinner. I got three proclamations. State councilman, state senator, you know. If I'm getting all these awards for it, these people do all this work. All I do is support it, tweet about it,

and raise their money and give them money. So I got my shit, and I don't devalue it. I still like the proclamations more than the gold records, but I realize it's just playing a role next to the person who's doing the work. God favors those who are doing the work, I'm sure, over those who are just high on Bill Gates. They probably like him, too. I gave him $100 billion, whatever the fuck he gave.

But the guy in the jungle administering the drug, saving the animal, the person, the whatever, the guy who's struggling and giving, you know, with purpose, he's favored for sure. If there's like, you know, if there's that kind of God. Boots on the ground, hand-to-hand service. You know what it is? Boots on the ground is some shit.

That's Simone. What's wrong with her? She'd be out there holding dead animals and shit, laying inside plastic, blood all over, looking like a piece of meat, naked.

I walked out of there, I was like, really? You know, I'm not doing that. But, you know, I fund it if she wants to go

get naked, cover herself in plastic in 100 degree weather, laying in the street. Picture what around the world. It goes back to all voices. All voices, exactly. We need the happy vegan, and we do need the angry vegan.

I'm going to meditation. I'm going to yoga. I'm going to go sit up in that expensive theater with the big seats and watch Leonardo while she's going to Crossroads. You know what I mean? While she's out there laying in blood. Laying in blood. Right. Laying in blood is probably better.

As someone who's walking this path of Ahimsa, no harm, how has this... Affected by shell-toe Adidas? No. For instance? I like that. I want to call them niggas. I think it's time. They haven't given me any money.

They just redid Pharrell's deal. His red shell toes, I wear them. They're red, but they're leather. And I want to see if it's time now. Can I keep talking? We need more cool vegan shoes. That's for sure. Say that to Adidas.

We're going to call Adidas right after we get off this. That should be something you should look into and solve. I want to speak to whoever the boss boss is. I don't know. He is. I mean, how do you do that? look into and solve. I want to speak to whoever the boss boss is. I don't know, he is, I mean, how do you do that?

His predecessor, that was the predecessor before the predecessor could remember, whatever, the guy back could remember that the song saved their life

and these shell toes saved their company and we can make these vegan and I can brand them and I can give them money in charity and I want them to do that.

That's like a no-brainer. It's a no-brainer. Cost them nothing. It's additional. I see too many old motherfuckers walking around with shell toes. I don't want them to do that. That's like a no-brainer. It's a no-brainer. Cost them nothing. It's additional. I see too many old motherfuckers walking around with shell toes. I was hanging out with Marlon right now I'm promoting. In the movie. Yeah,

right. Marlon Wayans, Tyrese, the other Wayans who was having a baby with my niece, Vanessa. All of us were sitting around in white-on-white shell toes. I said, fuck. I thought that we, you know, I was like, old people still buy sneakers, and we

buy, a lot of us buy shell toes. And young people be rocking shell toes. My daughter, Rita Ora, made some new shell toes. I want these niggas to give them money. All right. All right, so, this path of Ahimsa, like, how has this in the long term

like impacted your relationships and how has it influenced how you parent your kids i make my kids read my books and write reports on them i don't do that no no my trapper no. My ex-wife makes my kids read my books and do reports on them. But she has an alligator Birkenbeck. She gets everything I want to teach my kids. She teaches them what she wants to teach them. They're A students. They're great people.

One of them wants to run Goldman Sachs. And so that's why she's in a certain boarding school, because she wanted to go there when she was 11 because that's where her plan was. And she's inspired to do that. The other one, I sent her to boarding school with her because she had 200,000 Instagram followers and she just turned the shit on.

And her mother's famous and she's in Beverly Hills. I'm like, you know what, you can go take your ass to that country too and go to boarding school. The mother doesn't want me to tell what country they're in. No one's going to go to that country and kidnap them. But I'm not going to say. But they're in a boarding school, a great boarding school. And it's good if you want to be in Goldman Sachs, and it's good if you don't want to be a Beverly Hills brat.

