Simplify Your Life with Anderson .Paak

Somebody said my teeth are like the temptations. Everybody wanted to see me. So back then it was it was stuff I got the braces on and then it was it was a long process. It just just just happened like this. I didn't come out like this. There's a whole process. You're seen for like that. You probably had the retainers. Yeah, they were like we're going to work on. Yeah, going to work on the job fasteners and all that. You have all that. Why do you got to do me like that? I'm sorry. I know. We're here. I was like, I was just going to go ahead here. Just hold on. Say you got a good job. And you were a chubby little dude. Yeah. I was a hefty critter. Yeah, I wish. Yeah. So you were eating your way through the pain. I eat because I'm unhappy. Yeah, that was it. My mom. She worked so much. Right. She knows how to cook. She can convert, but she's not the time. She just be like, here's 20 bucks figure it out. Hey, Craig in black. I am in black today. The man in black. She all in blue. You know, this episode today reminded me of wanted to ask if you remember when you used to take drum lessons. Oh, yes. How were you when you started? I was in elementary school. And I had to be like in fifth grade. Well, I thought you were even younger than that. Yeah. No, I don't think. If anything, it was fourth grade, but I didn't think it was fourth grade. I think it was fifth grade. And folks out there drum lessons back in the day, I had drum sticks and I had a drum pad that was made out of solid rubber. It was a solid rubber pad and it was on an angle. Yeah. And I had a little circle in the middle. And then you eventually moved to like a pad that was a drum. It was a pad like the material that is actually a drum was on a pad about this big. That was the extent of my drum lessons. I could not get past that drum pad. And looking back on how music was taught when we were coming up, you know, it is the opposite of wanting to get kids interested in music because we come from a family of musicians on both sides. We have musicians, singers. And we grew up with our aunt Robbie who lived downstairs and was a piano teacher. So the music was always strumming through our house. So I sent from four years old wanted to play the piano because I could hear the scales happening and I could imitate the scales even at four. But you know how she would start us out with the piano keys on a cardboard. Oh, it was terrible. We're sitting next to the piano. And I'm like, I want to go on the instrument. And she's like, no, and we did that for weeks. And I was so mad because I was like, I didn't come down here to play on a, so, you know, I think the approach to teaching kids music these days is a little better. Yeah. Yeah. My son who has taken piano lessons, his teacher first thing comes out of her mouth. What song would you like to play? Yeah. Yeah. And he said Old Town Road. And she found him the sheet music for it. That's how you, you, you grab because he's still taking lessons now and he's 16. And it's, it's just such a better way of teaching. It's like taking a kid out to a basketball court. You want to teach him basketball and no ball and no basket. No ball. Just no ball. Just imagine it. Think about it. Hold your hands in the right position. Yeah. Our guest today is a musical genius who hopefully has a better story than we did. Yeah. Yeah. I can't wait to hear how he got exposed to music. But thank God. He wasn't. He didn't have on Robbie. I want to find out if he had a practice pad. Yeah. That's that. Yeah. Yeah. It starts straight on the drums. But why don't you introduce him? I will. I will. And he's a young and two. He's a youngster. Oh, let's see how young. Yeah. He's got a baby face. And we're talking about Anderson Pack, who is a boundary pushing artist, producer, now director, and nine time Grammy award winner. He emerged from his roots as a teenage church drummer in Oxnard, California, with a breakout album, Venice, and then the universally praised album Malibu. He's expanding his creative reach through his newest film, K-POPs, which you all have to go see. It is so good. Wonderful. In which he stars co-wrote and directed. So Mr. Pack, will you come join us? I want to zoom in on the shoes. Like, can we do that? I mean, you said that's it. That's a Japanese brand. Are those high high tops? Are they are they mules? What's the bet? Lift up the heel. Those are fire. Fire. Well, welcome. Welcome, man. Thank you for having me. Yeah. Yeah. Are you kidding? We are honored. I mean, I love you to death. I mean, you are more than just talented. I mean, you got you got you got you quadruple threat or all the threats, you know, personality talent. You can act your butt off. You can produce. You are gifted musician and seem like a really, really good man. Wow. Thank you. So. And now actor and director. Yes. If I wasn't doing enough stuff. Welcome to the club. Talk to her about that. Thank you so much. Yeah. Did you have a drum pad? Did you have a bet? Did you start with a practice pad? My drum pad was the couch. See the red pots and pans. And then I was driving everyone crazy. And eventually they got a drum kit in the house. My step pops. I was about 12. I wasn't like sixth grade. You had real drums in sixth grade. Yeah, but it almost didn't happen. I was supposed to play. I wanted to play saxophone. Okay. I wanted to serenade the ladies. I wanted to be a, you know, I was like a window. And they was like, we had a saxophone. And I was like, well, I damn sure I ain't playing the flute. You went to get a saxophone. And they said they're out. I was just started sixth grade in middle school. And I was going to I was like, I'm going to band. Because before that, I was really in the music dancing everything. But I was like, I want to play instrument now. And it was the first day. And I was so dead set on the sax. And there was no more left. And they said, Oh, we have is the drums. We have the bass drum or the snare drum. Which one do you want to play? And I didn't even think what was going to be my plan B. So I was like, I guess I'll pick the drums. I picked the bass drum. And they had a snare playing on these big old things. And I'm like, I can't get no girls with this. And I was like, baby, baby, I love you. I'm at the window. I'm in the garden. I was about to quit. And I was walk home one day. And my step pops had a drums kit in the house. And he was playing on it. He's playing along to some prince records. And I didn't even know he played. And he was like, I heard you're playing drums now. So I got a drum kit. And I didn't think about the whole drum kit in a sense. Because in bang, it was just separate drums. Right. So he had the drum kit. And I was like, okay, this is cool. And when he finally got off of it, I, I hopped on. And it was the first thing I ever did where I just picked it up really quick. You did. Like an instrument wise. And before that, I was trying to play basketball. Everything else really terrible. And I got on that kit. And my mom came running out dancing. And she started dancing. I never really seen her dance before. So I was like, whoa, like, this is crazy. Like I'm, I'm making a beat that's causing people to dance. Yeah. I want to keep doing this. And so your step pops, you call them? Yeah. He was a drummer. Yeah. So you learned just by hearing him play or you really learned when you were in bands. Yeah. He was showing me a few things. And then right when I started playing in the house, my mom gave me like all her records. She was like, can you learn archibel and the drugs needs to learn earth on the fire? I mean, learn these beats. And so I was just doing that every day at the house after school. And then my god sister came by and she said, Oh, you're playing drums. You need to come to church with me. And she took me to church. And it was the black gospel church. And there wasn't very many black people in the city of Oxnard world from. But they were all there at the church. They were all with that one church. Yeah. And that's where I learned really learn how to play. It was the best musicians in the world coming through and playing behind a choir, playing behind, you know, organist and choir directors. I'm a church kid. So I grew up playing drums all the way to those, you know, about 30 years old when I couldn't really do it anymore because I was traveling a lot. But since I was little, I was picking up on grooves and I was really into the like I wanted to be like I was grew up in front of TV my mom was always working and my sister's pretty much raised me and You know in front of the in front of the TV so I grew up watching like BT MTV and music videos and stuff So I would want to learn every new dance that came about and you know now when I listen to music It's tough because like I produce I write and everything so it's tough to kind of like turn that off and just like just enjoy a song sometimes But I really love when Something has a nice groove good drum tones and I really love chords and also like clever lyrics. Yeah So I think that could be you know anything, but I'm yeah, when it comes to like dancing and stuff I guess I'm it's funny when you we our generation when you say I watch TV all the time and I used to I was waiting for you to say soul train But I was like oh my god. Yeah, yeah, but it wasn't even on when I heard of it. Yeah The soul train line is part of everyone's culture but we were there. That's yeah, but it's like it got a you know I'm getting old and I'm like oh, yeah, they had MTV. Yeah, you know, you talk about Oxnard They weren't a lot of black folks and your neighbor tell us how you who lived in Oxnard and You know when you're born there with your mother from there was here, you know Yeah, Oxnard's beautiful place is small town. A lot of people think it's like the valley or it's about an hour North of LA going towards Santa Barbara And it's a beach town. It's