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SPEAKER_08
 Bring a little optimism into your life with The Bright Side, a new kind of daily podcast from Hello Sunshine, hosted by me, Danielle Robay.
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SPEAKER_08
And me, Simone Boyce.
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Every weekday, we're bringing you conversations about culture, the latest trends, inspiration, and so much more.
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I am so excited about this podcast, The Bright Side.
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You guys are giving people a chance to shine a light on their lives, shine a light on a little advice that they want to share.
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SPEAKER_02
 Listen to The Bright Side on America's number one podcast network, iHeart.
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Open your free iHeart app and search The Bright Side.
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SPEAKER_01
A new season of Bridgerton is here.
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And with it, a new season of Bridgerton, the official podcast.
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I'm your host, Gabby Collins.
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And this season, we are bringing fans even deeper into the tun.
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Watch season three of the Shondaland series on Netflix.
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Then fall in love all over again by listening to Bridgerton, the official podcast.
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 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Subscribe to catch a new episode every Thursday.
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SPEAKER_05
 Guess what, Will?
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What's that, Mango?
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SPEAKER_05
I've been trying to write a promo for our podcast, Part-Time Genius, but even though we've done over 250 episodes, we don't really talk about murders or cults.
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SPEAKER_04
I mean, we did just cover the Illuminati of cheese, so I feel like that makes us pretty edgy.
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SPEAKER_04
We also solve mysteries like how Chinese is your Chinese food and how do dollar stores make money?
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And then, of course, can you game a dog show?
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So what you're saying is everyone should be listening.
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Listen to Part-Time Genius on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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SPEAKER_03
 I've literally attained and accomplished everything that a musician could dream to attain.
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SPEAKER_03
And so I had to look myself in the mirror and say, why?
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SPEAKER_03
And I've purposefully slowed down so that I can focus on my mental and physical health, so that I can focus on being there for my child and my wife, and that I can love and enjoy this life and this house that I've spent the last 17 years of my life building.
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And it is terrifying.
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SPEAKER_09
 Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health podcast in the world.
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SPEAKER_09
Thanks to each and every single one of you that come back every week to listen, learn and grow.
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SPEAKER_09
Now this has been a year where we've been so fortunate to sit down with some incredible artists to share their stories and they've opened up vulnerably and you've responded as a community by sharing those episodes, loving those conversations and today's
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 guest is someone that I've wanted to speak to for a long time.
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I've been a fan of his music, been a fan of his flow, been a fan of his lyrics.
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And today we're talking about his brand new book, which I'll introduce you to in a moment, but I'm talking about none other than Bobby Hall, aka Logic, a Grammy nominated platinum selling recording artist,
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 author, actor, streamer, and film producer.
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In addition to his three number one albums, 10 platinum singles, and billions of streams, Hall's debut book, Supermarket, made him the first hip-hop artist to have a number one New York Times best-selling novel.
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SPEAKER_09
And today, his new book that we're talking about is called This Bright Future by Bobby Hall.
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Bobby, thank you so much for making the time.
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SPEAKER_03
 Dude, that was the coolest intro ever.
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SPEAKER_03
I feel so cool now.
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SPEAKER_09
Thank you.
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SPEAKER_09
That's very kind.
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SPEAKER_09
I mean, it's a great intro because it's all true.
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SPEAKER_09
And so I feel like if the intro is cool, then the life must be really cool because you had to live it to make it real.
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For sure.
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SPEAKER_09
 But we were just, we were talking about this before.
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SPEAKER_09
The only time we've ever met is when we bumped into each other at an airport, which I loved because I saw you, I already knew who you were.
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SPEAKER_09
And so when you came up to me, I was like, this is so cool, man.
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Logic stopping me at an airport.
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But you can finish the rest of the story.
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SPEAKER_03
Yeah, dude.
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I thought it was really awesome.
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And my security guard is also, he's just a huge fan of yours.
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His name is Pepe.
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He's literally freaking out right now over here.
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Say, what's up?
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SPEAKER_03
 Yeah, that's Pepe.
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Hey Pepe, what's up?
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Oh man, he's so hype.
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He loves you, man.
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Who doesn't?
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And so, yeah, I just saw it as a really cool opportunity to say hello and then use him as a scapegoat to also say hello.
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So it was really cool.
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SPEAKER_09
No, that's awesome, man.
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SPEAKER_09
And lots of love to Pepe.
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But also, I was a huge fan, so it was nice to always just...
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SPEAKER_09
 It's always nice to just bump into someone in a very natural way.
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SPEAKER_09
This was obviously pre-pandemic when we were all flying and moving around.
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SPEAKER_09
But I wanted to start off just by asking you, what's this time been for you?
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Has this been a time of deep creativity and exploration?
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Has it been relaxing?
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I know you just became a father as well last year.
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What's this time been like for you personally?
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 And it's kind of been a culmination of all those things, for sure.
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So I had planned to take off 2020 anyway, just to be there for my baby, because that's when he was born in February, and my wife, and just really for the first time in my life kind of slow down, which I'd never done.
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 my entire career.
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So I got a little lucky in that sense where I didn't have some big tour planned and have to cancel it and financially be dealing with, you know, situations that I'm glad I didn't run into.
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So that was nice.
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But also at the same time, it's like, yeah, I'm constantly working.
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I was literally like, they were like, okay, you got four minutes.
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I'm upstairs like polishing the script that I'm gonna shoot next year, which I'm really excited to work on.
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And so I'm constantly working.
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 My biggest thing is balance.
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I think searching for balance and trying to find balance is, well, it's impossible, right?
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Because it just is what it is.
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But I think the search is very important.
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And that's where I've been.
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 and I kind of need to relax more, but my mind is always going crazy.
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But yeah, it's been full of creativity, working on music, books, you know, just, but my big thing is with my family.
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I just love spending time with my family, because obviously I didn't really have one growing up.
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So yeah, that's been my pandemic.
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SPEAKER_09
 Yeah, I definitely want to talk about that.
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SPEAKER_09
And you know, for anyone who's listening right now, we are going to dive into Bobby's new book, This Bright Future.
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SPEAKER_09
But I just recently found out that you can solve a Rubik's cube while freestyling.
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And I was just like, that is the craziest multitasking
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 opportunity I've ever heard of.
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I've never thought of two things that are so different.
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Tell us about how you even discovered that you could do that.
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Well, I remember it was 2014 and it was Thanksgiving.
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And I was 24 and I was in my room and I was looking at this Rubik's Cube.
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And I feel like everybody has had a Rubik's Cube at some point.
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It's just kind of like a fun thing you have either when you're a kid or older and you throw it on a shelf.
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 And so I really wanted to learn how to do it.
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So I took to YouTube and looked up a tutorial on all the algorithms.
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I swear to God, this is random, that I have one here right now, like I promise you.
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And I'll probably really butcher it while I'm telling the story.
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But yeah, basically what I wanted to do was, is I wanted to learn how to do it.
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 And I'm a freak, like anything that I want to get into, no matter what it is, whether it's acting, whether it's music, I mean, just even video games, like I love mastering things or at least trying to, doing my best to.
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And so I sat down and I literally just studied this algorithm.
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And I mean, at this point, it's like, I was working on things until like these algorithms, until my fricking fingers felt like they were going to fall off, which was insane.
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 And like 10 hours later, or however long it was, I did it.
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And then I learned how to do it without actually having to look at the algorithms or how they were done.
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So then it had become muscle memory, which was really awesome.
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But it was a very – it was intense and pretty crazy.
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SPEAKER_03
And then I got into like speedcubing and different things like that, which is also very nerdy but also very fun.
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SPEAKER_03
 Yeah, man.
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So it was basically Thanksgiving.
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And before I knew it, I had learned how to solve it.
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And then I just kind of did it constantly.
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And one day I was like, all right, I'm going to take my nerd sci-fi raps on the radio with Big Boy's Neighborhood.
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And I'm also going to do a Rubik's Cube while I freestyle.
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And it could have ended badly, because I could have been so nervous, which I was, that it didn't work out.
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But it did.
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And that was really cool.
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I swear that's just right here.
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SPEAKER_09
Dude, just hold that up again, because that was incredible.
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SPEAKER_03
 That was amazing.
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SPEAKER_09
Thanks man.