Anyway, but they're in a good boarding school. They have to wash their own clothes. And are your daughters vegan or no? No. No, they're not. No, they're in a good boy in school. They have to wash their own clothes. And are your daughters vegan or no? No. No, they're not. No, they're not. But at least they're not eating American meat. Their mother is very conscious of what American poison they serve them

because their mother and their stepfather, their stepfather read my book. He reads my books. He's a good friend. You know, he isn't, he calls me and says, you know what I just read? Beef Gives You Cancer. I said, you read my fucking book.

He said, yeah, but none of the scientific study. I said, I was quoting scientific studies. It's like, you know, people like your friends don't believe you. Her husband Tim is my friend.

Yeah. And he's like, yeah, Russell, you and your happy vegan shit. You know, he's probably a conservative, but never talked politics with me.

And he's very sweet. He's like one of those guys Measured, because he runs Goldman Sachs Asia He's brilliant Smart, good influence on my kids In many ways But, you know We almost got in a fight with some Albanians

When we were on vacation together I was on his boat He's about to blow up their car, he's not a joke He's a smart, strong German guy. Like, you know, straight Arnold Schwarzenegger type nigga. Great. My kids love him. He's loving. He's hardworking.

He's family first. But he's a different guy to me. So he read my book. It's a good book. I like the way he gave me notes, everything. But then when he read it and somewhere else he tells me what I said, it's in my book. And it just reminded me how friends respond to you. I can't make none of my friends do shit. No, it's interesting. Yeah.

You know that, right? It doesn't work that way. Your close friends are like, fuck you. No, they don't listen to me. Yeah. Oprah, I get her to meditate. But Kamara made my kids sit still with me for two years. Right. She'd walk in the room where we'd meditate every morning before school. And if she catches one of them with their eyes open, they're in trouble.

If she catches one of them giggling or playing, she's in trouble. Sit your ass fucking down. And when they sit down, they would disappear. But if she walked in and they weren't, she'd do it again. Kamara, you just meditate. Make them meditate. Interesting. She would make them do.

And I always worry that they'll do what she does, which is not bad, it's just different. Instead of what I, what she says. Well, that's bad. What she does, some things she does is just the way of the world. She has all the best bags, all the best stuff. She's a high-end

fashion designer. She has a shop on Beverly. And she makes beautiful, expensive stuff. And my a high-end fashion designer. She has a shop on Beverly. And she makes beautiful, expensive stuff. And my daughter's like, what, this scarf? So I take her to buy a scarf. I can't say no to nothing because I'm the dad who doesn't even live there. So they live in another country in boarding school. So when they come home and Daddy takes them shopping, I took them through Soho.

I showed them all this beautiful shit. There was these handmade, beautiful silken cotton scarves with ohms all over them. It looked real fashion-y, right? And they were really nice. You've probably seen these kind of things, but not in this fabric.

It was beautiful. They were like $40. They were really nice. I don't think they were handmade. I mean, they were really sweet. I go to Chanel. I see a little bullshit scarf made out of fake, cheap-ass fabric.

It's like $1,200. She said, Daddy, this is the one I want. I collect Chanel scarves. So I got her a Chanel scarf. I took her out in the street, and I bought her a piece of jewelry from one of the vendors in the street that she wears to this day. It's very beautiful. That was handmade, and it cost nothing. And you can walk in, you know,

or maybe buy a little piece of plastic shit to wrap around your wrist. That shit is $500. It's unbelievable what branding can do. And the way it affects people and how people buy into it and why they buy it. I don't know why at all.

Sometimes the quality of shit is good. Kimora had on some sweater, and I was, like, touching it. We went to the movies. She had bought the theater out for Ming's birthday. Had all of her friends from school, ex-friends from school come. I went, but my girlfriend. It was fun. We watched that movie with the three girls.

Not that good, like the grown-up version of Project X. What was it called? Girls? You know Simone. Girlfriends? No, they just now came out. Sister. Oh, sister. Like a grown version of Project X. I didn't see it. I heard about it.

It was pretty bad. But it was funny moments throughout the whole thing. It wasn't for old Project X people. It was crazy. But anyway, we went there and she had on this like like, coat, scarf. And I touched it. What the fuck is this? Who makes this?

She said, you don't know. She said, it costs more than your car. Because Camora's really rich. She said, it costs more than your car, asshole. Chanel. And my girlfriend said, that's Chanel. So it was a particular kind of a coat that was like a scarf or whatever the fuck. I don't know if it cost more than my car, but it was nice enough that I touched it.