a lot of agriculture. It's a lot of Latinos and When I was coming up, it was mostly Latinos like second-generation Latinos and and white people and I was like the only black kid in in my high school and My mom ended up there because she well my mom's story is crazy, but You know long story short. She was an adopted kid during the 50s during the Korean War She was a found kid her my my uncle were found abandoned and she was adopted brought to an orphanage Adopted by black parents who were in the military and so she was raised in Compton, California all around LA up until her 20s and she met my dad He was in the military as well. He's from Philly and he was stationed in Port McGoo, which is in Oxnard and they met there They met in the club and and Eventually my my dad battled with addiction and did several different things but They had me and my little sister in Oxnard and that's where we were raised until my pops went to prison and then we moved to Ventura Which is just the next city over But yeah, we were just like Just a tight family I grew up I'm a middle boy of three sisters from my mom and my pops was a Rolling Stone He had a bunch of kids too, but mostly women so I was just Yeah, the boy that was there to like provide entertainment and fun and sometimes therapists You know, if everybody's talking about each other and I'm in the middle like I know I Then I'm saying the same thing to the sister. Yeah But yeah, we're all really close to my mom And she just you know, she was a workaholic. She also worked in agriculture growing up So she was gone a lot doing her own thing. I never seen her work for anybody. She was entrepreneur and You know, she was just like all about her family keeping her family together and in working hard and We had a lot of fun. It was a lot of trauma too, but yeah, yeah, yeah You you have had an amazing story of a lot of ups and a lot of downs and few curves but Did you feel like you had a community of friends in Oxnard being the only black kid in your school? What was that like for? Yeah, for you just making it as a as a kid Yeah, I thought with all kinds of stuff It was really dope though and a blessing that I grew up playing drums in church because I had different communities So I had my church family, which was those were a lot of the black culture and everything Surrounding that was right, you know Thrive that and then I had when I go to school was like my white friends my Mexican friends Then I had that and and then at home everybody was doing their thing my sisters were listening to all kinds of stuff but from you know SWV the new addition and Raya and My mom wouldn't go past like Tony Tony Tony Freddie Jackson You couldn't play netten you know netten after that It was always you know adult touchy If when a fire it was like, you know, that was what was going on and then I go to school and they were listening in Irvana and Radiohead and all this the food fighters and I was getting all of these things and I was Yeah growing up Really quickly I I felt like I can't wait to get out of this town. It's not enough diversity It's too big for this town. I certainly want to start doing music I wanted to escape to all these different places that I see in like on television or on movies or on records that were here and Looking back on it. I was just dead said soon as I graduate. I'm going to LA I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna get signed. I'm gonna be doing all these different things and it didn't happen exactly like that and And I'm actually glad it did because you know build a lot of character and I'm glad that I grew up in the small town now Because I think it gave me different kind of perspective and I don't even know if I would have survived coming up in it in LA and when I look back at it now It was it was different, but yeah about it with like the identity stuff, you know thinking that it wasn't black enough With the kids that I grew up with in church and then I go to suburbs and I'm the only black kid And I thought I had to be the black spokesman for the whole school. Right. I think my mom saw that too and my mom deals with you know Being an orphan and growing up. She is by racial. She is all right. She didn't know anything about her Korean culture You know, and we grew up black in a black household and I didn't know about anything about Koreans anything I when I found out my mom was Korean. I just took it as something I could tell to people and make me exotic How were you when you found out or when you realized she was Korean? I was about like I think she was telling us This one was about 10 11 when we started sitting down. She started to up telling us her story Uh-huh, and She wouldn't always do it, but she would open up some time, you know, and she would like yeah When we adopted you're in your uncle. We were found and this and how we'd be like what that's crazy and okay So we're Korean. Okay, I'll mix That's nice. I'm about to tell everybody. Yeah, that's a story to tell. When did your when did your mom tell you the story of your biological father because She did you remember him? Because he was in prison like you were seven right and did you did you remember that story the story of him the story of what happened With them. Yeah, yeah, totally, um, you know, my pops went to prison when I was around six or seven and I saw him He was a twin and um, which is a trip back. Yeah, yeah, there's a whole we got to talk a little bit about a crazy story with that Yeah, but you couldn't tell them apart. So You know, I remember We're with my babysitter at the house and I see seeing I heard someone screaming. I go outside and my pops is on top of my mom There's blood in the street and he's like get back in the house and my babysitter screaming like don't do it Don't do it. He's like I got a gun and I didn't know it was in complete shock I was really into now. I was like no, that must be my uncle like this can't be because my mom didn't tell me about any of this I didn't know that see anything I never saw them fight Now that I think about it. He was gone from the house, but my mom was always saying like he's working He's getting his health together, but I didn't know that he was actually going through rehab and my mom was trying to get him help Through AA and he was estranged. She was she didn't know where he was and she was so me, you know He was on drugs and everything, but she felt like she was going just as crazy just trying to get him off She would be chasing people down trying to find them doing all these things and everything just came to a head that day and You know, we left we ran out the house and my pops and they're getting arrested and sent to prison for years after that But it was around that time that she told me, you know your pops had a very different life You know, then a lot of people he he came up and Philly got kicked out the house when he was a teen This is in North Philly and you know in the 70s And he was a kid out there trying to raise himself and got somehow gotten to the military early and just grew up You know, yeah, you know in a different way and then was really she's always told me it was really a beautiful person and a great dad It was just when he got addicted to drugs He just really turned him into someone different and he couldn't just he couldn't win that battle and Yeah, she told me about that how they met and everything and um, but it was it was crazy because even though she went through all that stuff with them She never said anything bad. Yeah, that was very noticeable in your whole story. She's still trying to Hopefully yeah Hoping that he could turn it around and not not Ruining your vision of him until she absolutely couldn't help it. Yeah, yeah, that's a lot about her Sure. Yeah, and you know after she got back on her feet. She was just like all right We got a new chapter now, you know We're gonna move out of this house and I'm gonna get back to work and son let the big sample do not touch known drugs Don't get into no drinking stay away from all of it. Did that do it for you? Yeah, it was it was always like a warning for sure and I knew that I had a There was a thing in my family where we battle with addiction, you know, and so I was always weary and I didn't do very much anything. It was really scared straight You know all the way up into my 20s 21 when I moved to L.A. I hadn't done really much anything and I was in church So I was scared of everything. I didn't want to go to hell And so yeah, you know that helped but you know you get older you go through life. You got experience stuff for yourself But yeah, she she's still like that, you know my mom is you know the strongest person but and you know it was My mom that when they got together she found out that he had other kids and everything and she had two kids older kids of her own from another marriage. And my mom was going through every husband she went through. So I'm crazy. But she was big on him getting all the kids together. So I remember we were young. She got us all together with our sisters and my brothers that I had from Philly and brought us all together at the house in Oxnard. And we met everyone and it's like a big family union. And then when you got put in prison later, when I got my 20s, it was my sister from his side that really was like, you should talk to him. He's not doing well. He just got out of prison, but his health isn't well. And he really wants to talk to you and he really wants to kind of make it right. And were you who you are now or were you still making it? No, I was still making it. I was just barely, I mean, I was doing music, but it was, I was, nothing was going on for me. And I had just gotten my first like shows and starting going on tour. And I was, you know, thought I was too busy to talk to him. I didn't really want to have a relationship. I thought I didn't. I thought I didn't need it. And I was, it was still like that trauma when I seen him and knowing all that stuff. But I'm glad I did end up talking to him 'cause I didn't know that like, you could be going through stuff and not even know it. You know, and when you talk to these two people that you feel like your parents, we're always your parents and they don't, they weren't adults in having to go through life just like how you have to go through life. And so I got to talk to him and he told me how proud he was of me and how he wanted to be a singer too. And I learned that he was like on the gong show. And they were auditioned and they had a group and he was, he wanted, he had big dreams too. Okay, so fun fact. Kelly has always loved reselling stuff online, whether it's furniture, clothing, old sports memorabilia that only I like looking at. I'm not sure if she's ready right now to open up her own business, but the day she does, I know we'll be checking out Shopify because Shopify really is where you go when you wanna turn something from just an idea into an actual business. It gives you all the tools to build something real. And these days, you want your business to be everywhere people are already shopping. And Shopify helps with discovery through Google, YouTube, TikTok, Shop, the Shop App and more. And even just as a consumer, I so appreciate that purple shop pay button. There's signature at checkout. 