Muse

Somebody said my teeth were like The Temptations. Everybody wanted to see Lee. So back then, it was tough. I got the braces on, and then it was a long process. It just happened like this. I didn't come out like this. It was a whole process. I was real chubby.

Your teeth were like that. You probably had the retainer, the knife thing. They were like, we're going to work on it. Yeah, we're going to work on it. Like jaw fasteners and all that.

We didn't have all that. Why you got to do me like that? I'm sorry. I didn't have head gear. Damn.

I was like, I stopped short. of headgear. Just hold on. So you got to get a job and bang.

Yeah.

And you were a chubby little dude too.

I was a little hefty critter.

Yeah. So you were eating your way through the pain.

I eat because I'm unhappy. Yeah, that was it. My mom, she works so much so she knows how to cook. She can burn but she's not a time so she's just be like here's 20 bucks figure it out.

hey Craig in black

I am in black today

the man in black

Michelle in blue

you know this this episode today made me reminded me of wanted to ask if you remember when you used to take drum lessons

oh yes

How old were you when you started?

I was in elementary school, and I had to be like in fifth grade.

I thought you were even younger than that.

Yeah. No, I don't think.

Okay.

If anything, it was fourth grade, but I didn't think it was fourth grade. I think it was fifth grade. Right. But and folks out there, drum lessons back in the day, I had drumsticks 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 it had a little circle in the middle.

And then you eventually moved to like a pad that was a drum.

It was a pad that had like the material that is actually a drum. was on a pad about this big.

Yeah, yeah.

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.

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, from four years old, wanted to play the piano. Right. 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, nope. And we did that for weeks and I was so mad. Yeah. 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 grab, because he's still taking lessons now, and he's 16. And 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 imagine it. Just out here running around.

Think about it. Hold your hands in the right position. 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 didn't have Aunt Robbie.

I want to find out if he had a practice pad or if he got to start straight on the drums.

But why don't you introduce him?

I will, I will. And he's a young'un too. He's a youngster.

Oh, let's see how young. He's got a baby face.

And we're talking about Anderson .Paak, 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 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 wonderful. In which he stars, co-wrote, and directed. So, Mr. Pack, will you come join us?

Hi, Jesus!

You are! It's good to be with you. It's good to have you here.

Man, did they make that in a double exercise? They might, man. I'm about to get some testing for you.

I mean, I want to zoom in on the shoes. Like, can we do that? I mean, you said that's a Japanese brand.

It's called a double-ed Japanese brand. Are those high tops? Are they mules? What's the back? Lift up the heel. Ah! Those are fire. Fire. Well, welcome. Welcome, man. Thank you for having me.

Yeah. They're honored. Yeah. Are you kidding? We're honored. I mean, I love you.

Wow.

I love you too. To death. I mean, you are more than just talented. I mean, you quadruple threat or all the threats. You know, personality, talent. You can act your butt off. You can produce. You are a gifted musician and seem like a really, really good man. Thank you. Wow.

And now actor and director. That's right.

As if I wasn't doing enough stuff

Welcome to the club

Talk to her about that Thank you so much

Did you have a drum pad? Did you have a better start? Did you start with a practice pad?

My drum pad was the couch It was the bed Pots and pans And then I was driving everyone crazy And eventually they got a drum kit In the house My step pops How old were you when you got a drum kit? I was about 12 I was in like 6th 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. I wanted to serenade the ladies. I wanted to be, you know, outside the window. And they was like, we out of saxophones. And I was like, well, I damn sure I ain't playing the flute. Wait, you went to get a saxophone and they said they're out? It just started sixth grade in middle school. And I was like, I'm going to band. because before that I was really into 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 all we have is the drums we have the bass drum or the snare drum which one do you want to play and I was 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'll pick the bass drum and they had us in there playing on these big old things and I'm like I can't get no girls with this and I was about to quit Baby, I love you I'm at the window I'm in the garden Hold on, let me put this thing on Playing Georgia's Jungle Getting the cuffs called on me It would have just been all bad So I was about to quit And I was walking home one day And my step pops had a drums kit in the house And he was playing on it He was playing along to some Prince records And I didn't even know he played And he was like, yeah, 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 band, it was just separate drums so he had the drum kit and I was like okay this is cool and when he finally got off of it I hopped on and it was the first thing I ever did where I just picked it up really quick like instrument wise and before that I was trying to play basketball everything I was 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 this is crazy I'm making a beat that's causing people to dance

I want to keep doing this And so your step pops, you called him? Yeah. He was a drummer.

Yeah.

So you learned just by hearing him play or you really learned when you were in band?

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, okay, you need to learn Archie Bell and the Drills. You need to learn Earth, Wind, and Fire, and Free. 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 where I'm from, but they were all there at the church.

They all went to that one church. It's like, this is where everybody is. Yeah, yes.

And that's where I learned, really learned how to play. It was the best musicians in the world coming through and playing behind a choir, playing behind, you know, organists and choir directors. I'm a church kid. So I grew up playing drums all the way till I was 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 D. dancing like i wanted to be like i was grew up in front of t my mom was always working and and my sisters pretty much raised me and um 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 um 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 yeah when it comes to like dancing and stuff I guess I'm

the drums moving it's funny when you 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 that too Soul Train yeah but it wasn't even on when you were little yeah I mean you know You know of it I've heard of it People have said it The Soul Train line is part of everyone's culture But we were there It's like I'm getting old And I'm like oh yeah They had MTV You talk about Oxnard There weren't a lot of black folks In your neighborhood Tell us who lived in Oxnard And were you born there Was your mother from there Was there, you know? Yeah.

