Russ ON: Delusional Self-Confidence & How To Start Manifesting Your Dream Life

Russ 0:00 What does it feel like when you see your mom's reaction to getting the beach house? Can you feel the car turning the corner? It's about immersing yourself in that feeling as if it was going on right now. And when you do that on a daily basis, it's not long before reality catches up.

Jay Shetty 0:14 [upbeat music] Hey, everyone. Welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health podcast in the world. Thank you so much for tuning in every single week to listen, learn, and grow. Now, you know that I like diving into the minds of unique individuals, people with incredible stories, fascinating backgrounds, people with insights that are gonna help us understand how we can level up our own mindset. Now, today's guest is gonna do just that. Today's guest is Russ, an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer. He's also the author of the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller, It's All In Your Head. Russ has made 14 studio albums in his career, with several of his songs going platinum and gold. His latest album, Shake the Snow Globe, came out in January of last year and debuted at number four on the Billboard album chart. Russ, welcome to On Purpose. Thanks for being here.

Russ 1:14 That's so crazy. [laughs] It's just, like, crazy hearing those things out loud. I don't know, it just, like, trips me out sometimes.

Jay Shetty 1:20 Yeah? How does it make you feel?

Russ 1:21 Well, like, every once in a while I un-jade and I'm like, I go back to being 17 and I'm like, "What's going on?" [laughs] Like, it's crazy.

Jay Shetty 1:29 How, how-

Russ 1:29 I'm super grateful

Jay Shetty 1:30 ... how would have your 17-year-old self felt if they knew that this was gonna be the life you lived?

Russ 1:38 They would have thought I was lame that I didn't do it earlier.

Jay Shetty 1:40 [laughs]

Russ 1:40 They would have been like, they would have been like, "It took you to 28? What a loser." [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:44 [laughs]

Russ 1:45 But, um, nah, I, I... Like, I'm one of those people where, you know, when, when people ask, like, artists or anyone, like, "Oh, did you see this coming?" It's like, well, yeah. How else do you make it happen? I don't even know how you would make something extraordinary happen if you don't have, like, an extraordinary level of belief.

Jay Shetty 2:03 Yeah. I feel like there's a difference, though, between, like, seeing, believing, and knowing. Like, some people just know.

Russ 2:10 Hmm. Yeah.

Jay Shetty 2:11 But I think sometimes we believe, but knowing is, like, even a deeper, like-

Russ 2:15 It is

Jay Shetty 2:16 ... I know. Right? Do you know what I mean?

Russ 2:17 I agree with that. That's interesting, 'cause I definitely, w- when I was coming up, it was, it was that knowing feeling. It was... There was no doubt. Like, doubt did not exist in my brain. I knew that it was gonna work, and you couldn't tell me any different.

Jay Shetty 2:30 I feel like if we look at the world today, especially what's happened in the last 12 months, but even before that, you see that there are a lot of people who doubt themselves.

Jay Shetty 2:39 Why do you think we do that to ourselves, and how did you not fall into that?

Russ 2:44 I don't know if it's necessarily age or if it's exposure to outside chatter. See, when I was 17, it was really easy to believe in myself because there was no one saying anything. Like, there was no haters or I had nobody telling me, "You can't do it." Maybe some friends, like, joking, like, "Oh yeah, you're gonna be a rapper-producer," but it's like, you know, I think a lot of it is you were, you're born a certain way. I think the other thing is good parenting. My parents, especially my dad, always told me I could do anything and would, like, constantly tell me I was special and all those things. And, you know, I know there's people who think that you shouldn't tell your kids certain things like that. But for me, I, you know, I really commend my dad for putting the battery in my back and making me think I can do anything I want, because that's why I wrote a book. I don't read that much, but I was like, "I could write a book. Why not?" You know? [laughs] So it's like, I don't know, man. Shout out to my dad. My dad is, like, the confidence guru, so.

Jay Shetty 3:39 Shout out to your dad. Yeah, I love hearing about a positive, like, father role model. Mine was more interesting. My dad was more aloof and detached.

Russ 3:47 Interesting.

Jay Shetty 3:47 Which actually helped me because it helped me craft who I wanted to be because-

Russ 3:51 Right

Jay Shetty 3:51 ... I didn't have any pressure from him.