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I've been called Moody and there's a lot behind the smile. And I did interview recently with a rapper named Nori who pointed this out. He said usually people like that, that they have that smile, and they've been through all this crazy stuff. They try to protect their peace. And I think that's probably what it was. Me having this, how I am now is, there's a part of it that's natural, but there's a part of it too that's like, I feel like defense mechanism, a coping mechanism that I have from the things that I've seen and things that I've gone through. And my peace is important for me. The things that I do were kind of like escapism I feel like for what was going on in my reality. And I think about me going watching the TV and learning how to dance and then learning how to play drums and moving on to everything that I'm doing now. It's always that kid that was running to his room and getting away from craziness, I think, and creating my own world. And music was that. Music was that and the smile is just, you know, thank God my mom got me some braces because the smile wasn't always nice. It was coming action 4D. And so she was like, we've got to get a grip on that. Everybody want to see me. So back then it was, it was tough. I got the braces on and it was, it was a long process. It just happened like this. You're a seep for like that. Yeah. Things that they were like, we're going to work on. Yeah, we're going to work on it. Exactly. We have all that. I'm sorry. I was like, I just for a couple of years, I'm going to just head here. Just hold on. Say I got a good job. Bang. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I was. Yeah. You were eating your weight. I was. I. I. Yeah. That was it. My mom. She works so much. You're right. No, she knows how to cook. She can convert. That's great. She just be like, here's 20 bucks, figure it out. And, you know, we go order some pizza and Taco Bell. And, man, that's how I was doing. I didn't have good eating habits for so long. I didn't know I didn't have good eating habits. It's just how I grew up. Cut the noodles. And tie around and everything. And, um, yeah, I was big as a house. And then, yeah, after my senior year, I was like, screw this. I'm. I'm still a virgin. I'm going to be fly. I'm going to be fly. I'm about to see. I put that snare drum down. Exactly. It'd be a girl. Your mom is sounds incredible. I mean, because it's like, you know, she also was taken care of your step brothers and sisters like they were her own. Even through all that, she went through with your father, right? And never treated them differently. You know, it's like you all were all one family. And for her to be able to hold it together like that through all that she was dealing with. But she had some tough times and I'm sure that had a lot to do. Well, let me not put words in your mouth, but talk about what your mom went through and how that affected because you guys were on the upswing with her business. She was into strawberries. Yes. Can you talk about that? Yeah, my mom has strawberry company in Oxnard. And, you know, we went from after my post went to prison, we were in, you know, apartments and every year just the business got better. And by the time I was in a senior high school, we were in a big mansion. And we were used to always like changing, you know, different houses and everything. But we were doing good. And I, again, I didn't, my mom, she kept stuff from us, you know, she thought kids' business was kids' business and she was going to work and we didn't need to know everything. And I remember just like having everything I had in my own studio, my sisters, my two older sisters. They were married, but she was taking care of them as well. And everything was on the ups. And I got called into the principal's office one day. And my principal just slid the newspaper to me and was my mom on the front cover. She had been arrested. And my step pops was in cups too. And they had been both been arrested. And I was just like, what the hell's going on? And he's like, you know what's going on? I was like, no. Then my brother-in-law called me and he's like, yo, they got mom, they've been building a case on them for years. And they got her for like 75 counts, you know? Security's fraud and all these different things. And I was just in shock. And the whole school was looking at me like, mm-hmm. That's how you got that house. Like, you know, it was like, again, only blackhead in school. And it was just like, damn, it was messed up. And everything just turned upside down. And, you know, so my pops being in prison and my uncle, now my mom and my step's pops was just like nonstop. And-- - Where did you guys go after? 'Cause she went to prison, she was sentenced. - Yeah, so she was actually in County for like a year and a half. We were trying to figure out how to get her a lawyer and see if we can fight it and all this stuff. And she was like, I don't want to fight it. We couldn't get, she was like, we're not, if we can't get a great lawyer, I just going to do my time. I know what I did. I know they're trying to put me under the prison. So I'm just going to do a plea. Do what I, my time and I'll be out. You should get a job branding. 'Cause your sisters are going to come in and watch your little sister. And as soon as you can work, you should figure out something. I know you want to do your music, but do that as well. But you should get out the house and be a man and go and lighten the load. - How old were you? - I was 17. Yeah, so I-- - What did that feel like? I mean, what did that feel like to your 17 year old soul to have your world turned upside down and then be told, you got to figure it out? - Yeah, I mean, one hand it was crushing. 'Cause my mom was, it would just kill me to know like she was in prison. And she was not a violent person, sweetest person, no criminal record. So I was just always so worried like, what's going on in there with her? And I hope she's okay. And then on the other hand, she was just so positive and optimistic and strong that it made me want to get my stuff together and just keep going. And she was very just like, yeah, man, I'm going to be all right. You know, I'm worried about you guys more so like, you guys, you know, do what you guys have to do. Don't worry about me. And so, and at the same time, I thought I was going to be like signed by them. Like before that, I was making mixtape, so I was DJ and I had my own, like, demo that I was selling at school. Couldn't nobody tell me I wasn't going to be right out of high school, like, signed to Jay-Z, you know, and-- - It was like that big record scratch. - Yeah. So there was still a part of me like, okay, I'm still going to try to do this, but my world's upside down and I had to move out and all this stuff. So right after, I graduated high school somehow and I was like, all right, I'm going to go to L.A. I'm going to make the move, going to try to do my thing and I'm going to take some meetings. I had a manager at the time that was taking me around. And my two older sisters were taking care of my little sister and I pretty much was off into the world after there. And I did a bunch of stuff. I went to Atlanta and, you know, was trying to get a record deal, got every door closed on me and got a root awakening that, you know, yeah, this is cool, but can you do more something like this? And we don't get it. Like, you want to rap? You sing. What do you-- - Yeah, what were you doing then? - I was doing a lot of everything. I had a little demo that I was taking around and I was rapping. I was singing. I made all the beats. I was playing drums. And back then, it was a lot of emulating. And so I was back in Oxnard and I was-- My sister lived in Northridge and I was like, "Okay, well, let me try to live with you." And that's kind of L.A. So she was like, "You can sleep on the couch if you want." But if you live here, you can help one of these bills. And so I tried to do stuff and it wasn't happening. So then I had to get a job. And one of my first jobs was working at Ralph's Grocery with my brother-in-law. And I was back in Grocery's and pushing in carts. And I was writing songs still. I was still writing. Well, it's-- - What was your look then? - My look? - Oh, I was like, "Look, very regular, regular." You know what it was? I was very anti-- after I got chewed and spit out a very anti hip hop, very anti-- - And it's like, "I'm going this way." - I'm going complete hipster. I don't listen to that. I listen to