Ongstar is a beautiful place. It's a small town. A lot of people think it's like the valley. 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 white people. And I was like the only black kid 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 and my my uncle were found abandoned and she was adopted brought to an orphanage and adopted by black parents who were in the military and so she was raised in compton california all around la up until uh her 20s and she met my dad um he was in the military as well he's from philly and he was stationed in point magoo which is in oxnard and they met there they met in the club and eventually 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 the middle boy of three sisters from my mom and my pops was rolling stone he had a bunch of kids too but mostly women so i was just um yeah the boy that was there to like provide entertainment and fun and sometimes therapist you know everybody's talking about each other and i'm in the middle like i know i told you and i'm saying the same thing to the other sister yeah um but yeah we're all really close to my mom um 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 an entrepreneur and, you know, she was just like all about her family, keeping her family together and 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 you just making it as a kid? Yeah, I dealt 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, that was where a lot of the black culture and everything surrounding that was where I, you know, thrived at. And then I had, when I go to school, it was like my white friends my mexican friends then i had that and um and then at home everybody was doing their thing my sisters were listening to all kinds of stuff like from you know swv the new edition mariah and um my mom wouldn't go past like tony tony tony freddie jackson you couldn't play nothing you know nothing after that it was always you know don't touch it earth when the fire it was like you know that was what was going on and then i go to school and they were listening to nirvana and Radiohead and all this, the Foo Fighters. And I was getting all of these things. And I was, growing up, really quickly, I felt like I can't wait to get out of this town. It's not enough diversity. It's, I'm too big for this town. Especially when I started doing music, I wanted to escape to all these different places that I've seen, like on television or on movies or on records that were here. And looking back on it, I was just dead set. As soon as I graduate, I'm going to LA. I'm going to make it. I'm going to get signed. I'm going to be doing all these different things and it didn't happen exactly like that and I'm actually glad it did because it built a lot of character. And I'm glad that I grew up in a small town now because I think it gave me a different kind of perspective. And I don't even know if I would have survived coming up in L.A. when I look back at it now, it was different. But yeah, I battled with identity stuff. Thinking I 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. Then I thought I had to be the black spokesman for the whole school. I think my mom saw that too. And my mom deals with being an orphan and growing up. She is biracial, too. She is, 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. When I found out my mom was Korean, I just took it as something I could tell to people and it'd make me exotic. How old were you when you found out or when you realized she was Korean? I was about like, I think she was telling us this when I was about 10, 11. When we started sitting down, she started telling us her story. And she wouldn't always do it, but she would open up sometime, you know, and she would like, yeah, I'm adopted. You and your uncle, we were found and this and that. We'd be like, what? That's crazy. And OK, so we're Korean. OK, I'm mixed. Nice. I'm about to tell everybody.

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. You know, my pops went to prison when I was around six or seven and I saw him. He was a twin. And which is a trip. Yeah. Yeah. There's a whole. We got to talk a little bit about that 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 seen 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 is screaming like, don't do it. Don't do it. And he's like, I got a gun. And I didn't know. It was in complete shock. I was really in denial. 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. And you didn't see anything. I didn't 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 didn't know where he was and she was telling 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 him, doing all these things. And everything just came to a head that day. And, you know, we left, ran out the house and my pops ended up 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, than a lot of people. he came up in philly he got kicked out the house when he was a teen this is in north philly and you know in the 70s um and he was a kid out there trying to raise himself and got somehow got into 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 he 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 um 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 him she never said

anything bad and yeah it was always very positive noticeable in your whole story she's still trying to hopefully yeah um hoping that he could turn it around and not not um ruining your vision of him until she absolutely couldn't help it. That says a lot about her.

For sure. After she got back on her feet, she was just like, alright, we got a new chapter now. We're going to move out of this house and I'm going to get back to work. Son, let there be example. Do not touch no drugs. Don't get into no drinking. Stay away from all of it.

Did that do it for you?

Yeah. It was always like a warning for sure. And I knew that I had a there was a thing in my family where we battled 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 until my 20s 21 when I moved to LA 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 so I was just like I'm just doing this like let me just

play my drums playing my drums being cool I was late bloomer and so yeah you know that helped but

You know, you get older, you go through life, you got to experience stuff for yourself. But yeah, she's still like that. You know, my mom is the strongest person. 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 older kids.