Like, wow, that's nice. Just get your paws off it. Right. So anyway. All right. What do you think about that, the branding thing? Well, I think it's incredibly powerful. On some level, people want to pay more. They want to be associated with a certain mark, a certain label, because that says something about who they are and where they stand in the world.

So psychologically, I think it's really complicated. Look, you're a master marketer. You understand this, how this works. But it's just, I mean, but, you know, like my clothing, I moved them to pennies. Like my clothing, I moved them to pennies. I'm telling you, moving your clothes from pennies to Macy's, there is a moment where there's a certain thing quality-wise that you have to figure your way around or don't make something or something you can't make.

But that's a different, those two price points are not dramatically different, but there's a real difference. So in the shirt, the construction of a certain shirt at a certain moment, certain all-gallon sweater can't have as many colors. It will cost. There's a moment. But the moment between the $1,200 scarf and the $200 scarf doesn't exist that I'm aware of.

How do you... But I want to serve as pennies because I want to make the same quality for Macy's And put in pennies Which for the most part is what I'm doing And I'm going to ship 300 stores in next month Are all the garments that you make vegan? Like how do you reconcile like being a vegan

I don't have any leather clothes In commerce at that level I don't have any leather Where there's ultimately compromises I don't make anything that's non-vegan I wear leather Adidas I'm calling them now like we said I don't really make that's non-vegan. I wear leather Adidas. I'm calling them now, like we said. I don't really make...

Well, I wear leather coats because they're too blatant and obvious. I don't... And I don't like them. And, you know, like, people get mad because, like, my book, they said I ate fish off my friend's plate sometimes or I cheated or whatever.

Like, a lot of animal rights people. Like, fuck you. You're already vegan. Leave me alone. I don't care what you think. And I did eat fish off my friend's plate. I don't know if I got mercury poisoning from the little bit I ate off their plate,

but, you know, I did. And somebody wrote a letter and said, I wrote chicken and fish. No, I don't eat chicken off people's plate. And in the beginning of the year, I go complete. Like, I'm more of a monk. Towards the end of the year, I start lighting up, having a glass of red wine, doing dumb shit.

All the way to New Year's Eve, where I act a fucking fool. But mostly, I live a very straight life. And I probably won't have... I won't probably eat fish off somebody's plate until August. Who knows when the fuck I'll do that? I mostly don't do these things. But I like people.

It's accessible. I'm real. We fall off the wagon. We get back on it, this stuff. I want people to be able to digest this message and not feel threatened by it. Yeah, I think what happens is people find a reason to disconnect from it because they just find it to be so inaccessible or impossible. There's no way I could live my life that monastically, so I'm not even going to try.

Yeah, so the absolute is not always easy. I do believe, though, I'm always good at picking a day and saying, I'm not going to do this after that day. I'm not going to have one instead of two. I'm not going to have one cigarette instead of two. That's just stupid to me. Some people are good at weaning themselves off bad ideas. I mostly get rid of them. What do you think is the biggest misconception about you that you'd like to correct? I don't think there's any misconceptions. I'm so transparent. People probably know I'm a piece of shit in ways that I am and I'm a servant in ways that I am.

I mean, I don't know. I really don't know. I look at black blogs and say, I hate my mother. I'm dating this blonde girl, right? She said she was 20, but she's actually 28. She said she was 40 years younger than me, but she's actually 30 years younger than me. Anyway, what was interesting is, I could date, like, I date, I have dated anything. Only dates white women.

Doesn't like himself. You know, I mean, I've seen that lately. That was yesterday. That's why I noticed, anyway, yesterday. But, I mean, I love everybody. I really like all kinds of people. I love diversity. I'm interested in, Minister Farrakhan is my second father,

and I work to fight anti-Semitism for a living. I don't have a point. I'm not an angry liberal. Roger Ailes is my friend. I believe he believes himself. I don't believe a word he says. I try to tell him why I believe what I believe. I let people be. That's not a miscarriage. Everybody wants me to be on their side. If

they know me and if I'm working for them in some capacity, they say, why don't I just be on their side? Why would I say I cheat when I'm vegan? Why would I say, you know, people get disappointed that, they say, why would you go on Fox News? I say, well, you know, talk, have an argument with O'Reilly. We don't even yell, he and I, when said, why would you go on Fox News? I said, well, you know, talk, have an argument with O'Reilly. We don't even yell, he and I, when I, you know, you're feeding them. You know, they're going to be okay already. They're already a big show. They have more ratings than everybody.