Beck. I listen to Radiohead co-play. I have specs, black frames, skinny jeans. Button-ups with the-- - What'd you do to the theater? - What were you doing? - I was like, "By the end." - Is that a little part like-- - No, I mean-- - I was like, "Line up, netting, very--" - Just natural-- - Oh, natural. - Oh, natural. - Did you have an accent? Did you play around with that a little bit? - You did. - You did. - You were sitting in the old songs like that. And I was like, "Boy, you were not from Wells." Like, "Where are you getting this from?" - Who was your crew? Who were the people that you were working too much? - To have the-- - I have a crew. I had a crew, shout out to Benji and Yulia is my crew from high school. And I had a few people that, you know, that were still-- - 'Cause Benji still-- - Did you guys do some stuff together in one of your friends? - No, it's a different one. Yeah, this before actually met my crew that I am hanging with now, 'cause I eventually made my way to music school. But I had a few people that I knew from high school that were, "Take me and let me live in their garage." And different stuff. I was still kind of always doing music, but I was working jobs 'cause I couldn't make money doing it. - So how did you figure out, okay, this is gonna be the lane I'm gonna be in now? - And style-wise, or? - Wow, it took a lot, man. It took a lot of just making a lot of different music. I was playing for a lot of people, when I finally got to LA, I did a lot of like, you know, putting bands together for other artists. And I would see how they do stuff. And everybody was like, "You're a great drummer." So I played behind a lot of different people coming up. And some of them were really talented, some of them weren't. And I picked up a lot of different stuff from different people. And eventually, I got to a point where I met this guy. And he told me he's like, "You know, you're really talented, but you don't have any work ethic." And I think that because you're so multi-facin' talented, it's kind of working against you. 'Cause look at all the things you're doing. And this is, you know, I was getting close to 30 at this point. And I thought I was gonna be young forever. And at this point, I had my son, my Korean wife. And I was still like trying to play drums with this person, make a song over here, do this stuff. And he was like, if you just sat down in a room and just work on you, don't invite anybody, just work on you. And you could probably do something. You get a whiteboard, start figuring out how you want to go about it. What kind of artist you look up to. Maybe you could do something different, draw from there, and simplify your life. And he brought up your great husband as a quote where he said, "You know, I only had a couple suits. And I simplify my life. I don't want to worry about what I'm gonna wear today." So I can make better decisions. And so, that's what I have to do. - He did say that. - Showed it. - He still does that. - See, yeah, yeah. - We need to get him that jacket. - You're right, right. - It's like, you can un-ciplify, I lose it. - He flies. - He flies, oh, I see, oh, I know you're a fly guy. - Don't say that. - Now I tell you, it's just going. And just some packs, there's on fly. I'm gonna hear that for the rest of the year. - Yeah. - But it was those words, man. And I finally, he said, and if you do it, if you, I was like, how am I gonna do it? I got to pay rent. I don't know. I got to figure out how I'm gonna do it. He's like, I'll pay rent. How about that? If you just sit in this room. - Yeah. - And who was this? - This was a man tried at the time. His name was Brian Lee. - Okay. - Yeah, he going around with this one. - That out to me. - I feel it. I had to take this little clip. (laughing) You know, I have a documentary shoot out there next week. So you heard with Obama said, if you're a Obama, then I'll say that. (laughing) - Is that Brian Lee? - Brian Lee. - Brian Lee. - Yeah, I mean, I really say, I'll pay rent. I'll get the little computer out. I was like, but I need all this. He's like, no, you're going to get just this little computer magma any, get your little mini board. And you're going to figure out how to record yourself. You're going to, you're going to see here. You're going to make a bunch of songs. Figure out your sound and just do it. And it was in that room that I went from being breezy lovejoy to Anderson Pat. - See, that's what I want you to say. You were breezy lovejoy. - I'm breezy lovejoy. - Where's that from? - Where's that mean? - Where's the DJ? - Tell me. - Tell me all about it. - You know, I got you, I got a little bit out for you. - He's not the one. - It's like you too. - See, she's mad because she knows a DJ college. - Oh, yeah. - A DJ name. - Craigie Craig. - Craigie Craig. - Just like breezy love. - Come on, Craig. - Man, we would have been killing back in the day. - Top lights, cute and real Craig. - Shoot. - That's incredible. Yeah. - The old head and the young guy. - That's right. - There's still time. - There's something to it. - We can make it work. - Tell him. - Tell him. - Yeah, but breezy loves you. I mean, okay, well, there's the story. I used to tell people that there's a real story about how I got breezy, but I used to tell people because I'm a curious, you know, I'm an air sign. I go with the wind, with wind blows. I'm breezy. I'm easy breezy. - Yeah, yeah. - And the love joy is like something you need more of. But the real story is I was passing the ass a lot as a kid. I was just a little chubby kid partying all around the room and my brother and mom was like, I'ma call you breezy. - Brie always partying. - No. - Like a gust of wind when you hit you. That's what we gonna go with. So that was that. - Where you got your diet to get to. - That's right, exactly. That's what I knew. - That's fast food diet. - That's that. - That's that. - That Taco Bell, it was an agreeing. It wasn't an agreeing. Yeah, so I just switched it up and yeah, Brian was like. - What did Breezy Lovejoy look like? - Breezy Lovejoy was chubby. I mean, no, you know, Breezy Lovejoy went through that transformation too. So he had like dread hawk, he was like, you know, After the transformation, I was working out a lot. So I was always in like a cut off tee, real rock image. - And still rapping? - Oh, still rapping. - About what? - I was doing all kinds of rapping about-- - What was breezy about-- - Now it's rapping about, you know, being in the streets of Venice. And all right, you know, I was like-- - With the streets of Venice. - I was talking about-- (laughing) - To me, you know, the streets of Venice. - I was going to that music college. So I have been exposed to a lot of different relationships. And I was like a crooner too. I was playing piano. So I was making songs about, you're my girl's best friend. And I don't want to be alone no more with you. - I was like one of the breezy love joy. - It breezy, breezy. - Oh my god, talk about it. (laughing) - You still happy go lucky, but he was really trying to find his sound. He didn't really have one sound, or even one unique tone. And that's where breezy was at. And I remember Brian was like, you got to change that name. That's the last thing we got to do. Now you didn't did everything. You know, you got to change that name. And I was like, what you talking about? I got 200 followers on my space. And this name stays. I don't work for that. He's like, bro, he's names, this name stays. - Is that that? - And that on Jack. And he said, you really gonna meet Dr. Dre one day and tell him your name is breezy love Jay. - And I was like, you got a point. - He got a point. So he was like, you should go by your real name. Just go by Brandon Anderson. I was like, Brandon? - Brandon. - Well, Brandon is a little okay. - I love Brandon. - Brandon's a mother. - My mom loves it. - Brandon, Pock, Anderson. So that's my full name. And so we did a little, you know, Jigsaw. And we went with Anderson, Anderson Pat. And I was like, well, it's pronounced Pock. And he said, nah, say Pock. Because they won't know if it's a group or a band and people will argue if it's Pock or Pock. And it'll make you the talk of the town. - So that was intentional? - Yeah, yeah. - So where'd the period come from? The period came, I put the dot on there because so, at this point I was, you know, damn near 30 years old. And I felt like I had been overlooked for so many years. I felt like, you know, I used to call myself the most underrated, you know, elevated. Like when we play in the band and we used to, everybody would be making it. And we just, I felt like, you know, we got ignored a lot. And I put the dot because I said, you know what? When I make it, I want to make people put that dot, they're going to have to pay attention. Because they didn't pay attention to me for so long. And now they got to remember to put that dot. So it's always the period, it's the period. - It's the period. - It's like my green M&Ms, you know, my thing. And I was like, y'all gonna do it. I took a chance, I didn't work thought it's, you know, this time to get here. And so it's a dot for detail, you know. So remember like it's the small things, little things that can get you to be placed. (upbeat music) - Something I've learned about grilling is that there's always one thing you forget. You can plan the whole meal out perfectly. And then suddenly you realize you're out of charcoal. Or maybe you had enough burgers, but not enough burger buns because they sell them in non-equivalent quantities for some reason. That's why I've really come to rely on shipped. With shipped, you can get the steaks, the seasoning, the sides, and even that emergency extra bag of charcoal delivered same day from stores nearby. And the shoppers with shipped really pay attention. If I'm ordering meat for the grill, I want someone who's actually picking out good cuts, good produce, all of it. That level of detail matters. With an annual membership, you can place as many shipped orders as you want, and you'll pay $0 in delivery fees on orders over $35. 