her own from another marriage and my mom was you know going through every husband she went through something crazy but um she was big on him getting all the kids together so I remember when we were young she got us all together with our our sisters and uh and brother my brothers that I had from Philly and brought us all together at the house in Oxnard and we met everyone it's like a big family union and then when he got put in prison later and I got in my 20s it was my sister from his side that really was like you should talk to him he's not doing well he's 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 nothing was going on for me. And I had just gotten my first shows and started going on tour, and I thought I was too busy to talk to him. I didn't really want to have a relationship, or I thought I didn't. I thought I didn't need it, and 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 because I didn't know that like you could be going through stuff and not even know it, you know? And when you talk to people that you feel like your parents were always your parents and they weren't adults and 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 auditioning and he had a group and 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 will be checking out Shopify because Shopify really is where you go when you want to 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 ShopPay button, their signature at checkout. It makes everything fast and easy, which is great for customers and great for anybody trying to actually close the sale. Thinking about starting a business? This is your sign. Get started today at Shopify.com slash IMO. This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. You know, I like keeping things simple, and that's exactly what Apple Card does. When you use Apple Card with Apple Pay, you can earn up to 3% unlimited daily cash back on every purchase you make, no matter where you shop. And let's talk about fees, because honestly, nobody likes those, which is why Apple Card doesn't have any. No annual, foreign transaction, or late fees. No fees, period. Plus, when it comes to security, you can shop with the peace of mind knowing Apple Card is built with the advanced security of Apple Pay, including Face ID and Touch ID. So you're the only one who can use it. Apply in the Wallet app on your iPhone today. Subject to credit approval, variable APRs for Apple Card range from 17.49% to 27.74% based on credit worthiness. Rates as of January 1st, 2026. Existing customers can view their variable APR in the Wallet app or at card.apple.com. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank, USA, Salt Lake City branch. terms and more at applecard.com Given all the stuff that you've been through at a young age like that how did you remain so positive, so so bright so, you know, because when I we met briefly for the first time before we came out here and you have this light about

you that this great spirit how were you able to keep it or did you yeah i mean there's times you

know i have my moods and everything i've been called moody and um there's a lot behind the smile and i i did an interview recently with a rapper named nori who who pointed this out he said usually people like that that you know they have that smile and they've been through all this crazy stuff they're trying to protect their peace and i think that's probably what it was Thank you. Um, 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, uh, I feel like, um, defense mechanism, a coping mechanism that I had from the things that I've seen, things that I've gone through. And, um, my piece is important for me. The things that, uh, that I do were kind of like escapism. I feel like for what was going on in my reality. When I think about me going, watching the TV and learning how to dance and, And then learning how to play drums and moving on to everything I'm doing now, it's always that kid that was running to his room and getting away from the craziness, I think, and creating my own world. 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 this nice. It was coming at you in 4D. And so she was like, we got to get a grip on that. Somebody said my teeth were like The Temptations. Everybody wanted to see me. So back then, it was tough. I got the braces on, and then it was a long process. It just happened like this. I didn't come out like this. It was a whole process.

If your teeth were like that, you probably had the retainer, the night thing. They were like, we're going to work on it. Yeah, we're going to work on it. Like jaw fasteners and all that.

I didn't have all that. Why you got to do me like that? I'm sorry. I didn't have head here.

Damn. I was like, I stopped short of headgear. Just hold on. So you got to get a job, a bang. And you were a chubby little dude, too.

I was a little hefty critter.

You were eating your way through the pain.

I eat because I'm unhappy. Yeah, that was it. My mom, she works so much. She knows how to cook. She can burn, but she didn't have time. She'd just be like, here's 20 bucks, figure it out. And, you know, we'd 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. A couple of noodles and time around and everything. And, yeah, it was as big as a house. And then, yeah, after my senior year, I was like, screw this.

I'm still a virgin. I'm going to be fly.

I'm going to be fly.

Y'all going to see. I put that snare drum down. Exactly. I'm going to get me a girl. Got a treadmill. your mom is sounds incredible i mean because it's like you know she also was taking care of your step brothers and sisters like they were her own absolutely even through all that she went through with your father right um 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 it. Because you guys were on the upswing with her business. She was into strawberries. Can you talk about

Yeah, my mom had a strawberry company in Oxnard, and, you know, we went from, after my pops 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 me, she, you know, she, she thought kids' business was kids' business, and she was gonna work, and we didn't need to know, everything. And, um, I remember just like having everything. I had 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, uh, 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 cuffs too. And they'd both been arrested. And I was just like, what the hell's going on? He's like, you know what's going on? I was like, nah. Then my, my brother-in-law called me he's like yo they got mom the the they got they've been building the case on them for years and um they got her for like 75 counts you know securities fraud and all these different things um and I was just in shock and the whole school was looking at me like that's how he got that house and I'm like you know it was like again only black kid in the school and um it was just like damn it was messed up and um everything just turned upside down and you know so by my pops being in prison and my uncle now my mom my steps pops was just like non-stop and um where did you

guys go after because she had she went to prison she was sentenced yeah so she was she was actually

in county for like a year and a half um we were trying to figure out how to get her a lawyer and see if we're gonna fight it and all this stuff and she was like i don't want to fight it we couldn't get

She was like, if we can't get a great lawyer, I'm 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 my time, and I'll be out. You should get a job, Brandon, because 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.

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, on one hand, it was crushing because my mom is, I just, it would just kill me to know, like, she was in prison. Like, she was not a violent person, the 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 then. And, like, before that, I was making mixtapes. I was DJing. 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, sign to Jay-Z, you know?

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. I'm 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 rude 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, you know, you do.

Yeah, what were you doing then?

I was doing a lot of everything. i had 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 it was a lot of emulating and so i was back in in oxnard and i 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 la so she was like you can sleep on the couch if you want but if you live here you want help on these bills and so um 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 rouse grocery with my brother-in-law and i was bagging groceries um and pushing in carts and i was writing songs still i was still writing what was your look then my look yeah very regular dagular you know what it was i was very anti after i got um chewed and spit out i was very anti-hip-hop very anti 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 frame skinny jeans button-ups with the what'd you do with your hair

what were you doing with it by then no man line up nothing very just yes natural oh natural Did you have an accent? Did you play around with that a little bit? You did. You listened to them old songs back then.