Russ 3:53 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 3:54 And, and so it's interesting how we all respond.

Russ 3:56 That's funny you say that, 'cause then it just made me think that the other thing is, is I was always super, super competitive, and I looked up to my dad a lot. Like, he was really good at basketball. He was super smart. He could just, like, do any- He's one of those people, like, he could just do anything and, like, you ask him any question, he knows the answer to it. And since I'm super competitive, I was like, "I have to be better than you. I have to, like, beat you at basketball." Like, he would always beat me at ping pong, pool.

Jay Shetty 4:23 [laughs]

Russ 4:24 Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I just was always so competitive. So I think that really pushed me. He used to challenge me even with, like, school extra assignment projects where... He always loves telling this story. I think it's slightly overrated, but I'll tell it and he'll be happy that I did. Um, I think seventh grade there was this class-wide or grade-wide, uh, sort of, like, extracurricular thing like, oh, answer 200 of these math questions online and you'll get something. I don't know. And my dad just used to give me a hard time about not applying myself. So just to shut him up, I answered, like, all 1,000. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 5:01 [laughs]

Russ 5:01 And, like, won the whole thing. But, like, he us- he always uses that story as just sort of this way, this thing that I do where a lot of times I'll just do something to prove y'all wrong and prove me right, you know?

Jay Shetty 5:15 Yeah.

Russ 5:15 Even if I don't really want to do it, but sometimes that's enough motivation. That's why I related to the Michael Jordan The Last Dance thing where, like, he would use any little thing to be like, "That was enough for me."

Jay Shetty 5:24 Yeah.

Russ 5:24 [laughs] You know what I'm saying?

Jay Shetty 5:25 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Russ 5:25 Like, "Y'all picked Karl Malone as the MVP? That was enough."

Jay Shetty 5:27 [laughs]

Russ 5:28 That's how I be feeling. I only need a little bit. And sometimes I make them up in my head. I'm like... It's like a, a made b- a make believe level of motivation, source of fuel, so.

Jay Shetty 5:37 Yeah, I've heard you talk about that before, like, this idea of having some level of delusion.

Russ 5:43 Yes.

Jay Shetty 5:44 And one of my favorite people who had that, and, uh, I've studied his, his life through many books and teachings is, is Steve Jobs.

Russ 5:51 Hmm.

Jay Shetty 5:52 And so when you read the life of Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs had something they call reality distortion field. Where he would distort the reality he experienced to be what he wanted it to be. Now, that can be very dangerous-

Russ 6:03 Yeah

Jay Shetty 6:03 ... but it can also-

Russ 6:04 Is that like a real thing?

Jay Shetty 6:05 It's a-

Russ 6:05 That's like a psychological real thing.

Jay Shetty 6:07 I believe so.

Russ 6:08 That's for sure what my entire life was from [laughs] like-

Jay Shetty 6:11 [laughs]

Russ 6:11 ... 17 till now.

Jay Shetty 6:12 Now you got a word for it. Yeah, now, now it sounds cool.

Russ 6:14 Wow.

Jay Shetty 6:14 So yeah, reality

Jay Shetty 6:15 distortion field. So tell me about why do you think delusion is useful, and where have you also seen it be dangerous? Because I think both is, is important to-

Russ 6:22 Well, I think it kind of depends on what reality you're trying to create.

Jay Shetty 6:27 Mm.

Russ 6:28 But I do believe in, you know, I used to walk around saying all my beats are a million dollars a beat, and I'm a billionaire, and I just went platinum eight times. These are all things I would say like that had not happened, [laughs] and they were insane. Me and Boogz, my best friend who started Diamond, he put out a, um, a project back in 2011 and we called it 2020, and I produced the whole thing, and we did the entire album from the perspective of 2020. So it was like we're on Rolls Royces and we just made millions of... Like, it was all just distorted reality. But it ended up becoming reality. So I do believe that if you wanna change your reality, you have to already believe that it is your reality. But obviously if you like are trying to do something evil or ill-intent, it's not gonna be great for everyone else, but...

Jay Shetty 7:18 Yeah. Just before we started recording, we were talking about, you know, being creative and being busy.