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SPEAKER_09
That was phenomenal.
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I mean like for anyone who's listening and not watching the podcast.
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 He just solved, Bobby Hall, Logic, just solved a Rubik's Cube while explaining how he freestyles on Rubik's Cubes at the same time.
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So for anyone who didn't get to see that, please go over to YouTube or Instagram and watch that part because that was pretty epic.
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But I love that, you know, I love the idea of mastery.
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That's something that's always been fascinating to me as well, and I can geek out about mastery.
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SPEAKER_09
But when I look at your childhood, which I got to explore through this book,
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SPEAKER_09
 you describe yourself as an orphan with parents.
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And I think right now in society, we're at this time where a lot of people have started reflecting more on their childhood and how it formed their habits, their behaviors, their ideologies.
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What are some of the, before we dive into your childhood specifically,
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SPEAKER_09
 Well, actually, let's dive into that orphan with parents.
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SPEAKER_09
And then what I really want to hear about is, what were the ideologies that were created from that that you found were healthy, and then ones that you found that were unhealthy?
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SPEAKER_09
I want to hear about both.
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SPEAKER_09
So tell us about growing up as an orphan with parents.
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SPEAKER_03
 Yeah, my dad's black, my mom's white, but I'm the only one who looks white.
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But it's my culture, it's my people, so I fit in.
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It was never an issue, it was never anything.
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It just was what it was.
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It wasn't really more so until I got into entertainment and hip hop that people wanted to put you into this box.
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SPEAKER_03
My father was addicted to crack cocaine.
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My mother had also done various drugs.
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She fell into prostitution when she was young.
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 alcoholic.
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It just really wasn't a good thing.
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She was very mentally unstable, bipolar.
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I'd like to think borderline schizophrenic, which was really crazy too.
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And yeah, I mean, I was surrounded by drugs and violence and guns and shooting guns and cooking crack and my brothers selling crack to my dad and them running around in the street.
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And it was just a really not like a good place to be.
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SPEAKER_03
But the craziest thing is, is I am the only child between my mother and father.
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SPEAKER_03
 So I was like an only child, although I have eight brothers and sisters, which is really crazy on both sides, but we were never together.
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SPEAKER_03
It was never like a family situation.
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And yeah, I mean, growing up, I think
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 I'd like to, you know, people say, oh, well, how did you, how did you make it out of that?
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How are you who you are today?
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And I always say, it's like God and common sense.
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SPEAKER_03
And I will further go on to say, like, I'm not really a super religious guy, but I also don't, I don't hate on religion.
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I don't hate on people's faith.
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SPEAKER_03
I think it's very important.
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I think it's beautiful.
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SPEAKER_03
I don't see it as like sky dad, like some white guy with a beard sitting on a cloud.
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SPEAKER_03
I don't really, I don't know.
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SPEAKER_03
 I don't know if it's a guy, it's a girl, it's a this, it's a that, but I do believe in something.
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SPEAKER_03
I believe in a higher power.
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SPEAKER_03
And I think that mixed with common sense was like, oh, maybe don't smoke crack.
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SPEAKER_03
Oh, seeing my mother being beaten and bloody by men.
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SPEAKER_03
Oh, don't put your hands on a woman.
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SPEAKER_03
It was just a weird thing where any other child or most other children would see these things and go, oh, this is life.
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SPEAKER_03
This is what it is.
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SPEAKER_03
You yell at a woman, you hit a woman, you do this, you do that.
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SPEAKER_03
I was like, no, don't do that.
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And I don't know how.
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 or why, but I'm here and I'm definitely not smoking crack or beating my wife, so I think I'm doing all right.
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SPEAKER_09
I think that makes a lot of sense.
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SPEAKER_09
That resonates with me deeply.
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SPEAKER_09
I always feel like, you know, if someone grows up with alcoholic parents, if you had twins, one of them could become an alcoholic and one of them could never drink alcohol, right?
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SPEAKER_09
It's like you get to make that choice when you have an experience.
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SPEAKER_09
You made certain choices,
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SPEAKER_09
 Was there any lessons that you learned early from either of them?
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SPEAKER_09
Do you think there was something that gave you this desire for mastery, gave you this desire for figuring things out, for living life in a specific way?
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SPEAKER_09
Or actually, was a lot of it just survival and having to find your own way at 17 years old when you finally left?
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SPEAKER_03
 It's funny that you ask that, because when it comes to mastery, yes, I absolutely do love making something my everything, just utterly allowing it to just engulf me.
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SPEAKER_03
And I think maybe a lot of that is because
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SPEAKER_03
 My parents didn't necessarily do that.
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SPEAKER_03
My mother, she had a lot of hobbies and things that she was into.
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SPEAKER_03
She was into writing.
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SPEAKER_03
She loved music.
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SPEAKER_03
She loved dance.
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SPEAKER_03
She did love a lot of things, but she never really focused on one thing with the exception of, I guess, like reading the Bible.
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SPEAKER_03
But she was also very hypocritical when it came to religion.
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SPEAKER_03
And I'd also just like to say, it's very important that I say this,
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SPEAKER_03
 When you hear me talking about my family, I want you to know that in no way is it with malice or hatred or anger.
0
SPEAKER_03
I've forgiven these people for what they've done.
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SPEAKER_03
And I look at them, especially now, I look at my son and I'm like, I couldn't, I don't know how somebody could do this to a baby or a child, the things that I went through.
0
SPEAKER_03
My mom called me and the rest of her kids, the N word with a hard R. And I remember people saying like, oh, that doesn't really make any sense.
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SPEAKER_03
Like that can't be true, that doesn't make any sense.
0
SPEAKER_03
And it's like, one,
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SPEAKER_03
 First of all, don't dismiss my truth.
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SPEAKER_03
And second, of course it doesn't make any sense.
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SPEAKER_03
And I've spent my entire life trying to make it make sense and then realizing, oh, it just doesn't.
0
SPEAKER_03
This is a mentally ill, broken person.
0
SPEAKER_03
This person is lashing out, not only at her children, but at people around.
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SPEAKER_03
I mean, think about it.
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SPEAKER_03
It's kind of weird that my mother is systemically racist, and yet all of her children are with black men because she finds black people so beautiful, which really just stems from her bringing a young black man home when she was a teenager and saying, this is my boyfriend.
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SPEAKER_03
 and then her parents being like, we don't mix with their kind.
0
SPEAKER_03
It's all really insane, and there's levels of that.
0
SPEAKER_03
But back to mastery.
0
SPEAKER_03
Sorry, you'll find I go on tangents.
0
SPEAKER_01
I apologize.
0
SPEAKER_01
I love the tangent.
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SPEAKER_01
I love the tangent.
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SPEAKER_03
I think the fact that she never necessarily focused on one particular thing made me want to focus on one particular thing.
0
SPEAKER_03
And when you're a kid, you try different things.
0
SPEAKER_03
You play basketball, baseball, you draw, you dance, you this, you that.
0
SPEAKER_03
But there was always something about music
0
SPEAKER_03
 And I wanted to really make it my life.
0
SPEAKER_03
So I think, yeah, those examples that she kind of set or necessarily didn't set made me want to do that.
0
SPEAKER_09
Yeah.
0
SPEAKER_09
How do you get to that point, Bobby, when I'm hearing you talk about your family?
0
SPEAKER_09
And I loved what you said that, hey, I'm not putting that dirty laundry out there.
0
SPEAKER_09
I'm not trying to put them down.
0
SPEAKER_09
I'm not being critical.
0
SPEAKER_09
I'm just sharing because I want to be vulnerable and share my truth and the experience.
0
SPEAKER_09
 I think it would be very natural for people to have resentment, for people to have bitterness.
0
SPEAKER_09
You said, I've got to a place where I've forgiven them now.
0
SPEAKER_09
I want to hear, how did you get to that?
0
SPEAKER_09
What I loved, something that you did there, which was so beautiful, was you were able to disconnect her behavior from it being personal to you.
0
SPEAKER_09
You were like, this is just how she was with everyone because this was a condition she was struggling with.
0
SPEAKER_09
This wasn't about me, Bobby the kid, being
0
SPEAKER_09
 a loser, being useless, being bad.
0
SPEAKER_09
How were you able to get to that process of forgiving some of these experiences that you had?