I was like, boy, you are not from Wales. Where are you getting this from?

Who was your crew? Who were the people that you were working too much? I had a little crew.

I had a crew. Shout out to Benji and Yulia. It was my crew from high school. I had a few people that I was still kicking in.

Because Benji's still with you. Did you guys do some stuff together in one of your friends?

No, it's a different one. This is before I actually met my crew that I'm hanging with now because I eventually made my way to music school. But I had a few people that I knew from high school that were taking me and letting me live in their garage and different stuff. I was still kind of always doing music, but I was working jobs because I couldn't make money doing music.

So how did you figure out, okay, this is going to be the lane I'm going to be in now, style-wise?

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 L.A., 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 multifaceted and talented, it's kind of working against you because 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 going to 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, sit your ass down and just work on you. Don't invite anybody. Just work on you. You could probably do something. You get a whiteboard, start figuring out how you want to go about it, what kind of artists you look up to. Maybe you could do something different, draw from there and simplify your life. And he brought up your great husband's quote where he said, you know, I only had a couple of suits and I simplify my life. I don't want to worry about what I'm going to wear every day so I can make better decisions. And so, that's what I had to do. He did say that. He sure did. He still does that.

We need to get him that jacket. You're right, right. It's like you can unsimplify a little bit. He's a fly, he's a fly. I see him, bro. I know you're a fly guy. Don't say that. Now his head is just going, Anderson Paxton says, I'm fly. I'm going to 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 gotta pay your rent I gotta figure out how I'm gonna do it he's like I'll pay your rent how about that if you just sit in this room and who was this this was a manager at the time his name was Brian Lee okay yeah he gonna run with this one shout out to Brian B. Lee take this little clip you gonna have a documentary series out in the next week she heard what Obama said Obama did not say that is that Brian Lee Brian Lee He sat me in that room He said, I'll pay you rent I'll get the little computer I was like, but I need all this He's like, no, you're going to get Just this little computer, Mac Mini Get your little mini board And you're going to figure out How to record yourself You're going to sit 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 .Paak

See, that's what I wanted you to say You were Breezy Lovejoy I was Breezy Lovejoy What does that mean? That's a DJ Tell me All right Tell me You know what I'm talking about I got you He's not the one It's like you two She's bad Because she knows I DJed in college Oh DJ What's your DJ name? Craigie Craig Craigie Craig

Just like Breezy Lovejoy Come on Craig

Man we would have been Killing back in the day

Top flight security world Craig Shoot That's incredible Yeah The old head and the young one That's right There's still time There's still time We can make it work I'm telling you We can make it work I'm telling you Yeah But Breezy Lovejoy, I mean, okay, well, there's a story. I used to tell people, and there's a real story about how I got breezy. But I used to tell people because I'm an Aquarius, you know, I'm an air sign. I go with the wind, where the 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 gas a lot as a kid. I was just a little chubby kid farting all around the room. And my brother-in-law was like, I'm going to call you breezy. You're always farting. Like a gust of wind when it hits you. That's what we're going to go with. So that was that. Before you got your diet together. That's right. Exactly. That sort of fast food diet.

Exactly. Mess you up.

That Taco Bell. It wasn't a grin. It wasn't an agreeance. Yeah, so I had to switch 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 got like Dreadhawk. He was like, you know, after the transformation, I was working out a lot. So I was always in like a cutoff tee, a real rock image.

And still rapping?

I was still rapping. About what? I was doing all kinds of rapping about.

What was Breezy's life about?

I was rapping about, you know, being in the streets of Venice. Were the streets of Venice hard? The streets of Venice hard. 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 That was like one of the Breezy Lovejoy Yeah, Breezy Breezy Oh my God Talk about it He was 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 done did everything. Now we got to change that name. And I was like, what you talking about? I got 200 followers on MySpace. His name stays. I don't work for that. He's like, Roy, this name stays. And that's on Jack.

and he said you really gonna meet Dr. Dre one day and tell him your name is Breezy Love Dre and I was like damn you got a point you got a point so he was like you should go by your real name just go by Brandon Anderson I was like Brandon are you kidding me

well Brandon is a little I was like

okay

I love Brandon Brandon's a mother's name

my mom loves it Brandon Pac Anderson and 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 Pac. And he said, nah, say Pac because they won't know if it's a group or a band. And people will argue if it's Pac or Pac 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 yet 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 a period.

As you were saying, period. That's right.

It was like my green M&Ms, you know, my thing. And I was like, y'all going to do it. I took the chance. I done worked all this, you know, this time to get here. And so it's a dot for detail. And, you know, just remember, like, it's the small things, the little things that can get you. Right.

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Way fair, every style, every home. What was the first break? The first reel 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 was before Spotify was a really big thing. It was really just about SoundCloud and Reverb Nation and stuff like that.

Can you hum a few bars? What did it sound like? What was the song? Can I say the song? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It's his song.

It was a song called Suede. And the song simply goes, If I call you a bitch, it's because you're my bitch. And as long as no one else call you a bitch, then it won't be no problems. Now, if I call you a trick, it's because you paid rent. and as long as you don't call out the six, then there won't be no problems. Now rock with me now. Yeah.