Can we give them a, and say it in a way people can digest it? Can we say things in a way that other sides, the idea of having imams and rabbis talk was a horrible idea at one time. We're doing it in 50 countries. Having imams and synagogues and rabbis and mosques. I feel like that's the thing.

Like, people think that I should be one way or another, and I don't know how to be any of those ways. I think it's really interesting that you're able to have these friendships with people that are on you know a very different side of the fence from Roger Ailes and this kind of famous relationship that you have with Donald Trump and that kind of head well yeah the viral moment writing the letter everybody wanted me to ask you if you've talked to him since I have not spoken to him you haven't

and um I don't know if he's going to call me until he wins the nomination. No, until he wins the presidency. He said I'm going to get 100% of the black vote. That was the best line I've ever heard. What are you talking about? The blacks, they love me. Yeah. He said that.

It's interesting. But, I mean, that aside, the fact that you can be friends with people that share a very different point of view, I think is a really kind of powerful thing. And I think it's unusual. People have difficulty understanding how that could possibly be. They said I'm an asshole for having had a friendship. To me and Reverend Jackson, there's a story in the New York Times about our opinions about his statements. And both of them said that's a different Trump than we know.

You know, we both said things that were not so bad about him, attacked his words, but not him. And he said we were both sellouts. Like if I had been a civil rights activist. Wait, who said that? It was a big story on an important black blog. I say important like one of the ones that where, you know, it's not a blog like gossip. It was like, you know, a news blog. It's not a blog like gossip.

It was like a news blog. And it was this editorial written about how this perfect example of what sellouts look like and sound like. And it had come from that New York Times article. But I find it's okay. I mean, because a Republican governor was the one that signed. The most important thing I've ever done is change the Rockefeller drug laws. Thousands of people came home from jail. It was a Republican governor who signed a bill and gave me the pen because I was friendly with Governor Pataki. And that helped to build a bridge. And I negotiated between Senator

Bruno and Shelley Silva the deal. I got in trouble with the lobbyists, too. It cost me a lot of money, but that's another subject. But it's okay to get along with people you disagree with. In fact, it's critical that we all try to put ourselves in other people's shoes because I believe that we all have the same hopes, desires. We're all inspired by the same kinds of things. We want to love and be loved. And I know there are some small differences that really exist in us. That's from socialization or whatever.

And we have to get over those and find the sameness and work on, you know, operating from that space on. And that's an important kind of premise to operate from. It's easy. Right, right. Easier. Life is easier if you decide to love people rather than judge them. It comes from empathy.

Once you develop a capacity or a reservoir for empathy, you're able to kind of see somebody else's point of view. Even if you don't share it, you can understand it in a certain way that I think allows you to build a bridge. Yeah. So the book's The Happy Vegan. It's an easy way out for those who think it's difficult to become vegan. A very easy way out. It also is a little bit about your personal health, a lot about your

personal health and how the American factory farming industry is poisoning you. The book could be called A Happy Vegan or The Poisoning of America. There is no one protecting you. The FDA is not protecting you. No one is. And they're giving you food that's causing cancer and heart disease and diabetes. I mean, there's just a lot of crap that's being fed to us. And so we have to make choices ourselves to save our families. If we're adults, we want to keep eating the same barbecue beef that if you eat as a 30--year protein, it's 20 cigarettes a day, so much carcinogens you're ingesting. If you want to have 20 cigarettes a day, go right ahead, shoot yourself in the head if you like. Don't do it to your kids. Don't share. Don't say,

I had a hot dog, my kid could have a hot dog, because your hot dog is different from your kid's hot dog. So it talks about the compassion issue, which is, I think, a critical one, a karmic disaster. And it talks about this fact that if we keep it up, there won't be an inhabitable planet for human beings very soon. So that threat is looming. Your cancer is a threat that's looming. And your karma is being destroyed.