0
SPEAKER_03
Definitely just maturity, growth, and I think my own personal journey as a young man and realizing
0
SPEAKER_03
 what dysfunction is and was.
0
SPEAKER_03
I was able to realize this is a sick person.
0
SPEAKER_03
Once again, God, common sense, I don't know, but I just knew, oh, this isn't right.
0
SPEAKER_03
I only had a few places of, I guess, neutrality, we could call it, where I would go to the skate park and I would just see your normal average person.
0
SPEAKER_03
That has nothing to do with
0
SPEAKER_03
 wealth or money or this or that, but just your normal kind of regular run-of-the-mill kid and his parents.
0
SPEAKER_03
And I'd go, Oh, like, I would, I was realizing like, you know, like my mother never really came to the skate park to watch me skateboard.
0
SPEAKER_03
And then this kid, you know, has, has his parents coming of all races and colors and, and, and people, and they're just there.
0
SPEAKER_03
And I just saw this and I was like, Oh, this isn't right.
0
SPEAKER_03
 but I also understand, now don't get me wrong, there was times when I was angry, of course, like I'm angry, like I had to learn how to ride my bike by myself.
0
SPEAKER_03
I remember one of my earliest memories is choking on a sandwich and my mom then scolding me that I had thrown it up because I couldn't breathe and she made me clean it up and I'm like five years old, like no, like you clean that up and then console me and hug me and tell me everything's gonna be okay, you know, like I didn't have that.
0
SPEAKER_03
But I think while I was going through it, even though there was that anger,
0
SPEAKER_03
 there was this, this, these moments of like understanding, oh,
0
SPEAKER_03
 there is something wrong here.
0
SPEAKER_03
And for a long time, I was angry at her and her mental state and her this and her that, but then as I started to experience anxiety and just normal things that you do as you grow and age and mature, I realized, oh, wow, this isn't really her fault.
0
SPEAKER_03
But I'm also not here to excuse her actions by any means.
0
SPEAKER_03
I mean, my mother, she almost killed me when I was about seven or eight years old.
0
SPEAKER_03
She almost strangled me to death.
0
SPEAKER_03
 and then stopped in the middle of what she was doing and realized what she was doing.
0
SPEAKER_03
And I remember very vividly looking at her and seeing like, oh, so much anger.
0
SPEAKER_03
And I didn't really do anything.
0
SPEAKER_03
I was just bouncing off the walls like a kid having fun.
0
SPEAKER_03
No matter what, a child shouldn't be met with almost being essentially strangled an inch from their life.
0
SPEAKER_03
And I remember
0
SPEAKER_03
 crying and having tears in my eyes.
0
SPEAKER_03
And it was almost like I was looking at her, you know, through like underwater glasses.
0
SPEAKER_03
And then she stopped after realizing what she was doing.
0
SPEAKER_03
And I just told her, I said, it's okay, mommy.
0
SPEAKER_03
Like, I love you.
0
SPEAKER_03
Like, it's okay.
0
SPEAKER_03
And I look back at that now and realize that, but I'm more sad for her than me because I made it out.
0
SPEAKER_03
 I made it out.
0
SPEAKER_03
So I don't know how I did, but this woman still has to live with herself.
0
SPEAKER_03
And I wish I could have a relationship with her so bad.
0
SPEAKER_03
 I'm kind of on and off with my dad.
0
SPEAKER_03
Like one of my dad's last requests was $800,000 so he could buy himself a studio for him and his band, some house.
0
SPEAKER_03
Like, it's just like, it's ludicrous.
0
SPEAKER_03
It's like, hey dad, can I maybe like, can we just talk about life for a second?
0
SPEAKER_03
Every time I talk to my father, it's always music this and music that.
0
SPEAKER_03
But I also realize that very much so like my mother with my dad, that's all he knows.
0
SPEAKER_03
So he talks to music, about music to everybody, not just me.
0
SPEAKER_03
 But I just think it's funny that I started to get a lot more phone calls once the name Logic started getting bigger.
0
SPEAKER_03
I thought that was weird.
0
SPEAKER_03
But when it comes to forgiveness and having this site, I don't know, man.
0
SPEAKER_03
I don't know.
0
SPEAKER_03
And writing this book was very cathartic and very beautiful, and it allowed me to forgive even more.
0
SPEAKER_03
But I'm sorry, Cop Out.
0
SPEAKER_03
I just don't know.
0
SPEAKER_09
 That's not a cop out.
0
SPEAKER_09
I appreciate the honesty.
0
SPEAKER_09
And I love what you said there, because when you look at forgiveness, it doesn't excuse the other person of their behavior.
0
SPEAKER_09
It just exits you from the baggage of carrying it.
0
SPEAKER_09
And so I think that distinction is really important that you made there, that, hey, I was put in pain.
0
SPEAKER_09
I was almost killed.
0
SPEAKER_09
This is as bad as it went.
0
SPEAKER_09
But I don't want to carry all of that with me.
0
SPEAKER_09
 And I think the zooming out and the broader perspective of, hey, this is just how they're interacting with everyone.
0
SPEAKER_09
It's not just me.
0
SPEAKER_09
I think those are really practical steps, actually, that whether you took them knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously, they're really powerful things for everyone to take away.
0
SPEAKER_09
I wonder now as a father,
0
SPEAKER_09
 You know, you've got your adorable son.
0
SPEAKER_09
We see a picture of him in the back of the book.
0
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, little Bobby.
0
SPEAKER_09
Yeah.
0
SPEAKER_09
I wonder now when you're as a father, which is such a amazing step.
0
SPEAKER_09
And you said it was February last year.
0
SPEAKER_09
So he's like, well, 18 months old now.
0
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, 19 months.
0
SPEAKER_09
Yeah, 19 months old.
0
SPEAKER_09
Tell us about how you're approaching parenting.
0
SPEAKER_09
I want to hear about as a father,
0
SPEAKER_09
 how you're thinking about it, what are some of the values or principles that you're hoping to teach him or you're hoping that he'll learn?
0
SPEAKER_03
My biggest thing is communication.
0
SPEAKER_03
I think it's so very important to be able to communicate with your children and also not getting amnesia.
0
SPEAKER_03
My godmother, Mary Jo, who took me in for a nice time in my life when I was a teenager,
0
SPEAKER_03
 She told me that, like, you can't get amnesia.
0
SPEAKER_03
Like, you can't forget that like kids do stupid things or kids, you know, like even just, I don't know, if you're in seventh grade and your heart gets ripped out by some boy or some girl that you were dating for like eight days and it feels like the end of the world and they broke up with you just before the school dance and your life is over.
0
SPEAKER_03
And it's like, as an adult, it's so easy to brush that off and be like, oh, shut up.
0
SPEAKER_03
You're fine.
0
SPEAKER_03
You'll be fine.
0
SPEAKER_03
Shut up.
0
SPEAKER_03
 But it's like, even though that's true, and even though you should say that, maybe not as callous, but it's like, don't forget, man.
0
SPEAKER_03
Don't forget that you were there and that seventh grade is your child's entire world.
0
SPEAKER_03
So it's kind of having those things
0
SPEAKER_03
 in my mind while moving forward are very important.
0
SPEAKER_03
Spending time with him is very important.
0
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, but I think communication really is the biggest thing.
0
SPEAKER_03
A lot of people will just get mad when – like he's in a slight hitting phase right now where he'll kind of like – if he's frustrated, he'll throw something but it's – and somebody could be like, no, you don't throw things.
0
SPEAKER_03
You don't – but it's like,
0
SPEAKER_03
 he's so frustrated because he lacks the ability to be able to communicate with us.
0
SPEAKER_03
So it's like, okay, stop, pause, let him know.
0
SPEAKER_03
No, we don't do that.
0
SPEAKER_03
Like you don't throw things.
0
SPEAKER_03
No, you can say it sternly, but not choking them to death.
0
SPEAKER_03
I think that's what's really important.
0
SPEAKER_03
And once again, just seeing this little beautiful, perfect slate of a human being is, I just don't know how people can do some of the things that
0
SPEAKER_03
 they do to children or that have been done.
0
SPEAKER_03
To me, it's kind of very sickening, but I believe that it's up to me to break that cycle and be one of the first people in my family to do so.