Yeah, there you go.

Oh, you may, could you say that? Yes. Oh, yes. No, you absolutely can.

So, so Dre heard that.

That did it all for me. That did it. Yeah, well, it was, yeah, I recorded that song, and it was moving around. People knew about it, and, you know, and so when they said Dre wanted to hit me up, I was a little shit because that's like the final boss. I grew up in the West Coast And nothing's bigger than Dre And so There was a little bit of shook And also a little bit of self-salvation I was like I ain't going to that session I don't need that They gonna try to make me something I'm not And who knows He ain't putting out no album no time soon I'm working on my stuff And this and that

And really you were afraid that you might fail

Looking back on it Yeah You know Dre's known for He don't care who you are What hype If he don't like it He don't like it And so They begged My new manager at the time he was like please go man you know adrian miller shout out to adrian miller gotta say brian lee shout out to adrian miller yeah he was like come on man show up let's just do it and i show up and first person i meet was dr dre and him and the dlc and they was like hey man i heard a lot about you you know that's what's up cool and then they go off they was watching the playoffs and um they ushered me into the studio and i met these two writers king mez and jt and they were like we love your song suede like we love it we've been playing it non-stop and um we want you to help on this dr dre album it's top secret no one knows about it don't tell anyone yeah cool um 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 suede for dre and i was like oh no he hasn't heard it yet like come on

let's get some let's just go i'm in here what if he doesn't like it you know like damn it's like Just leave it. Yeah, it's all good.

That would be deflating. Oh, my God. That would be deflating. Yeah, actually.

You thought that's why you were here, because it's played, right? Little did I know, Dre didn't have a clue. He thought I was a runner. He was like, who's here? Go ahead, man. Yeah. And they were like, we want to play for Dre. So I was nervous. And he came in there, and they threw on the record. And I was like, I didn't know where to look. I was just looking at the floor. I was looking at his feet. And that's where I realized, like, oh, Dre wears the same shoes every day. White Air Force Ones All right It's like check Yeah check Noted Simplify your life Okay Got it So he playing the music And man he cranks it You know he playing Cranks it up They blasting it And I look up And he's like I play that again What's your name again? AP Okay And what should I call you? AP We gonna call you AP Play it again

You didn't like Focus on the period Yeah

It's an AP Period, B. That's Mr. Fakir. No, none of that. Whatever it is you like, honestly. You like it, I love it.

Yeah, you're just glad they didn't kick you out. Yeah, exactly.

I was like, play the gig. That's gangster. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's work. There's too much talent in the building. And then he just threw on the mic. Oh, man. 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 was top secret don't tell anybody about this I told everybody I told my cousin man I was telling everybody man I'm on I'm with Dre don't talk to me don't like your tone bro I'm working with Dre I ain't got time about 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 I was I was still struggling I 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 a surprise album called Compton and I was all over the album it was like on six tracks they always called me six track pack and then he had a movie straight out of Compton and he did the beats deal and Dre was popping and so I was like wow and I was like well shoot I guess I should put out something now and it was cool because he was so busy doing his thing that he didn't sign me right away so I got I was working on an album called Malibu and I had it like halfway done but now like people were looking so I was like hitting up producers that 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 like I had a lot of like leverage and people had a lot of eyes on me so I was hitting up people like Knife Wonder and Malib and Hitech and these people were helping me complete the album now and i was getting these features and um dre was still doing his thing so i got to put it out independently and you know now i own the masters that was probably the best thing that happened it was like how fortuitous that he was too busy yeah and i was trying to you know we're trying to break our necks trying to everyone was knocking down my door now trying to sign me before i couldn't buy a deal and everyone's like yeah we want to sign you now and um i was like if i do sign anything i'm gonna sign a dre whenever it comes back around and i was on tour after that for for years i didn't i didn't i didn't see how did you finance your tour so it was a lot of things that happened we started very after uh malibu came out it started circulating and um i got a grammy nom for best new artist different things like that and and people were seeing that oh he's not like just a rapper like this he could play that he has a band so we started getting festival uh um offers to play at festivals and stuff and so you know money the rates started

getting better and then we got on a show called NPR 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 front man was going to be a big thing and it was really that that kind of like opened everyone's eyes and man then we started getting booked for all kinds of gigs and then our shows were starting to get lying around the corner and 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 gonna be with anybody who could help pay my rent right 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 and 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

Or you went rent. Exactly. It's like, I pay your rent. No, you're not paying my rent. Exactly. Yeah. This is an investment.

I want an ROI eventually. I don't know what to do with you now, but you're going to figure out. And so he gave me a big old receipt of how much I owe. 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. Look, just look at me. I remember the first thing he said is like, just look at me as your personal ATM. And I said, bet. 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 your deal I'll help you with all that stuff just we're going to sign a management agreement though and I signed him a new manager and he put together a financial team and a lawyer 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 I didn't have 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 the very first thing people want to do is sign their publishing because they don't they don't have a lot of finances and they need a big check up front so they sign these publishing deals and that's that's your everything that's your kids kids stuff yeah and there you get locked in for years so I didn't know what he was talking about and people up until then man people were trying to get my publishing 5,000 here and there I'm like, let's sign it. Like, let's do it. I'm broke. Like, that's $5,000. We ain't walking away from that. That's generational wealth. And he's like. Like, bro, don't sign that. I'll give you $500 to get you to the next. Here's some grocery money. Yeah, here. I'm like, all right, calm now. I was just hungry. But yeah, he would do something like that. And like, you know, to this day, 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. I never was a type to have a bank account before that. I was in collections. It's like, I never had a...