So let's try to move away from that towards a plant-based diet and become better servants of God if we're God-fearing, better servants of our community if we love our community, if we feel connected. Let's make that a better mantra. So the book's available. That's it. I love it, man.

Yeah, one out of every three Americans will die of heart disease Let's make that a better mantra. So the book's available. That's it. I love it, man. Yeah, one out of every three Americans will die of heart disease by 2030. 50% of Americans will be diabetic or pre-diabetic. 70% of Americans are obese or overweight. Meanwhile, we're destroying the planet at an unfathomable rate. The amount of water, land, resources required to run our current food system and animal agriculture is reprehensible. It's polluting our oceans at an alarming rate. It's causing species extinction. It's raping the rainforests.

And the karmic debt that we're accumulating by this massive slaughter is unjustifiable on every level. on every level. And with respect to the healthcare statistics, I imagine that they increase precipitously when you look at the African American population and as you slide down the socioeconomic scale. We're at a crisis point. I think we're also at a very interesting and exciting moment where openness to the vegan movement, to the vegan lifestyle, to trying to live our life in a more sustainable sort of, you know, karmically aligned way has never been, you know, more well received or in vogue. And I, like yourself, share a certain level of optimism for that. that and i appreciate your level of advocacy and activism in this arena because you could be doing anything with your free time and you're making this choice to do this which i think speaks to you and and your character and i think it's awesome to see where this is all going to be heading that's a great wrap-up i mean all that stuff's in the book and all that obvious stuff that you and i

discussed and the way you repeat it and wrapped it up is brilliant because it's kind of you can't argue with that you know the argument that's built around and you said one interesting thing I want to add to you said that it's becoming in vogue uh books like this are becoming more accessible likely be a times bestseller the other ones have it's likely to be visible in places like Dr. Oz took us on and everybody's taking us on. So we're on these shows.

We're getting this voice out. But we absolutely have to do it. So I think that's why it's involved. You have to do it. We're going to fucking die. You're going to be plant-based whether you like it or not if this planet exists long enough

because we can't continue to feed the planet the way that we're doing it. It just doesn't work any other way. It doesn't work. Thank you so much for having me on your blog, man. I love talking to like-minded people. You're not angry that I tell you this. I share with you information and you spit it back at me even more concise. So it's really, really important

to spread the word and do it the way that they can digest it because Simone's going to kick him in the ass. So we'll say it nicely and Simone, you can kick him in the ass. Thank you so much. Alright man, thanks. Great to talk to you, Russell. Peace. That was good.

Blance. Alright everybody, I hope you guys enjoyed that. Peace. That was good. Blance. All right, everybody. I hope you guys enjoyed that. Like I said, definitely unique. Tyler, what did you think? Yeah, it was a great, free-forming, kind of cool, eclectic conversation. Yeah, I mean, it was a little bit different, a little less straightforward than my typical conversations. But he's so charismatic.

He has such a big personality, and I thought it was really engaging. I think there's some good takeaways there. So anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Make sure to make a point of checking out the show notes on the episode page for this week. Lots of links to take your edification and your infotainment beyond the earbuds. And I've got Tyler Pyatt here in the podcast studio. Say hi, Ty. Hi. So Tyler, many of you know, has been my producer. He's my son, my stepson. And I think from day one, pretty much, Tyler has been boots on the ground, the guy who assembles the podcast. Week in, week out, the theme music that you hear was uh performed by tyler and

harrison right i think harrison actually wrote the theme music yeah harry and i harry did like the like the little ditty and then i just did some chords on top of it we did it in the warehouse right quiet on like the laptop right i know that well the funny thing about the theme music is that uh when we first started the podcast episode one i went to you guys and I was like, I need some theme music. Can you guys mock something up? It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be great. I just need something to get going and we can replace it later.

And you guys did it in like an hour and that's still the theme music. And the idea was that I was going to swap it out with something a little more, you know, you spend a little more time and make something a little more, I don't know, whatever. And it just kind of stuck. And to this day, it's still the theme music. Yeah, it's kind of funny. I remember like you've asked me a bunch of times to like, you know, see if I was inspired to like do more. And nothing ever happened.