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Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor, call 1-800-545-5979, or visit zepbound.lily.com. What was the first break, the first real where you were like, "I'm in." Yeah, when I got the call to work with Dr. Dre, that was a big break. And how did he hear about you? What precipitated that? So I had a couple songs that were circulating at the time that was big in the streets. This before, Spotify was a really big thing. It was really just about soundcloud and re-verbination and stuff like that where. Can you come a few bars? What did it sound like? What was the song? Can I say this song? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's his song. It was a song called "Swade" and the song simply goes, "If I call you a bitch, it's 'cause you're my bitch." And as long as no one else calls you a bitch, then it won't be no problem. Now, if I call you a trick, it's 'cause you paid rent. And as long as you don't call it the six, then it won't be no problem. It's in a rock with me now. Yeah. Yeah, there you go. Oh, you make, could you say that? Yes, oh, yes. No, absolutely. Absolutely. So it was a great song that you'd all for me. That did it. Yeah, well, I recorded that song and it was moving around. And people knew about it. And so, when they said, "Jerry wanted to hit me up," I was little shook because that's like the final boss. I grew up in the West Coast and nothing's bigger than Drake. Yeah. And so there was a little bit of shook and also a little bit like socialized. I was like, "I ain't going to that session." Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Like they're gonna try to make me something I'm not. And who knows? He ain't putting out no time soon. I'm working on my stuff. And this night. And so-- And really, you were afraid that you might fail? Looking back on it, yeah. Yeah. He was known for, you don't care who you are. What height? If you don't like it, he don't like it. And so, my new manager at the time, he was like, "Please go." And, you know, Adrian Miller, shout out to Adrian Miller, kind of say Brian Lee, shout out to Adrian Miller. Yeah. He was like, "Come on, man. Show up. This is do it." And I show up. And first person on me was Dr. Dre. And him and the D.O.C. And they was like, "Hey, man. I heard a lot about you." You know? That's what's up. Cool. And then they would go off. They was watching the playoffs. And they ushered me into the studio. I met these two writers, King Mezz and JT. and they were like, "We love your song, Sweet." Like, we love it. We've been playing it non-stop and we want you to help on this Dr. Dre album. It's top secret. No one knows about it. Don't tell anyone that, cool. So they played me some music. I'm like, "Great, let's start working." And they say, "Hold up. "Before we play this, we want to play your song, "Sweet for Dre." And I was like, "Oh, no, he hasn't heard it yet." Like, come on. (laughing) Let's get some, let's just go on. I'm in here. (laughing) What if he doesn't like it? I'm working on like, damn. It's like, just leave it. Yeah, it's all good. Yeah, that would be just waiting. Oh my God. That would be just waiting. Yeah, actually. You thought, that's why you were here because it's late, right? Little I know, Dre didn't have a clue. But I was the runner who let me go to here. Who had it, man? Yeah. And they were like, "We want to play it with Dre." So I was nervous and he came in there and they threw on the record and I was like, and in a word of look, I was just looking at the floor. I was looking at his feet. That's what I realized. Like, "Oh, Dre, we're the same shoes every day." Fight here for the first ones. All right. It's like check. Yeah, check. No, it's simplify your life. Okay. Got it. And so he played the music. I mean, he cranks it. You know, he's playing. He cranks it up. They blasting it. And I look up and he's like, "I played out again." It's my name again. AP. Okay. And what should I call you? AP. We're gonna call you AP. We played again. You didn't like focus on the periods. Yeah, did I? I didn't. That's the AP period. That's Mr. Back to you. No, none of that. Whatever you like. Yeah. You like it. You like it. I love it. Yeah. You just glad they didn't kick you. Yeah. Right. And I was like, "I played again." And that's gazed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's work. It's too much talent in the building. And he just threw on the mic. On the mic started doing stuff. And boom. I was back every day. Every day. He hit me up to work on stuff. And they told me, "It's top secret. Don't tell anybody about this. I told everybody." I told my cousin. Man, I was telling everybody. I'm like, "I'm on. I'm with Drake." Don't talk to me. Don't like your tone, bro. I'm working with Drake now. I ain't got time for that foolishness. Oh, no. Yeah. So I was like, "I was hyped." That's when I was like, "Oh man, this is good." Because before that, man, it was tough. I was making low headway. But man, it was still struggling. Sure. It wasn't making any money really as an artist. And I was full-time artist. And so it was tough and I had a family. When that moment came, I was like, "Wow." And then he put out an album. I woke up and he had dropped in a surprise album called Compton. And I was all over the album. I was like on six tracks. They was called me six track pack. And then he had a movie straight out of Compton. And he did the beat still. And Drake was popping. And so I was like, "Wow." And I was like, "Well, shoot. Guess I should put out something now." And it was cool because he was so busy doing his thing and he didn't sign me right away. So I was working on an album called Malibu. And I had it halfway done. But now people are looking. So I was hitting up producers that are, you know, this album was like my dream album that I had been holding on to these songs for a while. And I didn't want to, I was like, "When this comes out, I want people to be able to hear it." And now I had a lot of leverage. And people were, I had a lot of eyes on me. So I was hitting up people like Knife Wonder and Matt Liv. And High Tech. And these people were helping me complete the album now. And I was getting these features. And Dre was still doing his thing. So I got to put it out independently. And, you know, now I own the Master's album. That was probably the best thing that happened. It was like, how for to it is that he was too busy. Yeah. And I was trying to break our neck, trying to knock it down my door now trying to sign me before I couldn't buy a deal. And everyone was like, "Yeah, we want to sign you now." And I was like, "If I do sign anything, I'm going to sign a Dre." Whenever it comes back around. And I was on tour after that for years. I didn't see-- How did you finance your tour? So it was a lot of things that happened. After Malibu came out, it started circulating. And I got a Grammy-NOM for best new artists and different things like that. And people were seeing that, "Oh, he's not like just a rapper." Like, he could play. That he has a band. So we started getting festival offers to play at festivals and stuff. And so, you know, the rates started getting better. And then, we got on a show called "MPR Tiny Desk." Oh, I love you on Tiny Desk. That was-- And that really opened it up. People started seeing, "Wow." And I didn't know that like playing drums and being the frontman was going to be a big thing. And it was really that that kind of like opened everyone's eyes and men. Then we started getting booked for all kinds of gigs. And then our shows were starting to get lying around the corner. So how did you know how to line up your team? So that, financially, you would-- because they're the story of a lot of artists. Well, I went before that, I was going to be with anybody who could help pay my rent. I would sign anything. And I got out of the manager who made me change my name. He was like, "Hey, I don't know what to do now. You're off." But if you ever do make it, you owe me this much. So I learned a little bit like, "Oh, nothing to this stuff is free." Like these are all partnerships. So he was like-- Like that will make it. You went rent. Exactly. It's like, "I pay your rent." You know, you're not paying my rent. Exactly. Yeah. This is an investment. I want to ROI eventually. I don't know what to do with you now. But you're going to figure out. And so he came in a big overseas, how much I owed. And then I had a bunch of music. But I just was in debt. And no connections. And so I met another manager. And he said, "Hello, young fella." Just look at me. Remember the first thing you said. He was like, "Just look at me as your personal ATM." And I said, "Bad." I got this debt. I got my rent. I got a wife. I got a kid. I want to do all this stuff. And he said, "Great. We're going to get you deal. I'll help you with all that stuff." Just, we're going to sign a management agreement, though. And I signed to him, a new manager. And he put together a financial team in a lawyer or everything. Some of the people I still have to this day, he wasn't perfect. But he was, you know, a bridge over trouble water. He was a guy that gave him an opportunity. And he had an opportunity. And he was one of the people that got me in front of Dre. And he didn't have all the knowledge of it. But he did teach me certain simple stuff. Like, don't sign your publishing no matter what. And very first thing people want to do is sign their publishing. Because they don't have a lot of finances. And they need a big checkup front. And they sign these publishing deals. And that's your kids' kids stuff. And you get locked in for years. So I didn't know what he was talking about. Like, people up until then, and then