0
SPEAKER_03
Not the only one, there's some great people in my family who have made it out.
0
SPEAKER_03
But yeah, so when I look at him, I think about that love, compassion, communication, and not getting amnesia.
0
SPEAKER_07
 When you find that bright spot to help you get through your day, it's powerful.
0
SPEAKER_08
That's where The Bright Side comes in.
0
SPEAKER_08
A new daily podcast from Hello Sunshine that's bringing you a daily dose of joy.
0
SPEAKER_08
I'm Danielle Robay.
0
SPEAKER_07
And I'm Simone Boyce.
0
SPEAKER_07
Listen, both Danielle and I are reporters.
0
SPEAKER_07
We've covered the news and we know the world can feel heavy, but The Bright Side podcast is a space to have a little fun, to learn something new and get into some friendly debates.
0
SPEAKER_08
 That's right, join us five days a week to see how life can look from the bright side.
0
SPEAKER_08
We'll hear from celebrities, authors, experts, and listeners like you.
0
SPEAKER_07
Whether it's relationships, friend advice, or figuring out how to navigate life's transitions, we'll talk through it all together.
0
SPEAKER_08
Listen to The Bright Side from Hello Sunshine every weekday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0
SPEAKER_04
 Guess what, Bango?
0
SPEAKER_04
What's up, Will?
0
SPEAKER_04
So iHeart is giving us a whole minute to promote our podcast, Part-Time Genius.
0
SPEAKER_05
 I know, that's why I spent my whole week composing a haiku for the occasion.
0
SPEAKER_05
It's about my emotional journey in podcasting over the last seven years, and it's called Earthquake House.
0
SPEAKER_04
Mango, I'm going to cut you off right there.
0
SPEAKER_04
Why don't we just tell people about our show instead?
0
SPEAKER_05
Yeah, that's a better idea.
0
SPEAKER_05
So every week on Part-Time Genius, we feed our curiosity by answering the world's most important questions.
0
SPEAKER_05
Things like, when did America start dialing 911?
0
SPEAKER_05
Is William Shatner's best acting work in Esperanto?
0
SPEAKER_05
Also, what happened to Esperanto?
0
SPEAKER_04
 Plus, we cover questions like how Chinese is your Chinese food?
0
SPEAKER_04
How do dollar stores stay in business?
0
SPEAKER_04
And of course, is there an Illuminati of cheese?
0
SPEAKER_04
There absolutely is.
0
SPEAKER_05
And we are risking our lives by talking about it.
0
SPEAKER_05
But if you love mind-blowing facts, incredible history and really bad jokes, make your brains happy and tune in to Part-Time Genius.
0
SPEAKER_04
Listen to Part-Time Genius on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
0
SPEAKER_06
 When the Taliban banned music in Afghanistan, millions were plunged into silence.
0
SPEAKER_06
Radios were smashed.
0
SPEAKER_06
Cassettes burned.
0
SPEAKER_06
You could be beaten or jailed or killed for breaking the rules.
0
SPEAKER_06
And yet, Afghans did it anyway.
0
SPEAKER_06
This is the story of how a group of people brought music back to Afghanistan by creating their own version of American Idol.
0
SPEAKER_06
 The danger they endured.
0
SPEAKER_05
They said my head should be cut off.
0
SPEAKER_06
The joy they brought to the nation.
0
SPEAKER_01
You're free completely.
0
SPEAKER_01
No one is there to destroy you.
0
SPEAKER_06
I'm John Legend.
0
SPEAKER_06
Listen to Afghan Star on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0
SPEAKER_09
 Yeah, yeah.
0
SPEAKER_09
I like that point about not gaining amnesia.
0
SPEAKER_09
And the idea of, I feel like one of the biggest mistakes we all make as humans is that we keep communicating with people from where we are, not where they are.
0
SPEAKER_09
And so we forget that we were where they are right now.
0
SPEAKER_09
And if we just talk to them, recognizing that that was us 10 years ago, 20, 30, 50, whatever it is, that that would make all the difference.
0
SPEAKER_09
 And now you have a vocabulary for it.
0
SPEAKER_09
We do.
0
SPEAKER_09
We understand mental illness better.
0
SPEAKER_09
We understand mental health.
0
SPEAKER_09
We understand these terms a bit better.
0
SPEAKER_09
We're getting there.
0
SPEAKER_09
When was it when you first started realizing that this was mental illness, this was mental health, this was their conditioning and challenges that were on a deeper level, more than just their addiction?
0
SPEAKER_03
 I think just simply, like I said, by being able to make the connection or lack thereof between a friend of mine's parents and my parents.
0
SPEAKER_03
Got it.
0
SPEAKER_03
You're a normal person who can go and hold a job.
0
SPEAKER_03
I think my mom only ever had two jobs.
0
SPEAKER_03
I think she worked at a supermarket for a little bit, and she worked at Chick-fil-A, and she could not stand people telling her what to do.
0
SPEAKER_03
I realized that, and yet then she would tell me what to do, and yet I had to just suck it up and take it.
0
SPEAKER_03
 And then even with myself, like I said, me going through anxiety was like a big eye opener.
0
SPEAKER_03
And I remember my first panic attack, I was like 13 years old.
0
SPEAKER_03
And it was really scary and my mom had gone away.
0
SPEAKER_03
Well, I mean, she just went to the store for like an hour, but I had this panic attack and I started to realize I was dealing with like separation anxiety from my mother.
0
SPEAKER_03
And that a lot of our relationship was more based on brainwashing, which sounds crazy,
0
SPEAKER_03
 having this feeling that I needed her and that if she wasn't there, like my entire world would crumble.
0
SPEAKER_03
And I didn't know how to deal with anxiety.
0
SPEAKER_03
And honestly, I only really learned how to deal with anxiety much later in life, like in my late 20s, I'm 31 now.
0
SPEAKER_03
And even right now, Jay, like I'm pretty anxious right now.
0
SPEAKER_03
I don't know why, it's really weird.
0
SPEAKER_03
I felt fine before I got on in front of the camera.
0
SPEAKER_03
And even right now, like I have this like,
0
SPEAKER_03
 feeling of anxiety.
0
SPEAKER_03
And maybe it's a number of things.
0
SPEAKER_03
Maybe it's, I'm recounting my childhood.
0
SPEAKER_03
I just, I have a book that's come out.
0
SPEAKER_03
You know, so many things that are going on in my mind.
0
SPEAKER_03
I'm fine.
0
SPEAKER_03
I know I'm fine.
0
SPEAKER_03
I'm drinking water.
0
SPEAKER_03
I'm talking to an amazing human being.
0
SPEAKER_03
I'm, everything is okay.
0
SPEAKER_03
And yet internally, there is still is a part of me that feels a little jittery and a little nervous and a little this and a little that.
0
SPEAKER_03
And,
0
SPEAKER_03
 I've learned how to deal with that.
0
SPEAKER_03
And instead of like freaking out, I just go, you're fine.
0
SPEAKER_03
It's okay.
0
SPEAKER_03
Feeling this way is normal.
0
SPEAKER_03
I remember speaking with my therapist and she told me, I was like, I hate the fact that I feel anxious.
0
SPEAKER_03
I was like, there's people out there that don't really, they just have kind of general anxiety, but they don't have that anxiety where it can also affect them physically, where they feel weird or they feel like they could pass out or this or that.
1
SPEAKER_05
 like, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_05
And then sometimes it happens to them like Tony Soprano when they're in their 50s trying to feed the ducks in their pool.
1
SPEAKER_05
And then that's just their life after that.
1
SPEAKER_05
And she said, the thing is, is not
1
SPEAKER_05
 Like you have to accept that that's just who you are and that's the way your life is now and do the best that you can to combat and deal with that anxiety and those emotions in the most positive manner possible.
1
SPEAKER_05
So it wasn't until I started truly understanding what anxiety meant and how much it can affect your day-to-day personal and professional life that I even grew more sympathetic towards my mother and all the things that she was dealing with.
1
SPEAKER_03
 Yeah, well, I wanna thank you for sharing that.
1
SPEAKER_03
And also just to say that I do think it's natural and extremely brave when you're sharing such personal accounts of things in your life and you're putting them out there.
1
SPEAKER_03
And we know the world we live in where everything we say is, you know, it's natural for you to feel that way.