It's like, that's all you knew about the bank. That's all I knew about the bank.

I get a card, I max it out, and I'll be like, all right, on to the next. Yeah, and I had debt, school debt, all kinds of stuff. My credit was abysmal. And yeah, it 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 this stuff. They were just, you know, putting it in places. And thank God, you know, they were, my first initial team did do really cool stuff that to this day I'm really happy about, you know. I mean, you were lucky. Very lucky. Very lucky.

Nobody's story ends up like this. It's like the story I'm waiting for. 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 true. No, no, no. I lost a lot.

I had to go through the growing pains. I had to fire everybody. It 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 this stuff, but you only do what you allow people to do. And there's no reason why I couldn't pick up one of these contracts and looked it through and figured it out and maybe waited and stuff. It's not that I didn't know better. It's just like I was just trusting and doing what I can. 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 no one saw it. And I think, you know, you got to take the good with the bad sometimes. Right. Man, dude. Then I met Bruno.

Oh, yeah.

And I learned a lot about debt.

Talk about that. How did 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, like, opening tour offers when Malibu had came out. And he took me all over Europe, big arena shows.

Your first big arena show. Yeah. What was that? What was that like? It was incredible. Breezy Lovejoy. It was like, look at where we are now.

Yeah, we done made it. Yeah, it was crazy. I remember, you know, like, after one of the shows, because our whole thing was like, yeah, we got to make it so that. You know, he messed up having us open. We about to steal some fans. We're going to be killing it. That was our whole mentality. And Bruno has that mentality too. Like we 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. And I remember one day we played and like we had a standing ovation. I was like, ah! And I was like, yeah, we killed that. The next day they said, Bruno wants to talk to you. And I said, oh shit. He's like, oop. He doesn't see you later. he's like meet me 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 Bruno wants to meet this might be it yeah yeah so we go and we go to this this restaurant it's like at the top floor he and they're smoking a cigarette inside the restaurant that's what I knew I was like oh there's different type levels of famous I was like are you not I don't think you're supposed to smoke here it's not yeah yeah I had non-smoking yeah excuse me sir do you see the sign no you put that down yeah yeah And so he's like, I like you. You did great. You know, that was real cute. He said, listen, I want you to come on the rest of the tour with me. You know, I'm going to do, we got San Antone. We got New York. I want to come on the American League. And, you know, my crazy self, I'm like, well, okay, but I need a little more money, you know, because I got the band and this and that. He's like, you know, the tour sold out. And I said, okay. So that means I don't need you to do this. So, you're going to take it or leave it, buddy. I'll do it because I like you. It's not because I need you. So, I said, damn.

Oh, you got a point. You got a point there.

I'm learning business quick.

It's all right.

I'll be back. I'll figure it out. And that was a big decision because, you know, at that point, I had Malibu. And then Dre was like, hey, man, when are you going to come back and make your next album? And I was like, oh, wow, that's right. I need to make another album. It's been years. You know? Yeah, yeah. I had been on the road nonstop, and if I would have kept going with him, I mean, he's just coming off that 24-karat. And he just put it on everything. So it's like, it's easy to, you know, get caught up in that where...

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 got I still got stuff over here also had a family I also had different things going on so um I had to make a decision it was a tough one to be like okay this I'm gonna leave the tour gonna go work on my album work on my stuff um go back be with the family and and um you know tap in on my own artistry as fun as it is to open up I don't want I didn't want to get stuck in being an opener or being like some sidekick or something.

What was Bruno's reaction to that?

Good luck. It's like, tour's still sold out. Still sold out, yeah. Yeah, didn't nobody come to see you in the first place? And so maybe 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, was my age and that couldn't make hits and was a mega star, you know? I worked with a lot of people that were older or maybe younger, and I always felt like the Lone Ranger that was still the guy that really wanted to play and perform and listen to old school stuff, and he was that, and even more.

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And so I went off, did 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, you know, eight years old and I had a little baby. And you've been on the road since they were born? Since 2016, yeah. Even before that, that was my life. You know, bread and butter was put something out, go on the road for months. And you come home and life still goes on without you. And, you know, daddy's home. And the kids run up to you. And then they come out and they're like, long time no see. Nobody's saving you no chicken and don't get the big piece of chicken no more. And everyone's like on the iPad. 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. You got to do all this stuff. But while I'm here, I want to be present. And that 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. I want to be a YouTuber. I'm like, okay, what's that? I like K-pop. I'm like, K-pop? What you know about Tupac? Boy? BTS? What you know about BET? How long I've been away for? What the hell is happening in this house now? I got to rectify some things. Yeah, so then I had to tap in. And then I see he like, did you do YouTube? So I'm like, oh, let's make some skits. I remember he brought me back when I was a kid, making funny skits with my sisters. And I used to love 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. I'm like, come on, son, let's do this. And I 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. Does he have the same kind of energy as you do? Even cooler energy. What's that like in the house with you two? Well, you know, he's a Sag. And I'm Aquarius So I don't know Y'all can do the research on that No Julia knows it We're always talking about this So it's a lot of just us staring at each other Like alright

Go ahead with your bad self I'll see you over there You know I used to do a little And so he's really much like I see you doing that I'm gonna have my own thing And so Kind of like you Yeah Yeah Very much so And his mom And you know And he's got the Korean side too His mom is full Korean And he's got a different Is she musical? She's musical Sings, plays keys And everything

Alright so the K-Pops Yeah

Is fully your story Yeah Not fully Fully but I was pulling from the whale Yeah Yeah Yeah, that was why I was like, son, I'm going to write a script. Like, this could be something. What if I didn't know how to say something?