Well, actually, I did. I've had a couple ideas, but funny enough, they weren't any more energetic. And one I just like, so I wrote a song around it and just took it for myself. Oh, well, thanks, man. Yeah, I'm still waiting for the new theme music. So there's a door wide open for that when you guys can get it together. Once I record that song, I'll give it to you. All right, cool.

get it together. Once I record that song, I'll give it to you. All right, cool. So the reason that Tyler is joining me for the outro to this episode is for two different reasons. The first reason is that I just wanted to thank him formally and on air for all the hard work that he's done. Tyler is going to be moving on and we're going to get into that in a second. But thank you, Tyler. I know that you've been very devoted and dedicated to making sure that this show could be the best that it could be. Every week, Tyler's the guy that puts the whole thing together. So he's going to be moving on to greener pastures, and before he departs,

I just wanted to give him a shout-out on air and say thank you. Yeah, thank you. It means a lot. Yeah, it's been a family affair from day one. It's going to feel weird to have somebody else working on it. I don't know who that person is going to be yet. I should probably look into that. I'm probably going to have to edit these myself for a little while until

we find somebody to step in and take over that responsibility. But you've done a great job and you're a big part of this show and the success that it's garnered and uh it's been great working with you yeah likewise thank you so tyler is moving on because first and foremost tyler is a musician uh he is in a band they just named the band it's called analema a n a and the new word lemma l e L-E-I-M-M-A. And that band is

comprised of Tyler, who writes songs and performs basically every instrument. Mainly a guitar player, but you play every instrument. And Trapper, who's sitting over in the corner over there, who plays drums. Say hey, Trapper. Hello. How's it going going trapper was with me for the russell episode what did you think of russell he's very charismatic but he's going to talk about what he wants to talk about yeah it's kind of it's kind of the thing where he's he's just talking and you kind of have to adjust around him right and that's the thing i think with really charismatic successful people like that but it was fun right it was fun to meet him he super cool. We hung out and chatted for quite a long time after the podcast, and he couldn't have been more engaging, and it was a good time.

But anyway, Trapper's the drummer in the band, and Harrison Mathis, who's my nephew, is also in the band, as well as Dylan Brosnan. And these guys are getting ready to record their first album. They've outfitted our garage and transformed it into a professional recording studio, and they're going to be recording on 24-track analog. So you have this giant console in the garage that looks like a relic from Cape Canaveral in the 1960s

with the reel-to-reel tapes and the whole thing. It's quite a production. They've been trying to get this whole thing configured and ready for quite some time, and now the day has arrived. So they're going into the studio to do that, and that's going to obviously monopolize all of Tyler's time. These guys are extremely talented. The music is really unique and quite beautiful.

I think it's unlike anything you've ever heard. And we're going to take the show out today with a demo of one of their songs. It's called Be Still. I think Tyler would want me to say that it is indeed a demo. This was not recorded in analog, right? No, this is like, I mean, it is digital. It still sounds good.

But yeah, I mean, it's not the not the final yeah not the final final but good enough where we feel you know comfortable putting it out and sharing and um yeah a good reason for like people to sort of start getting involved other than like we are a band which just like there's no so we kind of are reviving our pathetic facebook page and i know you just put a fake, you're very social media resistant, uh, you know,

so you're, you're not exactly engaged online, but now the day has kind of arrived where you kind of have to step into that world a little bit. So they put up a Facebook page. Uh, it's facebook.com forward slash. Analema.

Yeah. Analema music, A N A L E I M M A music. So check that out. And how would you describe the band and your music? I would say it is like sort of like a really candid kind of left-of-field singer-songwriter chorus. So like Harry and I just write with an acoustic guitar to start most times. And then kind of, like, building around sort of, like, a Nick Drake-y,