1
SPEAKER_03
So I really appreciate you even opening up and sharing that.
1
SPEAKER_03
And I just want you to know that I think you're sharing your story, not just on this interview, but in this book,
1
SPEAKER_03
 in a way that is going to help so many people with their perspective.
1
SPEAKER_03
So I want you to know that.
1
SPEAKER_03
And I also want you to know that we all have anxiety.
1
SPEAKER_03
I officiated someone's wedding this weekend, the weekend that just went.
1
SPEAKER_03
And my wife said it to me.
1
SPEAKER_03
She was like, Jay, I've never seen you this anxious or stressed in your life with anything you do.
1
SPEAKER_03
 And I was like, because it's someone's wedding day.
1
SPEAKER_03
I was like, and people were like, oh, but you've done this a million times and you don't.
1
SPEAKER_03
And I was like, it doesn't matter how many times I've done it.
1
SPEAKER_03
It's someone different and it's their wedding day.
1
SPEAKER_03
And this is an important moment for someone.
1
SPEAKER_03
And what I've realized, and I love what you said there, because I do something similar.
1
SPEAKER_03
I've redefined my relationship with anxiety that I feel anxious when I care.
1
SPEAKER_03
 So I know that when I'm feeling anxious, it's because it's something good about me is that I care.
1
SPEAKER_03
I'm a human that loves and cares and is compassionate and wants to serve these two beautiful people that I wedded, that I love and that love me and I have a relationship with.
1
SPEAKER_03
It's because of that.
1
SPEAKER_03
I'm not scared about what someone thinks about it or how it goes.
1
SPEAKER_03
I'm anxious because I care about these two people and I feel they deserve something special.
1
SPEAKER_05
 It's funny you say that because another thing that I had dealt with for, I mean, everybody deals with it is intrusive thoughts.
1
SPEAKER_05
You're aware of this, right?
1
SPEAKER_05
Intrusive thoughts.
1
SPEAKER_05
So it could be the craziest thing.
1
SPEAKER_05
It could be your baby falling to its death.
1
SPEAKER_05
It could be you, I don't know, punching a store clerk and you're just like, oh my God, why would I think that?
1
SPEAKER_05
How could I think something so despicable or whatever the case may be?
1
SPEAKER_05
These dark thoughts.
1
SPEAKER_05
And I remember talking to my therapist and she was like, well, one, those aren't really your thoughts.
1
SPEAKER_05
You're not thinking that.
1
SPEAKER_05
She was like, that's kind of douchebag brain, as she put it.
1
SPEAKER_05
 She was like, it's just these thoughts that pop into your head and you need to understand that that's also like conscious, like your conscious recognizes that and is then terrified.
1
SPEAKER_05
And so I think when it comes to anxiety and the things you care about, it's like, oh my God, if I think about my baby dying,
1
SPEAKER_05
 It's because that's the most precious thing to me.
1
SPEAKER_05
If I think about, I don't know, like I said, punching some clerk in the face, it's like violence.
1
SPEAKER_05
I hate violence.
1
SPEAKER_05
So it's these things that my brain is doing that I'm kind of then freaking out about, but it's about how we deal with that.
1
SPEAKER_05
If we then focus on it too much and obsess, why would I think that?
1
SPEAKER_05
Why would I think that?
1
SPEAKER_05
Why would I think that?
1
SPEAKER_05
Then every time
1
SPEAKER_05
 we're in a situation where that thought is then triggered, then it just becomes more intense.
1
SPEAKER_05
And the key there is to not really focus on it, is to really not think about it, understand that it's a thought, it's a disgusting thought that you didn't even think in your head, it just somehow popped in and you were like, oh my goodness.
1
SPEAKER_05
 you know, to hell with you.
1
SPEAKER_05
And that's also how I feel about anxiety.
1
SPEAKER_05
I think there's a difference between legitimately like, oh, I'm starting to see stars, or I feel like I need to sit down, like that could be different, even though it may be anxiety, but it's like, ask yourself, have you been working really hard?
1
SPEAKER_05
Have you drank enough water today?
1
SPEAKER_05
Have you eaten?
1
SPEAKER_05
Have you this?
1
SPEAKER_05
Have you that?
1
SPEAKER_05
And having the mind
1
SPEAKER_05
 the mindset to be able to just ask yourself what is going on.
1
SPEAKER_05
And that was something I couldn't do for a long time.
1
SPEAKER_05
I was very unhealthy, both physically and mentally.
1
SPEAKER_05
And once I really learned how to utilize these tools, my life became better.
1
SPEAKER_05
But I mean, I still get anxiety, like it sucks.
1
SPEAKER_05
Of course, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_05
 But it also is great.
1
SPEAKER_05
I mean, I'm not going to say anxiety is great.
1
SPEAKER_05
Anxiety just sucks.
1
SPEAKER_05
But look at this great conversation we're having because of it.
1
SPEAKER_05
I've made songs about it.
1
SPEAKER_05
I've written parts in scripts about it.
1
SPEAKER_05
I get it, and I understand it.
1
SPEAKER_05
And because of that, it's actually allowed me to connect with people on such a deeper level and being willing to go.
1
SPEAKER_05
Because I'll tell you this, man.
1
SPEAKER_05
I love rap.
1
SPEAKER_05
I love hip hop.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's a beautiful place.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's also a negative place, just like the world is.
1
SPEAKER_05
 And, but I've met a lot of rappers where I try to have like deeper conversations with them and they just don't do it because I think they're also scared to internalize how they're feeling.
1
SPEAKER_05
But I did have one guy and I'll never forget, he was like, bro, I wish I could be you.
1
SPEAKER_05
And I was like, what do you mean?
1
SPEAKER_05
I'm like the nerd rapper who solves Rubik's cubes and raps about sci-fi.
1
SPEAKER_05
You're like, you're that dude.
1
SPEAKER_05
You know, you got the cred, even though low-key I've shot guns and cooked crack.
1
SPEAKER_05
So I guess I have the cred as well, but I don't really perpetuate that life.
1
SPEAKER_05
And he was like, look, man,
1
SPEAKER_05
 He was like, I'm scared.
1
SPEAKER_05
He was like, that was so long ago.
1
SPEAKER_05
That's not who I am anymore.
1
SPEAKER_05
And he's like, I like video games.
1
SPEAKER_05
I like this.
1
SPEAKER_05
I like that.
1
SPEAKER_05
I wish I could just be myself.
1
SPEAKER_05
And when he said that to me, I realized that all the years and times that I'd been made fun of in hip hop or this or that,
1
SPEAKER_05
 Well, at the end of the day, I may have been made fun of by a certain sect or quote unquote cool group or the jocks of rap, but at least I was always myself and never had to pretend to be somebody I was not.
1
SPEAKER_05
And then that led to, you know, just saying I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I'm not, which I think like Kurt Cobain or somebody said, but yeah, there it is.
1
SPEAKER_03
 Yeah, no, that's a beautiful message, man.
1
SPEAKER_03
I think that's something everyone can relate to.
1
SPEAKER_03
And what you were speaking about there about the douchebag brain, in the monastery, we used to call it the monkey mind and the monk mind.
1
SPEAKER_03
So you have the monkey mind that's, you know, saying all these intrusive thoughts, as you said, saying all these self-doubt, anxiety, and then you have the monk mind, which is the calm, the still, the balanced, and to bring that monkey mind back under control.
1
SPEAKER_03
And so, yeah, for me, that was always,
1
SPEAKER_03
 That was always a fun way of thinking about it.
1
SPEAKER_03
It's just like, oh, I've just got this monkey that's jumping from branch to branch in my head and, you know, it doesn't know what it wants and it's confused and it's moving fast, but the monk mind can kind of ground it.
1
SPEAKER_03
So that aligns very strongly.
1
SPEAKER_05
I've always, I always saw this guy who looks like, I want you to imagine like a cartoon.
1
SPEAKER_05
There's this episode of Futurama.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's one of my favorite cartoons.
1
SPEAKER_05
 I forget the episode, but there's like this liquid guy and he's like blue and he looks like just kind of moving water and his head's all back and he looks kind of cool.
1
SPEAKER_05
I imagine that guy in a leather jacket sitting on like a beach chair in my brain and he's responsible for these thoughts.