Russ 7:25 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 7:26 And you said something really interesting. You were just like, "You know, I'm, I'm always creative. I've always got stuff going on here." And then you were like, "There's some days where I don't, you know, I'm feeling lazy." Like, walk us through that because-

Russ 7:35 Yeah

Jay Shetty 7:35 ... as someone who's super creative, who's loved for your creativity-

Russ 7:40 Yeah

Jay Shetty 7:40 ... and how original your work is, and that's why I've always liked you. I've always felt your sound is very original and unique-

Russ 7:46 Thank you

Jay Shetty 7:46 ... and it's hard to like be like... It's not, "Oh, it sounds like that person," or, "It sounds like this."

Russ 7:50 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 7:50 It's like, oh, no, no, this is original. Like, that's where I've always resonated with your work. Tell us about how that is something you achieve even though there are days where you kind of feel like, "I just wanna sleep all day," or whatever it may be.

Russ 8:04 Yeah. It's tough because, uh, me and Boogz talk about it all the time. The highs and lows of an artist is really dramatic, at least for me. Like, I'll have days if I go into the studio and make something I love, I'm like on cloud nine, like everything is great in my life. But then I go to sleep and I wake up, and that next day none of that matters. Like, I move on very quickly and I, and I'm just like, "Okay, now I need to make another one." But if I can't make another one, if that day I'm just not feeling it, or I go to the studio and I try and nothing works, I'm like, "This is... I, I should just give up. This is, this is it. I'll never get a creative source again." You know what I mean? And it gets very like you sink really low sometimes, especially if you go... For me, I make so much music that if I don't make a song for four days, I'm like, "This is crazy," like, "What's happening? I'm depressed." So-

Jay Shetty 8:54 Mm

Russ 8:54 ... it's hard, but you gotta just remember that, um, you just have to have faith in sort of the creator, in the infinite. And you know, I don't feel like I really make music. I feel like I deliver it, you know? 'Cause I feel like it, when I have those moments, it's just something that's coming to me and I'm the vessel, and now I'm just delivering it and I'm executing it, and I'm almost discovering it in the studio. I don't know if I'm creating it. I'm discovering it, if that makes sense.

Jay Shetty 9:21 Yeah.

Russ 9:22 So you're not always gonna be in that place where you're getting the message and you're getting the energy, so it just is what it is. It's just hard. It's the waiting time in between will make you feel like, "This is it. I'll never make another song again." [laughs]

Jay Shetty 9:33 [laughs] What, what makes you feel that... I love what you just said about delivering versus creating. I, I, I think that's phenomenal and it's-

Russ 9:40 Yeah

Jay Shetty 9:40 ... explained really well.

Jay Shetty 9:42 What makes you feel like you're in alignment where you can deliver versus forcing you to create? Like, what are the things that-

Russ 9:49 Lack of thought.

Jay Shetty 9:51 Right.

Russ 9:51 Yeah. Lack of thought. Those times where you get into that place where you're not thinking and you're just feeling and, like I said, just delivering. Like, I'm not even thinking about what, "Oh, should I say this?" Like, you get the inspiration and you just execute it. That's when you just enter that flow state and it's just special, you know? But it's tricky. It's hard, especially, like I said, as I got, uh, not even necessarily older, just more visibility. There's outside chatter now in my head, you know, what people are gonna think. I know that I'm not just releasing it to my friends anymore. Like, you know, so it's, it's become trickier to tune out everything. But, um, yeah, man, just try to focus on the present moment. That's like-

Jay Shetty 10:29 Yeah

Russ 10:29 ... one, the one thing that I learned this past year was really like how do I slow down time? And I was like, "Okay, well, the way I slow down time is to slow down my thoughts, and the way I slow down my thoughts is to be present." You know, you notice if you're just mindless and you're, you know, you're making a sandwich but you're thinking about, "Oh my God, what I need to do tomorrow and what..." All of a sudden two hours passes, right? But if you really think about like, you know, you cutting the sandwich and what that's like and you stepping on the grass and what your feet feel like, time moves really slow. You realize how slow time moves. So I just try to do that. I try to stay in the present, even in, in the studio. You know, I don't try to, uh, have my thoughts already be on when this comes out and this is gonna be like this and how's it gonna go. The... I'm just like, "Man, let me just like actually hear the music and feel the music and just operate from this place."

Jay Shetty 11:22 I love hearing you talk about this, man, because, you know, these are some of the principles that I'm constantly sharing in my work.