people are trying to get my publishing 5,000 in here. And now I'm like, let's sign it. Like, really? I'm broke. Like, that's $5,000. We're walking away from that. That's generational wealth. And he's like, bro, you don't sign that. I'll give you $500. Yeah, right. He gets you to the nursery, man. Yeah, he's here. He's like, all right. Calm now. I was just hungry. But yeah, he would do something like that. And like, you know, to this day, I don't know, you know, I haven't. I'm holding on to that. And so, yeah, he was, he was the person that got my initial team together. And then I started making money and didn't know where it was going. And never was a type to have a bank account before that. I was in collections. Like, I never had a. That's all you need about the collections. That's all I need. I get a card. I'm back to it out. And I'll be like, all right, onto the next. Yeah. And I did that. Cool day. All kinds of stuff. Yeah, I was like, when I started making money, it was just like, I just, you know, here. I had a team that he put in place. But I never was checking to see where it was going. And all the stuff they were just, you know, putting it in places. And then God, you know, they were the. My first initial team did do really cool stuff that. So this day, I'm really happy about, you know, the. I mean, you were lucky. Very lucky. Very lucky. Very lucky. Nobody's stories. It's like. It's like. It's like. I didn't know nothing. And I gave everything to them. Well, that's true. And I still have it. That's like. No, no, no. I lost a lot. Okay. I had to go through the growing pain. I had to fire everybody. I was a whole bunch of stuff. But, you know, people, artists, I see a lot of these things where it's like, they took me for this and that and all the stuff. But, you only. You only do what you allow people to do. And there's no reason why I couldn't picked up one of these contracts and looked it through and figured it out. Yeah. And maybe waited and stuff. It's not. It's not that I didn't know better. It's just like, I was just trusting and doing what I can't. And these people were helping me at a time. And I didn't have anything. And so, I needed the help. And they saw something in me when Owen saw it. And I think, you know, you could take the good with the bathroom time. Right, right. And so. Right. Man, dude. Then I met Bruno. Oh, yeah. And I learned a lot about. Yeah. Oh. Talk about that. How'd you meet Bruno? How did you guys come together? We met. I opened up for him at the 24-carat magic. It was one of my first big opening tour offers when Malibu had came out. And he took me all over Europe, big arena shows. And. Your first big arena shows. Yeah. What was that? What was that like? It was incredible. Yeah. It was crazy. I remember, you know, like after one of the shows, because our whole thing was like, yeah, he. We got to make it so that, you know, he messed up having us open. We about to steal some fans. We were killing it. Now, that was our whole mentality. And Bruno has that mentality too. Let me come from, like, you don't want to come on the stage after we go. You know, like, that's where we want to kill the stage and give people the best show possible. We don't care who's coming after. And that's how we went. I remember one day we played and like, we had a standing ovation. And I was like, yeah, we killed that. And next day they said Bruno wants to talk about it. He talks to you and I said, "Oh, shit." (laughing) - He's like, "Roop." - He'll see you later. He's like, "Meet me at for dinner tonight. I want to talk." And I'm like, "Oh, damn, I'm talking to my band. I'm like, "Shit, I hope we didn't kill it too hard. We don't want to meet." - This might beat it. - Yeah, yeah, there we go. And we go to this restaurant. It's like at the top floor. He and they're smoking to cigarette inside the restaurant. That's what I knew. I was like, "Oh, this is different type of levels of fame." He's like, "Are you nuts?" - It's, I don't think we're smoking here. - It's not bread. - It's not bread, it's gross non-smoking. - Excuse me, and I already see the sign. - No, no, no. - Put that down. - Yeah, yeah. And so he's like, "I like you, you did great." You know, that was real cute. You say, "Sit, I want you to come on the rest of the tour with me." You know, I'm gonna do, we got San Antonio. We got New York going to come on the American Lake. And then, you know, my crazy self. I'm like, "Well, okay, but I need a little more money." You know, 'cause I got the band. And this and that. He's like, "You know the tour is sold out." And I said, "Oh, okay." - So I mean, I don't need you to do this. (both laughing) - So, you know, take it or leave it, buddy. I'm gonna go to the lake. It's not 'cause I need you. - I'm right. - It's like, "Damn." - Oh, you've got a point. - You've got a point there. You're gonna learn business quick. - Right. - It's all right. - I'll be back. - I'll be right back. - And that was a big decision because, you know, at that point, I had Malibu, and then Dre was like, "Hey, man, when you're gonna come back "and make your next album." And I was like, "Oh, wow, that's right." I used to make another album. It's been a year. - You know? - Yeah. - And I had been on the road non-stop. And if I would have kept going with him, I would have, I mean, he's just coming off that 24-carat. - Yeah. - And he's just putting on everything so it's like, it's easy to, you know, get caught up in that where you can be on the road for a long time and you forget or doing different things because it's like, it's fun or because it's like lucrative and stuff, and then you forget, like, okay, well, I still got stuff over here. I also had a family. I also had different things going on. So I had to make a decision. It was tough one to be like, okay, this, I'm gonna leave it to or I'm gonna go work on my album, work on my stuff, go back, be with the family, and, you know, tap in on my own artistry. As fun as it is to open up, I didn't want to get stuck in being an opener, like some sidekick or something. So what was Bruno's reaction to that? - Good luck. (laughing) - He's like, "Tour's still sold out." - He's still still sold out. (laughing) - Yeah, you know why I come to see you over the first place. - And so we kept in touch and we made some music and it was just like, right away we hit it off. I hadn't met anybody that was that talented. It was my age and that could make hits and was a mega star, you know? - Right. - It was, I worked with a lot of people that were older or maybe younger and I was always like, felt like the lone ranger that was still like the guy that really wanted to play and perform and listen to old school stuff and he was that even more. 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You can't get it in stores. This offer exists in one place. My link, my code, that's it. Bioptimizers break through science, results you can feel. Take this first step toward a healthier future. It's time to invest in a stronger, longer, better life. And so I went off doing my stuff and eventually quarantine hit. So everything came to a halt. And everyone was stuck no more tours. And the blessing of it was I had to be home with the kids. And so my kids now are eight years old and had a little baby. And you've been on the road since they were born? 2016, before that, that was my life. You know, bread and butter was put some out, gone the road for months. And you come home and life still goes on without you. And you daddy's home and they let the kids run up to you. And then they come out and they're like, not long time no see. Nobody's saving you, no chicken. And get the big piece of chicken no more. And everyone's like on the iPad and like, you know, so it became apparent. Like if I wasn't going to have a lot of time, it was very important about what you do with the time and being present. And I know daddy's working and all these things cost and I do all stuff. But while I'm here, I want to be present. I was really what quarantine did for me. I got to be present, create a bond with my son, figure out what he was into. He's like, I like YouTube. It won't be YouTuber. I'm like, okay, what's that? I'm like K-pop. I'm like K-pop, which you know about two pop. (laughing) Boy, BTS, which you know about B-E-D. (laughing) How long have I been away from? What the heck is happening? It's how it's going on, right? I got to rectify some things. Yeah, so then I have to tap in and I see he like you do YouTube. So I'm like, oh, let's make some skits. Like I remember brought me back when I was a kid and making like funny skits with my sisters and I used to love like editing and filming and making home videos. And it brought me back to doing that. And so I became one, I wanted to be a YouTuber more than him by the end of it. Really? Come on, son, let's do this. He realized how funny he was. And he had been in dance classes forever. So he was like a little dance machine. And I'm like, wow, this is, this is 2.0. Like faster, more handsome than the bilingual kind of energy. Yeah, you do. Even cooler energy. What's that? And like in the house with you, too. Well, he's, you know, he's a satch. And I'm a queries. So I don't know, y'all can do the research on that. No, Julia knows it. We already know what we're talking about. But it's a lot of just us staring at each other like, all right. Go ahead, what's your bad sound? All right, let's see you over there. You know, I used to do a little. So he's really much like, I got, I see you doing that. I'm going to have my own thing. And so I kind of like you. Yeah, yeah, pretty much so. And his mom. And you know, and he's got the Korean side, too. And his mom is full Korean and he's got a different musical. She's musical seeing plays keys and everything. All right. So the K-pop. Yeah. It's a story. Yeah. Not fully. But I was fully from the well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was, well, I