So you thought of that in COVID.

Yep. Yeah, I was.

But we're talking about K-Pops. Yeah, my movie.

The movie. Yeah, my feature film. And I knew I wanted to, because at that point, I saw that, okay, touring stop. I love music. It's always going to be there. But that's when I realized, like, oh, man, you know, different. I could tell different stories in different mediums. And it might take a while for me to learn a new medium, but that's the joy of the whole process.

So this was your first script.

Yeah. Yep.

And you taught yourself how to do it.

Yeah. So I had a co-writer.

Okay.

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 culture. 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 like that was real like we got rush hour you know 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 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 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's like different things

my kind of movie right very uplifting by the way I mean yeah

and my mom too she's like Granny you know what this is like a Hallmark movie

I was like mom oh don't say that you mean Sundance

no this is Hallmark this is ready for Hallmark I was like alright but I understood what she was saying it's like And, you know, sometimes you want escapism of knowing that everything's 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 kind of movies. So, yeah, that was the genesis of it. And I started doing the process. And I met with my buddy, Dumb Founded. Because once I knew I wanted to direct and everything, people didn't want me to do it. And I wanted to be in it. And I wanted my son to be in it. 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 Lovejoy

ring a bell I do hard exactly

yeah so I eventually got my boy Dump Found It who was one of my best friends that I met coming up in LA who started music but was making the venture into movies was working with this company Stampede and EST and he said bring it to them they're taking chances on you know different stories and I pitched them the idea and they said yeah cool we'll give you some money to do it and I was shocked I was like whoa alright cool so and they were like you wanna direct it right I was like yeah and you wanna write it and I didn't know how to write a script it had none so I was like maybe I need a I would love to have a co-writer actually cause I need just to show me structure or whatever and they blessed me with this really young co-writer Kayla Amazon 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 was just in here just like this and we were like this and I'm like so she's like alright this is k-pop one-on-one this is movie structure one-on-one she 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 the idea that i had gained all these layers because it wasn't it wasn't as deep as him being on a 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 that 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 and um 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 uh you're out with i shouldn't say when pops is out with his son and they go by the record store yeah 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. You know? Thank you. And was that the first time you acted? Yeah.

I mean, I'd done different things. but this is the first.

I mean, you were really good in it. I mean, 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, is man.

Yeah, I mean, it took forever. He was like eight years old. He was obsessed with K-pop. And then by the time we got to shoot, I got all the money and stuff. He was like 11 years old. And he's like, man, I don't like K-pop no more. I like Slipknot. I'm like, contractually, son, here's the thing. I need this to work. We're doing this. I owe 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 you a 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 because, like, the whole thing was, like, I really loved being on set with him and being able to kick it with your son and, like, see him grow. And we're working together and we're creating a bond. But we also have to be 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 acting classes 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 could see him having a lot of fun mind you before this he was in homeschool all his life and now he's like around 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 with K-Pops too and I'm 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 Jack but I would just like to be a kid it's not my passion and yeah that's pretty mature we'll leave it there that's pretty mature dang he's like but it does depend on the script dad so and that was cool I was fine with that and now he's going to school now he's like it's funny when you like back off off him they get to do their thing their own way now he's playing guitar he's playing bass making beats and I'm right back in his face like alright come on now you're going to produce the next album

it's got to be their idea it does How's your mom doing? My mom is doing great

She has narrowed it down to one boyfriend now

Okay

She's vegan Kissing off every restaurant we go to She is a Dodger fanatic She got me into the Dodgers So now we be all obsessed with the Dodgers

Congratulations She's an F1

Shout out to Dodgers She's an F1 fanatic He's an F1 fanatic All of it So I'm broke, having to get all these passes and tickets. She got to be front row and everything. Did she go to the Vegas race? She went to, yep, the Vegas race. She went to the last fight. She got to feel the sweat coming off of them. I'm like, dang. Yeah, so she's loving life. And, you know, she's out in Atlanta. And, you know, sometimes she'll tap in, be a grandma, help watch the kids, and then she'll be dipping out. She's jet-setting now. I'm like, 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. I'm like, mom, why is that stopping you from going anywhere? Go travel. No, they're doing some foolishness over there with how they do the chicken. You see that? Have you seen that? I don't trust it. I'm scared of that. But now she's traveling. She was in Puerto Rico. She's packing her own food. Yeah, yeah, she will. That's one way to piss her clean off. to hell with the whole country. Yeah, so she's bringing her food and she's going to travel. London now, finally going to get her to go over across the pond. And yeah, dude, she's great. 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. Stayed strong. Yeah. 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, And your mom, you know, 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. You did it.

You did that.