1
SPEAKER_05
He's like you said, the monkey mind.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's like this monkey, but it's like that's how I see this guy.
1
SPEAKER_05
And I've actually had conversations with this guy.
1
SPEAKER_05
 Like, get out of here, dude.
1
SPEAKER_05
Like, chill.
1
SPEAKER_05
Like, stop.
1
SPEAKER_05
And then he'll say something to me that I hear.
1
SPEAKER_05
And it almost sounds like I'm crazy, right?
1
SPEAKER_05
Because it's like I'm having a conversation with myself in my head.
1
SPEAKER_05
But I have had this, and I'm like, no, like, not today, man.
1
SPEAKER_05
And sometimes he really, he'll hit me with some crazy images, or me freaking out, or going to the emergency room, or just all these things, because I'm always constantly thinking about my health.
1
SPEAKER_05
 I have to have those conversations and tell the water blob or monkey man or whatever to calm down and do my best to be in control, which is actually really funny because I'm not in control.
1
SPEAKER_05
We're not really in control.
1
SPEAKER_05
And I think accepting the fact that you're not in control in some weird way gives you a bit of control at the same time, but yeah.
1
SPEAKER_03
 Yeah, it definitely gives you more control over what you can control if there's any of that that you can do.
1
SPEAKER_03
So no, I like that.
1
SPEAKER_03
And I love the Futurama reference or Futurama references.
1
SPEAKER_03
What would you say was your early, you referred to this earlier, so I'm bringing it back.
1
SPEAKER_03
What would you say was your earliest memory of becoming aware of racism?
1
SPEAKER_03
 and experiencing it for yourself or trying to understand it as a young person who obviously has a very diverse childhood, but people not being able to understand, contextualize.
1
SPEAKER_03
I want to know what that's like from your perspective.
1
SPEAKER_05
 I say in the book that racism for me, when I first experienced it, wasn't outside in, it was inside out, right?
1
SPEAKER_05
Because it was my mother who used this word.
1
SPEAKER_05
I mean, it's really disgusting, but the way she would do it, she would do it in a way where it's just...
1
SPEAKER_05
 Whatever would cut deep.
1
SPEAKER_05
If you were fat, she'd call you fat.
1
SPEAKER_05
If you're ugly, she'd call you ugly.
1
SPEAKER_05
If you were black, she would use these slurs.
1
SPEAKER_05
Anybody, any race, any this, any that, which I always just thought was so disgusting because she would say this, and then next week she'd take me to the library and we'd be getting Black History Month.
1
SPEAKER_05
 DVDs and VHS and she's like you need to be proud of your of your heritage and I'm just like what is wrong with you?
1
SPEAKER_05
So like there was that And then the crazy thing about racism is like, okay, first of all, it's a hundred percent it exists It's a real thing.
1
SPEAKER_05
But like especially kind of like in the hood and where I grew up.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's just different.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's like
1
SPEAKER_05
 The white boys are hanging out with the brothers and the Mexican cats and everybody.
1
SPEAKER_05
We're all just hanging out together, unless it's gangs who just don't mess with a certain demographic of other people.
1
SPEAKER_05
But for the most part, man, everybody was just hanging.
1
SPEAKER_05
It wasn't really like that.
1
SPEAKER_05
And then once you start growing up,
1
SPEAKER_05
 is where you realize these sects and this division really comes in.
1
SPEAKER_05
So for me, it was very weird to enter hip hop, a place that I love and loved and is built on positivity and all the way from Sugar Hill Gang and KRS-One.
1
SPEAKER_05
It is built on a message, run DMC, be yourself.
1
SPEAKER_05
And it was also a lot of fun braggadocio.
1
SPEAKER_05
But for the most part, it was like, this is the story that we're here to tell.
1
SPEAKER_05
 And so for me, I was like, oh, wow, I can tell my story.
1
SPEAKER_05
So I was there in these last 10 years at the cusp of hip hop becoming low-key the most popular genre of music.
1
SPEAKER_05
And the more, quote unquote, pop that it got, the more attention was brought on all of the people who were heading it at the front line.
1
SPEAKER_05
And I, being one of those people, received a lot of hate that was basically all based on my race.
1
SPEAKER_05
 Which was very difficult because it was like a double-edged sword and there was really no winning.
1
SPEAKER_05
You're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't.
1
SPEAKER_05
I'd go in an interview and they'd say, okay, yeah, so we here with this rapper named Logic.
1
SPEAKER_05
So what's it like being white in hip hop and blah, blah, blah.
1
SPEAKER_05
And I have to go, well, first of all, I'm not.
1
SPEAKER_05
 I'm black and white, so I mix.
1
SPEAKER_05
And then that turns into comments on the internet like, why's he always got to be proving himself?
1
SPEAKER_05
Why's he always got to explain?
1
SPEAKER_05
Why's he always got to... It's like, well, one, I'm just telling you who I am.
1
SPEAKER_05
So first and foremost, for you to look at me and just claim that I'm one thing, no, I am proud to be this thing.
1
SPEAKER_05
 which the double-edged sword is then, what if I never said it?
1
SPEAKER_05
And then you find out that my dad's black, and then a year later, you're like, so what, you ashamed to be black?
1
SPEAKER_05
You trying to use this whole white thing to get, and then it's that.
1
SPEAKER_05
And you have incredible artists like Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Killer Mike, Black Thought from the Roots, talking about their black in every song.
1
SPEAKER_05
 They're happy to be black, they're proud to be black.
1
SPEAKER_05
I'm black, I'm black and I'm black, I'm the blackest.
1
SPEAKER_05
And then for the first time in my career, on my third album, after constantly being called this thing that I didn't necessarily identify with, on three songs, I go, hey, I'm biracial, I'm mixed, I'm actually black and white.
1
SPEAKER_05
And they turned it into this like biracial meme.
1
SPEAKER_05
And then I have white kids and black kids and brown kids and all these other people trying to tell me what I am or what I'm not.
1
SPEAKER_05
And it was a very difficult time in my life until I realized
1
SPEAKER_05
 It's literally just a meme.
1
SPEAKER_05
It has nothing to do with anything.
1
SPEAKER_05
The music is so good.
1
SPEAKER_05
The music is getting billions of streams.
1
SPEAKER_05
The music is platinum.
1
SPEAKER_05
I'm in arenas.
1
SPEAKER_05
I'm selling out.
1
SPEAKER_05
Oh, this is just a talking subject.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's low-hanging fruit.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's easy for these people to try to identify me for what they claim me as, put me in that box, and leave it at that.
1
SPEAKER_05
And that was a big part of me stepping away from the internet and realizing, oh, it doesn't even matter.
1
SPEAKER_03
 Yeah, and it's almost like you were repeating what you had to do as a child.
1
SPEAKER_03
Like as a child, you had to be like, okay, this is not my mom.
1
SPEAKER_03
This is her illness.
1
SPEAKER_03
This is her challenge.
1
SPEAKER_03
It's not about me.
1
SPEAKER_03
And so now it was like, mom is kind of like the internet where it's like, okay, well, right?
1
SPEAKER_05
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_05
Like, whoa, actually, like the way you say, it's kind of insane.
1
SPEAKER_05
 Because yeah, I then had this very negative, but also beautiful relationship at the same time with the internet and social media and all this, which in many ways was constantly berating me and harassing me and yelling at me and screaming at me the same way my mother did when I was a child.
1
SPEAKER_05
Wow.
1
SPEAKER_05
Nice pull.
1
SPEAKER_05
You're a genius.
1
SPEAKER_03
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_03
No, it's just interesting.
1
SPEAKER_03
I love seeing how patterns repeat in people's lives and how we have to
1
SPEAKER_03
 It's almost like you've overcome the first challenge of their upbringing, and then it's like, well, here's the escalated challenge of it with now millions of people who don't know you.
1
SPEAKER_03
And then, as you said, you're selling out arenas.
1
SPEAKER_03
People love the music.
1
SPEAKER_03
The music's awesome.
1
SPEAKER_03
You're getting to see the real version of that.
1
SPEAKER_03
Tell us about how you, with all of this that we've already talked about, and I saved this for this part of the interview, and you write a book called This Bright Future, which is your memoir.
1
SPEAKER_03
And I'm like, I love that.