was like, son, I'm going to write a script. Like, this is, this could be something. What if I didn't know how? So you thought of that in COVID? Yeah. Yeah. What we're talking about K-pop. Yeah, my movie. The movie. Yeah. Yeah. I knew I wanted to, because at that point, I saw that, OK, two or any stop. I love music. It's always going to be there. But that's what I realized, like, oh, man, you know, different. I could tell different stories and different, and different mediums. And it might take a while for me to learn a new medium. But that's the joy of the whole process, you know. I love that. So this was your first script. Yeah. Yep. So. And you taught yourself how to do it. Yeah, so I had a co-writer. OK. I had to come up with the idea first and, you know, what if I didn't know I had a son? And that son could be the next K-pop star. And I come into his life. And I'm teaching him about his black coach, and he's teaching me about the Korean side. Because I didn't know anything about my Korean side until I met his mom, and then I was reintroduced. So I had all these unique experiences that I could pull from and put them in this movie that I didn't think anybody had really done before, like, especially Asians and black people. That was real. That was real. Like, we got rush hour, you know? Yeah. And that's about it. So I was like, this could be cool. And then I didn't want it to be-- I know I had a lot of different things that I could pull from, and trauma, and different things, racism, things, things that we all been through, but I wanted to kind of pull from the things that helped me cope with all those things, like the love, the music, the fun, the comedy. Yeah. And I felt like there wasn't a lot of movies that were bringing families together where you saw families on the screen. It was family comedy. No one dies. You know, it was like different things. My kind of movie. Right. Very uplifting. That's the way. Yeah. Yeah. And my mom too. She's like, "Brandi, you know what? This is like a hallmark movie." I was like, "Mom." Yeah. Oh, don't say that. You mean the Sundance? No. This is a hallmark. This is ready for hallmark. I was like, "All right." But I understood what she was saying. It's like, you know, sometimes you want the scapism of knowing that everything is going to be all right. And, you know, that doesn't mean you can't put different things in there, but it's beautiful when you can--it's really hard to do those kinds of movies. So, yeah, that was the genesis of it. And I started doing the process and I met with my buddy Dump Founded because once I knew I wanted to direct everything, people didn't want me to do it. And I wanted to be in it. And I wanted my son to be in. And they were like, "Okay, that's a lot. It's very ambitious." Like, why don't we give it to somebody, give it to this? I'm like, "I don't want nobody around my son." Don't you know who I am? Come on now. Formerly breezy love children. Really? I do hard. Exactly. Yeah. So, I eventually got my boy Dump Founded who was one of my best friends. I met coming up in L.A. who started music but was making the venture into movies. I was working with this company, Stampede and ESD. And he said bring it to them. They're taking chances on, you know, different stories and I pitched them the idea and they say, yeah, cool. We'll give you some money to do it. And I was shocked. I was like, whoa, all right, cool. And they were like, you want to, you want to direct it, right? I was like, yeah. And you want to write it. And I didn't know how to write a script. I had none. So I was like, maybe I need a, I would love to have a co-writer, actually, because I need just to show me structure or whatever and they, they left me with this really young co-writer, K-Lamazon, this young black writer who was a military brat and who also happened to be a K-pop fanatic. So she was like, right when got in there and we were just in here just like this and I'm like this and I'm like, so she's like, all right, this is K-pop 101. This is movie structure 101. She graduated from, you know, film school and everything. And I think it worked out because it was those two worlds and she taught me structure and she taught me the idea that I had gained all these layers because it wasn't, it wasn't as deep as him being on the show and all these different things. And I learned more about the structure of K-pop and how they have this, you know, this incubation system and this whole thing about this person is this person and all this thing. And again, it was making me think of groups that I came up with. And so I was like, this is going to be a cool opportunity to show like how things relate and how much in common things have and how yes people take and pull from different things and have their own interpretation, but that's been going on for years. My favorite scene in the movie is when you're out with, I shouldn't say, when pops is out with his son and they go by the record store. And he starts pulling out the albums, it's explaining this is what, you know, trying to teach his son some soul and understand what it means. That was beautifully done. Thank you. Thank you. And it was that the first time you acted. Yeah, I mean, I've done different things, but this is the first. I mean, you're really good in it. I mean, it's funny and, you know, lit up the screen really truly, you know, I mean, I was laughing out loud watching the movie really sweet and your son. I mean, so now your son is, you said his man. Yeah, I really took forever. He was like eight years old. He was obsessed with Kpop and then by the time we got to shoot, I got all the money and stuff. He was like 11 years old and he was like, man, I don't like Kpop no more. I'm like, I'm like contractually son. Here's the thing. I need this to work. We're doing this. Oh, a lot of money. So he was like, all right. I guess you know, he's going into his teens and I had to adjust things for him, but he was like, I'm going to do your solid dad. You seem really into it. And I'm like, thank you, son. Let's do this. Thank you. This is about your tuition and your life. This is going to mean more than you know, later. And so, yeah, and it was cool. It was like the whole thing was like, I really loved being on set with him and being able to kick away with your son and like see him grow and we're working together and we're creating a bond. But we also have been on set really early and I'm seeing him learn about how to be learn the language of being on set, you know, being on his mark and he's taking his his acting class is serious and learning his lines and getting me on my game. And it was just so much fun and you know, at the end of it, I was like, it was really surprising because like, I didn't know how he was going to take it and I can see him having a lot of fun. Mind you before this, he was in homeschool all his life and now he's like rounded other kids and adults. And I've seen him blossom socially and everything and I'm like, okay, we might have a little acting bug. K pops to like what you think, son, would you do it again? How'd you feel? He's like, it was great. I think we had a lot of core memories. I think you had a lot of fun. But I would just like to be a kid. It's not my passion. And that's pretty mature. That's pretty mature. It's like, dang, he's like, but it does depend on the script. And that's cool. I was fine with that. And now he's going to school. He's now he's like, it's funny when you like back off off. They get to do their thing their own way and now he's playing guitar. He's playing pacemaking beats and I'm right back in his face like, all right. Yeah, you're wrong now. It's got to be the next album. It's got to be their idea. It does. Yeah. How's your mom doing? My mom is doing great. She is narrowed it down to one boyfriend now. Okay. She got she's vegan. Okay. Kissing off every restaurant we go to. She is a Dodger fanatic. Oh my god. She got me into the Dodgers. And now we be all obsessed with the Dodgers. Congratulations. She's a F1. Exactly. Shout out to Dodgers. She's a F1. She's a fanatic. He's a F1 fanatic too. Oh my god. All of it. So I'm broke having to get all these passes and tickets. She got to be front row at everything. She went to the Vegas. She went to the Vegas race. She went to the last fight. She got to feel the sweat. She's like, dang. Yeah. So she's loving life. And you know, she's she's out in Atlanta. And you know, sometimes she'll tap in and be a grandma. He'll watch the kids and she'd be dipping out. She's jet-set now. I'm like, my mom, 'cause she's mom for some reason. She's like, I don't want to go anywhere, Brandon. I just I don't trust it. The things that people eat. I don't eat shit. I'm like, my wife is stopping you from going anywhere. Go travel. No, they're doing some foolishness over there with how they do the chicken. You see that people. You seen that. I'm trusted. I'm scared. But now she's traveling. She's going to she was in Puerto Rico. She's packing her own food. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's one way to piss her clean off to hell with the whole country. Yeah. So she's going to food and she's going to travel. Lend it now. Finally, I'm going to get her to go over across the pond. And yeah, she's doing she's great. That's my that's my dog. That's my best friend. Well, she did a great job in raising you, dude. She really has and been through a lot stage, strong, you know. And I like to think that that's also, you know, where you get your steadiness and your drive. And like you said, your mom has taught you a lot of it. And you can see it. It's spilling out on this table. Thank you. Shout out to Mama. Yeah. Shout out to my forget Brian Lee. Yeah. Mama. Shout out from the Obamas and the Robinson. That one. Yeah. Yeah. We see you. We see you, Mama Venda. Yeah. You want to do the listener question? Yeah. Let's let's hear from Amanda in Boston. Hi, my name is Amanda and I'm from Massachusetts. My husband and I have started to discuss growing our family. As a teacher and future parent, I often grapple with the idea of building resilience in young people. I had a fairly unstable childhood. My father battled alcoholism and actively worked on his recovery while my mother worked long hours trying to make ends meet. Because of this environment, I was forced to develop resilience and grit. I had to learn to guide myself and power through uncomfortable feelings without the guidance of my parents. I find myself being able to handle adversity and adulthood because of this learned resilience. I truly believe that I have my childhood and struggles to think for this. As I think about raising independent and resilient future adults, I worry that I won't be able to provide my children with opportunities to naturally build this resilience. How do we balance this idea of giving children a predictable and loving home while also allowing them to naturally build resilience? I want to give my future children everything I did not have, but this can become a slippery slope. Thank you so much for your time. Okay, Amanda asked it's getting to answer from Mr. Resilience himself. Lo and really? Yeah. You guys can't be afraid to let them go through their own struggles. Sometimes, especially my oldest one, he remembers the little apartment and me going for us taking the bus. When we first got our place and we first got a car and he still remembers I'm a little one. He's just born in first class. He's born after we had this stuff. Sometimes I take him through coach and go ahead. I'm going to sit back there. I'm sitting up front. You all figure it out. Work your way up like how. Take him down, scare, roll, let him see. This could be you now. Go up the car. No, you want to be tough, right? Go ahead. Get your ass in the car. Let's get out of here. That's the old school lesson. I wanted to protect him. I want him to give him the life I didn't have all this stuff. And I realized all this stuff that I went through made me mean. And it wasn't like it wasn't. I don't know how it would have been. If the tables were turned and I got to live in the lap of luxury and my mom and everything worked out. It might have been still a chubby little spoiled brat. And I know how to treat people and all this stuff. That's right. So, you know, the kids have to go through their own trauma, their own set of different things in order. And you have to trust that the things that you installed in them is going to stay with them when they go out into the world. And now my son is going to school now. He's made his debut and he was home school forever. I didn't want to put him in school. I didn't trust nobody. And I was like, now we're going to keep him here. And, you know, he was like, please dad, I want to go to school. It's like I want to get out of my cousin. It's like not my job. Yeah, it's not my job. So now he's out. And, you know, I trust that, you know, I worry sometimes but I trust that the things that he learned in the house and the way we raise them, he's out there being a good representation. And he's going to learn, you know, on his own. And you have to let him do that. And, you know, he's around other people and getting influenced and learning different things. And I'm excited for him, but I think that's what you have to do. You have to trust that you raise them right and that you installed a lot of those things but can't be afraid to let them go out and venture and bump their heads sometimes and get back up. And it's a part of it. Yeah, that's a good point. You know, I think sometimes parents, they have to get out of the way, you know. And I would say, man, to make sure that you aren't parenting out of fear or out of your own motives, right? Our mom was really good at that. She always used to say, I can't let my own fears get in the way of your growth. And when, and the perfect example was when I got the chance to go out of town for the first time to a tournament, a basketball tournament, my mom was scared to death and I was going to Kansas City in a van with a bunch of guys and some coaches. And I didn't realize it until I was, she'd never told me this until I was grown. But she was absolutely afraid the whole time I was gone. And she just ate that fear and let me experience it. And I tell you, it's just like what you're saying, it's, it's not doing the homework, not getting in the way of your child's development because of your own personal fears, too. So you see it in coaching, oh man. I see it so much now in coaching kids that these parents are trying to curate the perfect childhood for them. And that's not sports. It's not going to be perfect. You're not going to go undefeated, you're not going to ever, not miss a shot. You're not going to ever run into a kid who's better than you are. And you're going to lose a lot. You are going to lose. You are going to, at some point in life, somebody is going to be mean to you, that you're going to, you know, you're going to be disappointed, something's not going to work out that. We've all experienced that. So we got to prepare kids for that. That's what resilience is, you know. And you don't have to, you know, be flat broke to do it, you know, you don't have to have extenuating circumstances to do it, but you do have to let go throughout their childhood. And Amanda, your kids will still love you. That's the thing. They'll still love you. That is the crazy thing about it, you know. And you know, for a minute, you have to not care whether they like you or not. I mean, that's kind of, that's kind of the secret to parenting, you know, you've got to be able to be like, I don't really care if you like me. That's not my role in your life, you know. My favorite saying that my daughter say, I say, I say this all the time, I'm not one of your little friends. That was what my mom always say to me. I just not. And I never felt like I needed to be. Oh, you mad. Right. Oh, you mad. You got rid. Mm hmm. Exactly. Oh, so who's going to be mad or longer? I was like, who's not, oh, you're not speaking to me? Right. It's like great. Mm hmm. I won't speak to you. Right. And guess who always wants. And it's like, you're going to need to speak to me before I could not speak to you for years and my life would change. She's rough, man. She's rough. She's rough. I'm going in. That's right. She stays high. It's up with her kids. Right. It's like, oh, well, we're going along. Crazy. Okay. All right. Let me show you love. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Oh, thank you. And that would build resilience. Absolutely. Yeah. I don't know if it may change, but you know, especially when your parents are, you know, he's going to try to create as much distance between you and him, you know, what's the opposite of the drums? Well, he's, yeah, he's doing guitar, and I can't play it. And I'm like, I just be like, I don't know how to play this though, you know, that's what I'm doing. He's just killing it. So yeah. Yeah. Well, hopefully that helps Amanda, you know, figure stuff out. Do you think on the music front coming, coming our way? Yeah. I got some, I have a soundtrack that's going to accompany the movie where I'm doing some cool K-pop collabs and also like R&B and reaching back to different groups that I came up with. Like Irfan and Fire and different, different stuff. I'm excited about this soundtrack. Anderson Pack plays real music, breaking news, bringing real music back, please. Keep doing it. Thank you. Don't keep doing what y'all did. And tell us about Andy's. Yes. Actually, can I bring in a, can I give you all a gift? Yes. I got to tell you something. Please. Speaking of real music, it's become a harder and harder to find places where you can perform real music where you see people playing instruments. Yeah. Where you hear people, people, you know, having a good time and seeing people dance. And I'm trying to bring that back and that's how I came up in L.A. and that was a big part of how we made it and made it, got our buzz and I think it's important to have a place where bands can cut their teeth and practice and can be like an incubation place where that happens. And so I started a club called Andy's, what we got, this is a little, so I got, I got a nice, nice, I got a super club because I got food there, I got an excellent menu. You coming. I'm coming. Lots of music every night. Oh, Andy's. And I got y'all some Andy Schwag. Let's check it out. And it's a breath, man. No, this is my other venture. Well, I know y'all do a lot of talking. Okay. Y'all be up here. And so, Andy's. I started. You know what? You know what? You look like you need. You could have a name. You look good. You meant minty fresh. Fresh. Fresh. Fresh. I mean, everything about him smells good. Fresh. And this is meant to be good. Now y'all could be because confidence is meant to be shit. All right. Pre-shoot. What? Well, thank you. Thank you for the gifts. Thank you for bringing real music back into our lives. Congratulations on the film. Everybody's got to see it. Congratulations on everything. I really appreciate it. Thank you for seeing me. Thank you for being here. Yeah. Likewise. Even bigger, after this. This episode of IMO is brought to you by Colorguard, a non-invasive colon cancer screening test. There are certain things in life you keep meaning to get around to. And for me, health screenings always ended up on that list. But I was surprised to learn that colon cancer is on the rise. It's now the number one cancer killer for people under 50 in the U.S. The good news is it's also one of the most preventable cancers, which is why getting screen matters. I've actually done the Colorguard test myself. And what surprised me most was how straightforward it was. The kit comes right to your house. 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