Did you do it, Mama? Shout out from the Obamas and the Robinson, that one. Yeah. Yeah. We see you. We see you, Mama Binda. We see you. Yeah. You want to do the listener question? Yeah. 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 in 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 asks, it's getting the answer from Mr. Resilience himself.

Yeah, really. Yeah. You got, can't be afraid to let them go through their own struggles. You know, sometimes like, you know, especially my kid, he remembers, my oldest one, he remembers like the little apartment, you know, and me going, us taking the bus and then when we first got our place and we first got a car and he still remembers I'm a little one. He just born in first class. You know, like, he's like, he's born, you know, after we had the stuff. So, you know, sometimes I take him through coach and tell him, go ahead, like, y'all gotta sit back there. So I'm sitting up front. Y'all figure it out, you know? Work your way up like how, you know? Take them down, skid row, let them see. Like, this could be you now. Get out of the car. Go walk. No, you want to be tough, right? Go ahead. That's where it's going to get you. Get your ass in the car. Let's get out of here. That's some old school lesson. That's some old school lesson. You got to do it. And now I wanted to protect them so much. I want to give them the life I didn't have, all this stuff. And I realized, like, 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, you know, the tables were turned and I got to live in that lap of luxury and my mom and everything worked out. I might've been still a chubby little spoiled brat, you know, and I know how to treat people and all this stuff. That's right. And 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 install, install to them is going to stay with them when they go out into the world. So now my son is going to school now. He's made his debut and he was homeschooled forever. I didn't want to put him in school. I didn't trust nobody. And I was like, nah, 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. I'm sick of my cousins. He's like, you know, who's going to watch your little brother? 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 raised him, 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 now he's around other people and getting influenced and learning different things. And I'm excited for him. But I think that that's what you have to do. You have to trust that you raised him right and that you installed a lot of those things, but can't be afraid to let him go out and venture and bump their head 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. Yeah. You know, and I would say, Amanda, make sure that you aren't parenting out of fear or out of your own motives, right?

Our mom was really good at it. She always used to say, I can't let my own fears get in the way of your growth. Wow. And when, and the perfect example was when I got the chance to go out of town for the first time to a tournament.

Basketball.

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 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 not doing the homework, not getting in the way of your child's development because of your own personal fears too.

You see it in coaching a lot.

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. Yeah. You're going to, you know, you're going to.

be disappointed. Something's not going to work out. 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 yeah parenting you know you got to be able to be like you got to outlast I don't really care if you like me that's not my role in your life you know my favorite saying that my daughters say I say I say this all the time I'm not one of your little friends

That was what my mom used to say to you.

I just not. And I never felt like I needed to be. Oh, you mad? Right. Oh, you mad? You got rent?

Mm-hmm.

Exactly. So who's going to be madder 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? It's like, you're going to need to speak to me before. I could not speak to you for years. Wow. And my life wouldn't change. She's rough, man. She's rough. She's rough. I don't go to hell. That's right.

She stays high except with her kids.

It's like, oh, we're going low. Okay. All right.

Let me show you low. Yeah, you're like, oh, wow. I like it.

And that would build resilience. Absolutely, yeah. Don't hurt me more than her chance. Therein lies a little resilience there.

They're never coming on. They're never coming on. I haven't been on yet? Oh, my God. Listen, none of our kids want to come. They do not want anything to do with us. I actually You know That's why I'm telling you Aaron wants to come He's the youngest The youngest

But this is what you're saying Your son now He's like Please No interest Yeah No I don't know It may change But you know Especially when your parents You know He's gonna try to create As much distance Between you and him

Yeah What's the opposite Of the drums

I'm serious Well he's yeah He's doing guitar And I can't play it And I don't lick I just be like Uh huh No no I play this though You know, that's what I've been doing. He's just killing it. So, yeah.

Yeah.

Oh.

Well, hopefully that helps. Amanda. Yeah. You know, figure stuff out. Anything on the music front 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 Earth, Wind, and Fire and different stuff. I can't wait for that. I'm excited about the soundtrack.

Like, Anderson .Paak plays real music.

That's right.

Breaking news.

Bringing real music back.

Please, keep doing it. Thank you.

Y'all keep doing what y'all do.

Yeah. And tell us about Andes.

Yes. Actually, can I bring in, can I give y'all a gift? Yes. I got you.

Please.

Speaking of real music, it's becoming harder and harder to find places where you can perform real music where you see people playing instruments yeah right hear people people um you know having a good time and seeing people dance and um i'm trying to bring that back and that's how i came up in la and that was a big part of how we we made it and made got our buzz and um i think it's important to have a place where bands can cut their teeth and practice and it can be like an incubation place where that happens and so i started a club called andy's what we got yes Thank you That's so nice of you I got the supper club Cause I got food there I got an excellent menu We coming I'm coming Live music every night And I got y'all Some Andy swag A little sugar hat And some breath mints Now this is my other venture Wham Now I know y'all do a lot of talking Okay Y'all be up here And so Andy's breath mints I started my own mint With my doctor He's a Harvard graduate

You know what You look like you could have a mint You look minty fresh Fresh

Minty fresh I mean, everything about him smells good. And this is meant to be shared.

Now y'all can be, because confidence is meant to be shared. It is. It's called Wayne. Well, thank you. 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. Congratulations for being here. Thank you for being here.

We have some big fans here, man. Yeah. Likewise.

Even bigger after this.

We'll be right back.