1
SPEAKER_03
I want to know how much I love that.
1
SPEAKER_03
 Tell us where that title comes from and why This Bright Future?
1
SPEAKER_03
I'm asking this, was that an imagination?
1
SPEAKER_03
Was that a vision?
1
SPEAKER_03
Where did that come from?
1
SPEAKER_05
 So there's a band called Manfred Mann's Band, and they have a song.
1
SPEAKER_05
I've actually had tried to sample them for years and years and years, because they have some really cool stuff.
1
SPEAKER_05
No ID sampled, who I'm homies with, sampled them for a bunch of Kanye West songs and things like that back in the day, Beautiful Twisted Fantasy.
1
SPEAKER_05
And so I'd been searching and searching and searching, and finally in 2020, I found this sample.
1
SPEAKER_05
And it's called...
1
SPEAKER_05
 lies through the 80s, and there's this lyric, and it goes, I saw a boy with no smile on his face today.
1
SPEAKER_05
Where is my bright future in this world?
1
SPEAKER_05
Or whatever.
1
SPEAKER_05
So I loved that, and I sampled that and chopped it up for a song called Heard Him Say on my last album, No Pressure.
1
SPEAKER_05
 And that to me is like the epitome of what the book is about, my place in rap is about hip-hop, like it kind of sums that up.
1
SPEAKER_05
And then we just had this idea like, wow, what if that was the title?
1
SPEAKER_05
And I love it because if you look at the cover, you'll see it's actually – so the under – or excuse me, the no pressure cover is me kind of levitating.
1
SPEAKER_05
 in a basement that's breaking up into space.
1
SPEAKER_05
Now, nine albums before that was my debut album, Under Pressure, and that was me in a basement, in my homie Lenny's basement, when I was broke in College Park, just trying to get a record deal, which I eventually got, and we all moved to LA, and that was awesome.
1
SPEAKER_05
 So, when you're looking at the no pressure cover, you'll see I'm facing you and I'm levitating and you see my feet in the air.
1
SPEAKER_05
For this bright future, the memoir cover, you'll see it's actually from the back of my legs.
1
SPEAKER_05
 it's a reflection.
1
SPEAKER_05
So I'm this grown man kind of like rising and heading in towards the light, you know, not the darkness.
1
SPEAKER_05
And then you see a child falling into darkness, which to me kind of represents my birth and where I spent my entire childhood.
1
SPEAKER_05
But somehow falling into darkness, I levitated into lightness and I don't know, or into the light, excuse me.
1
SPEAKER_05
And I have no idea how that happened, but that's what that all means.
1
SPEAKER_00
 A new season of Bridgerton is here.
1
SPEAKER_00
And with it, a new season of Bridgerton, the official podcast.
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm your host, Gabrielle Collins.
1
SPEAKER_00
And this season, we are bringing fans even deeper into the ton.
1
SPEAKER_00
Colin Bridgerton has returned from his travels abroad.
1
SPEAKER_00
Is Betrothal written in the stars for the eligible bachelor?
1
SPEAKER_00
 Meanwhile, the ton is reverberating with speculation of who holds Lady Whistledown's pen.
1
SPEAKER_00
We're discussing it all.
1
SPEAKER_00
I sit down with Nicola Coughlin, Luke Newton, Shonda Rhimes, and more to offer an exclusive peek behind the scenes of each episode of the new season.
1
SPEAKER_00
Watch season three of the Shondaland series on Netflix.
1
SPEAKER_00
Then,
1
SPEAKER_00
 Fall in love all over again by listening to Bridgerton, the official podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1
SPEAKER_00
Subscribe to catch a new episode every Thursday.
1
SPEAKER_04
 Parents, ready to discover a new educational and interactive podcast for kids?
1
SPEAKER_04
Join Stories for Kids by Lingokids, where episodes are packed with fun activities.
1
SPEAKER_04
Right, Elliot?
1
SPEAKER_04
Oh, yes!
1
SPEAKER_04
We learned how to recycle at the beach.
1
SPEAKER_04
 That was great fun!
1
SPEAKER_04
Cowie, what do you say?
1
SPEAKER_02
It was!
1
SPEAKER_02
And that time when we did the science experiment, and Billy made raisins dance!
1
SPEAKER_02
That is so cool, Billy!
1
SPEAKER_04
He did!
1
SPEAKER_04
Not to mention when a certain Elliot took up swimming classes with Lisa.
1
SPEAKER_04
That was me!
1
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Bet you can't catch me!
1
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I'm going to get you!
1
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 All this fun and more in our Stories for Kids.
1
SPEAKER_04
Lingo Kids Stories for Kids is now available on Story Button, the kid-friendly device for screenless podcast listening.
1
SPEAKER_04
Listen to Stories for Kids on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1
SPEAKER_01
 Hey everyone, this is Molly and Matt and we're the hosts of Grown Up Stuff How to Adult, a podcast from Ruby Studio and iHeart Podcasts.
1
SPEAKER_02
It's a show dedicated to helping you figure out the trickiest parts of adulting.
1
SPEAKER_01
 like how to start planning for retirement, creating a healthy skincare routine, understanding when and how much to tip someone, and so much more.
1
SPEAKER_02
We're back with season two of the podcast, which means more opportunities to glow up and become a more responsible and better adult, one life lesson at a time.
1
SPEAKER_01
And let me just tell you, this show is just as much for us as it is for you.
1
SPEAKER_01
So let's figure this stuff out together.
1
SPEAKER_01
This season, we're going to talk about whether or not we're financially and emotionally ready for dog ownership.
1
SPEAKER_02
 We're going to figure out the benefits of a high yield savings account.
1
SPEAKER_01
And what exactly are the duties of being a member of the wedding party?
1
SPEAKER_02
All that plus so much more.
1
SPEAKER_01
Let's learn about all of it and then some.
1
SPEAKER_01
Listen to Grown Up Stuff How to Adult on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1
SPEAKER_03
 I love that.
1
SPEAKER_03
I want people to see that because I do think it's beautifully artistic and absolutely stunning.
1
SPEAKER_03
And I wanted to hear you describe that to everyone because I just love symbolism and I love
1
SPEAKER_03
 visuals that can make you feel something.
1
SPEAKER_03
And I think when you see this, everyone can, I'm looking at it right now and I'm going, I can relate in my own way to what it feels like to be that kid that's falling.
1
SPEAKER_03
And I can relate in my own way to what it feels like that person that's elevating.
1
SPEAKER_03
And I wonder this, you know, when I speak to you, I read the book, Bobby, it's like, you have such a great understanding of,
1
SPEAKER_03
 psychology, thought, the mind.
1
SPEAKER_03
When did you get fascinated with how this all works?
1
SPEAKER_03
What were you reading?
1
SPEAKER_03
What were you listening to?
1
SPEAKER_03
Who were you speaking to that helped you understand that?
1
SPEAKER_03
The way you speak is so structured and thought out and you recognize where things sit and how they are.
1
SPEAKER_03
Where did that come from?
1
SPEAKER_03
Where did it get nourished?
1
SPEAKER_03
And how did you grow that?
1
SPEAKER_03
 Well, thanks, man.
1
SPEAKER_03
You make me sound like smart or something.
1
SPEAKER_03
Dude, you're very – I meant it.
1
SPEAKER_05
I really mean it.
1
SPEAKER_05
I really mean it.
1
SPEAKER_05
I think – I've always loved language and I think it's a beautiful thing.
1
SPEAKER_05
I wish I had a doper vocabulary like Neil deGrasse Tyson or something.
1
SPEAKER_05
I was hanging out with Neil deGrasse Tyson and he was like saying equivocal or whatever.
1
SPEAKER_05
I was just like, I need to step my game up.
1
SPEAKER_05
When I was younger though, I saw the power of words and I would study the dictionary and I would study the thesaurus.
1
SPEAKER_05
 I also wanted to separate myself from any of my contemporaries or even my predecessors in hip-hop as well.
1
SPEAKER_05
Now, I'm not saying that I think I'm this like, oh, I use words they don't use.
1
SPEAKER_05
Not at all.
1
SPEAKER_05
You take somebody like Nas.
1
SPEAKER_05
I mean, this dude was doing the same thing back in the day in the projects on Queensbridge, and he was using words like cerebral.