Neil Young-y type of core. Like, a lot of atmospheric and ambient touches that are really, like, I don't know, we want it to be, like, forward-thinking and very spatial so that you kind of, I don't know, get, like, a vibe. And there's, like, a setting for the song that's unique and interesting and transporting. Right. Yeah, it's sort of, it has a Nick Drake, Bob Dylan

vibe, but also very influenced by bands like Radiohead and Grizzly Bear and quite interestingly you have Chris from Grizzly Bear who's kind of been mentoring you guys and you're going to start another reason why you're stopping with the podcast is you're going to start um working with him on production stuff right yeah I'm yeah I'm going to be like uh yeah his like assistant

a few days a week so right start school start tomorrow morning yeah cool so we're gonna we're gonna take the show out with Be Still um anything you want to say about this particular song and what it's all about? Let me think. I mean, yeah, this has been an interesting song. It's gone through a lot of changes. And yeah, I mean, it's kind of like, yeah, this one definitely has kind of more of a Neil Young thing going on. But yeah, I mean, it's just kind of about of like a Neil Young thing going on, but yeah,

I mean, it's just, it's just kind of about connecting and trying to connect with people and, and having your own kind of inner dialogue about it. It's very impressionistic. So I think people can get whatever they want out of it. And I think just in terms of the emotion, yeah,

I mean, it's kind of, it's very like melancholic. I think that's sort of a thread that runs through everything I do artistically. And, I mean, it's kind of, it's very, like, melancholic. I think that's sort of a thread that runs through everything I do artistically. And, yeah, I mean, hopefully it's, like, it kind of has a bit of a calm thing to it, but also, you know, still has some edges that we left on it. So, yeah, I mean, we really hope you like it. I want to give credit to, obviously, my bandmates and also Jimmy Horry, who was a guy

that we worked with for a long time who contributed a lot to this song. Hey, Jimmy. It's a really beautiful song, and we're going to play it in a second, but before we do that, a couple quick announcements. I've got a new video up on the YouTube page. It's called Vegan on

$25. It's short. It's fun. Trapper, who's here, helped me out with it, and he appears on screen, too. We had a lot of fun making that video. You can check that out on my YouTube page. It's youtube.com forward slash Rich Roll. Add me on Snapchat. I am Rich Roll.

I am Rich Roll. I'm doing daily little videos there and have a lot of fun with that. Check out Julie's new podcast, Divine Throughline, her spiritual musings on the Divine Throughline in life, sharing her experience and very musically based. And you just guested on

your mom's podcast too, right? Yeah, I did. Yeah, if you like the first song or want to try something different, there's an acoustic performance I did of another song. It's on our facebook and on her facebook and twitter yeah yeah yeah or just you can hear it performed on her podcast yeah performed yeah so check that out of course for all your plant powered and rrp schwag

and merch go to richroll.com we got all kinds of cool stuff there keep sending in your questions for future q a podcast info at richroll.com. And thanks so much, you guys, to everybody out there who has supported the show by telling your friends, sharing it on social media. We love you guys. Of course, thank you to everybody who has been using the Amazon banner ad at richroll.com for all your Amazon purchases. And if you're

interested in listening to the entire RRP catalog beyond the most 50 recent episodes that you can find on iTunes, check out our free mobile app for your iOS devices. You can find that in the App Store or on iTunes. So that's it. Thanks so much, Tyler. I love you. I appreciate all the hard work that you've put into the show. And I wish you luck in this venture. I think it's going to be really successful. And it's going to be really exciting to see how this plays out. And, uh, and it's just, it's a pleasure and an honor

for me to introduce, uh, this song and your band to my audience. Yeah. Thank you. And thanks to all the listeners and everyone. It's been amazing and won't be going too far. I'm sure. All right. So be still by Anna Lemma written by Tyler. Did you write this with Harrison or did you write this on your own? I kind of started it, but really we all shaped it into what it is. So I think it's a group effort for sure. And your lead vocals. Lead vocals, yeah.

Lead vocals on that. All right. Enjoy, you guys. Peace. Plants. See you soon. piano plays softly Be still Like I know you will Come round

As I lay in the ground Your tears leave traces as they disappear They disappear And steam In the cold of the morning You do the things I saw You knew the things I said to you I went home to hang myself and resign myself to love? Do you know how you come across? In time

The pain you feel is mine Your day Wish that you never would wait Regret Is all that I will get Be still Like I know you will guitar solo When you do the thing I saw you do, the things I said to you, I hate myself And beside myself

To love Do you know how you come across The things I saw you do The things I said to you I went home to hang myself And reside myself too long Do you know how you come across

Do you know how you come across Do you know how you come apart? Do you know how you come apart?