1
SPEAKER_05
Nobody would say that.
1
SPEAKER_05
Other cats were just like, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_05
 you know, take a gunshot to the head.
1
SPEAKER_05
He'd be like, take a gunshot through the cerebral cortex and the spine.
1
SPEAKER_05
And I'm just like, yo, this is so cool.
1
SPEAKER_05
I also have always just been so inspired by Quentin Tarantino.
1
SPEAKER_05
And you know, he didn't go to film school.
1
SPEAKER_05
He just did it.
1
SPEAKER_05
And he was like, he made movies his life.
1
SPEAKER_05
He studied film in a way that you just couldn't even do at film school.
1
SPEAKER_05
He learned things like on the street.
1
SPEAKER_05
And that's how I felt when it came to
1
SPEAKER_05
 I guess just my mentality about life, like I looked at people like Alan Watts, who has one of the greatest quotes I've ever heard personally, says, anything you can be interested in, you will find others who are.
1
SPEAKER_05
And that in and of itself alone is what inspired me to be me, is to be this guy who did yes, has come,
1
SPEAKER_05
 from being surrounded by drugs and guns and violence, but wanting to rap about anime and sci-fi.
1
SPEAKER_05
And I think studying great minds and reading, and I'm mainly a visual audio person, honestly, but yeah, taking the time to read and just study
1
SPEAKER_05
 is what helped me grow as a man and a musician.
1
SPEAKER_05
I mean, I didn't even graduate high school, man.
1
SPEAKER_05
I got kicked out.
1
SPEAKER_05
So it's like, I think formal education is awesome and it's important depending on where, you know, the trajectory of your life and where you see your path going and your career.
1
SPEAKER_05
But not for me, man.
1
SPEAKER_05
 School of hard knocks dog like I don't know how it worked, but I'm glad it did but I also think that it's like I'm just like a regular dude who made some kind of okay decisions and I also love that, you know, I
1
SPEAKER_05
 I always hated teachers who spoke down on you.
1
SPEAKER_05
When you ask a question, they almost made you feel stupid for doing so.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's like, I'm a professional at my craft.
1
SPEAKER_05
I'm a master at what I do, but in no way do I ever want anybody to feel either intimidated or like, I think I'm so knowledgeable in my world that they feel like we can't even have a conversation.
1
SPEAKER_05
I think there's levels to also the vocabulary that you use.
1
SPEAKER_05
 when having conversations with people because it's like, dude, you want to be down to earth, you want to be regular, but you also want to let people know that you know what they're talking about.
1
SPEAKER_03
 Yeah, for sure, man.
1
SPEAKER_03
I was literally just about to ask you about school after when you mentioned it.
1
SPEAKER_03
I was going to say, because you felt like school gave up on you.
1
SPEAKER_03
And I think there's a lot of young people that feel that way, where school gave up on them.
1
SPEAKER_03
And I loved what you said.
1
SPEAKER_03
You're not discouraging anyone from following a traditional school pattern or whatever it may be.
1
SPEAKER_03
But when you think about school, I wonder if
1
SPEAKER_03
 If Logic was to set up a school, inspire a school, what would be some of the exciting classes and lessons that would go on in that school?
1
SPEAKER_05
Video game testing, that's the number one.
1
SPEAKER_05
I'm serious, man, because think about how long all these parents were always like, video games will rot your brain, there's no future, and now you've got pro video gamers making millions, hundreds of millions of dollars playing video games and having fun and doing this thing.
1
SPEAKER_05
 So it's like, I sucked at math, but me and these teachers, we didn't speak the same language, you know?
1
SPEAKER_05
These are people who like want to make a difference in a kid's life, but has no idea that his mother is suffering from this insane mental illness or how to deal with that.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's like there was no real line of communication and understanding between me and these people who were supposed to essentially teach me not only about, you know, academics, but life in many ways.
1
SPEAKER_05
So I wish I had somebody who spoke my language.
1
SPEAKER_05
I wish I had somebody who
1
SPEAKER_05
 understood, oh wow, this kid really likes video games.
1
SPEAKER_05
Have you ever thought about coding video games?
1
SPEAKER_05
What do you mean?
1
SPEAKER_05
What are you talking about coding video games?
1
SPEAKER_05
Well, creating this world.
1
SPEAKER_05
What are you talking about?
1
SPEAKER_05
Well, it's all binary.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's ones and zeros.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's math.
1
SPEAKER_05
Yeah, but if you actually focus on math, you could engineer an entire world that a video game takes place in.
1
SPEAKER_05
 Well, you don't say like it's like I never had that conversation.
1
SPEAKER_05
It was just do algebra or drop out.
1
SPEAKER_05
And that was very difficult.
1
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, I think that's smart.
1
SPEAKER_03
I couldn't agree more.
1
SPEAKER_03
I think I was growing up thinking I didn't know that any other industries existed from
1
SPEAKER_03
 medicine, law, and finance.
1
SPEAKER_03
Like beyond that, I didn't even know there was a potential to have another job because I didn't meet anyone outside of those industries.
1
SPEAKER_03
And I didn't know anyone who had been accomplished or successful outside of those industries.
1
SPEAKER_03
And so you end up just going, well, well then these are just my three options.
1
SPEAKER_03
And, and I think there is such a limitation placed on that because you're just unaware when you think about now, obviously you've made it in an industry which is highly competitive.
1
SPEAKER_03
 it's difficult, it's saturated, it's like every kid's dream to want to be a rapper, have their music or their song be heard.
1
SPEAKER_03
When you go back to the days when it wasn't working musically, what was the thing that kept you going?
1
SPEAKER_03
Was it that you were chasing a deal or a hit?
1
SPEAKER_03
Or was it that you just loved it so much that you just believed in it anyway?
1
SPEAKER_03
Where was that?
1
SPEAKER_03
What kept you going?
1
SPEAKER_03
 Probably craziness.
1
SPEAKER_05
Because it's like, you have to be crazy to think, oh, I'm going to make it as a rapper.
1
SPEAKER_05
But the difference with me, though, is I looked at it from a business standpoint.
1
SPEAKER_05
I was like, OK, if I could take a brand, myself, be myself, be honest, I feel like there's not really a lot of me in rap, and there's not really a lot of me in major rap or major music, mainstream music.
1
SPEAKER_05
So I want to fill that void.
1
SPEAKER_05
 as I started to write these songs where I'm like, believe in yourself, peace, love, and positivity.
1
SPEAKER_05
You can do it.
1
SPEAKER_05
You can be whatever you want.
1
SPEAKER_05
People started engaging with that.
1
SPEAKER_05
And we're like, wow, this isn't just the traditional what is rap or what is this or that or whatever the case may be.
1
SPEAKER_05
And I don't say that in any negative connotation or anything.
1
SPEAKER_05
It's like literally there's a bunch of rap that's kind of negative.
1
SPEAKER_05
There's rap that's really good.
1
SPEAKER_05
But I felt this kind of nerdy sci-fi me could break through.
1
SPEAKER_05
 I don't know why, but I think it was insane to even begin to think that.
1
SPEAKER_05
But it was just like week by week, little by little, things were improving.
1
SPEAKER_05
Whether it was 10 extra followers on Twitter, I was also utilizing and using social media in a way that these platforms hadn't known about it.
1
SPEAKER_05
 They weren't ready for what was coming, because it was cats like me, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Mac Miller, Wiz Khalifa.
1
SPEAKER_05
We were utilizing this as a space where we didn't need a major label.
1
SPEAKER_05
And if we put out a song that was catchy enough, people could decide what they wanted to listen to.
1
SPEAKER_05
And so radio was dying, MTV, all that stuff was kind of out of there.
1
SPEAKER_05
And there was just this pocket of where you have these
1
SPEAKER_05
 like blogs, like this song is sick and two dope boys, and people could go to a blog to find what they want and what they love.
1
SPEAKER_05
And that allowed me to shine and do it.
1
SPEAKER_05
And the bigger I got, yeah, there were certain things that I was chasing.
1
SPEAKER_05
I was chasing being able to go on tour by myself, being able to make a lot of money, hopefully having a hit record.
1
SPEAKER_05
But it's funny, I had a very slow-burning career, and I amassed a lot of fans.