Russ 11:28 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 11:29 But hearing how it applies to a music artist-

Russ 11:32 Sure

Jay Shetty 11:32 ... in your career brings me so much joy-

Russ 11:35 Yeah

Jay Shetty 11:35 ... because it's practical. It's real. Like, you've got time pressures. You've got-

Russ 11:40 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 11:40 ... you've got, uh, pressures from labels, collaborations-

Russ 11:44 Yeah

Jay Shetty 11:44 ... whatever it may be. Like there-

Russ 11:45 Sure

Jay Shetty 11:45 ... are real life pressures. But when I hear you say that, and that's how you feel aligned, how did you get introduced to this work or this set of thoughts and beliefs and mindsets? Was it something that you had since you were a kid, or where did you start exploring-

Russ 12:02 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 12:02 ... with the idea of Being present, experiencing fear, delivery

Russ 12:06 Yeah. The present moment is recent because you know what? I didn't nee- I felt almost like I didn't need to be present, I guess, when I was coming up because there wasn't anything pulling me away from the present moment. I kinda only had the present moment, if that makes sense. It was just me and Bougas in the basement making songs, and that was it. There wasn't tours coming up and videos. It, we, you know, there was none of that. So, uh, but as this past year and past couple years have been happening, I got into the Power of Now book and just sorta just the whole ideology around just being present and started reading more into that whole theory. And I just, I buy, you know, I bought into it. A lot of this stuff, people don't realize that a lot of this stuff, like the teachings, the self-help stuff, you have to be open to receiving it, you know? And if you're not open to receiving it and you're not willing to buy into it, then I, you know, I hear you, but God bless, you know? I can only [laughs] tell people what works for me. Um, but it worked for me, you know?

Jay Shetty 13:04 Mm.

Russ 13:04 Being present.

Jay Shetty 13:05 Yeah, I love that you mentioned The Power of Now, and then when you talk about flow state-

Russ 13:09 Yeah

Jay Shetty 13:09 ... uh, for anyone who's listening, if you've not read that book, it's a brilliant book as well.

Russ 13:13 Flow State. I haven't read that book.

Jay Shetty 13:14 Flow- Yeah, it's called Flow.

Russ 13:15 Wow.

Jay Shetty 13:15 And for anyone who doesn't know, flow, the way it's defined in that book is where your skills meet your challenge.

Russ 13:22 Exactly.

Jay Shetty 13:23 So it talks-

Russ 13:23 I saw, like, a YouTube video-

Jay Shetty 13:24 Yeah

Russ 13:24 ... and that's, that was, like, enough for me.

Jay Shetty 13:26 [laughs]

Russ 13:26 I should read, I should read the book, though.

Jay Shetty 13:27 Yeah, no, no, no.

Russ 13:28 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 13:28 But you brought it up, and it's a, it's a brilliant concept-

Russ 13:30 It really is

Jay Shetty 13:30 ... and you're experiencing that because most people, it says, experience when their challenge is above their skills, and so they feel frustrated and disappointed.

Russ 13:39 Yeah, and then they give up.

Jay Shetty 13:39 Yeah, or their skills are above their challenge, and then they feel bored-

Russ 13:43 Yeah

Jay Shetty 13:43 ... 'cause they actually have more skills than what they're trying to achieve.

Russ 13:45 And I think that's, I fell into that a little bit, which is why I started working with outside producers because it was so easy for me to just, like, go downstairs and make, like, a Russ song, you know? Like, I have a million beats. I can make a beat, boom, do this. And it's like, all right, cool, whatever, you know? But it, it kinda, I got into, like, a rut creatively 'cause I was making songs, but I was like, I don't even... It just wasn't even that fun, you know? And I think it was because it wasn't that challenging anymore. So, um, I started working with outside producers where it was like, okay, this is a bit of a challenge. And then further, I started trying to get on beats, even if no one hears them, I started to get on production that I don't like, in a sense.

Jay Shetty 14:28 Mm.

Russ 14:28 Almost to just be like, "Can I make a song out of this?"

Jay Shetty 14:31 Wow.

Russ 14:31 Yeah, just, like, because I got the studio in my house, and I don't need anyone to record me, so I can just be down there, like, experimenting. So there's been beats that producers send me, and I'm like, "I don't like this at all, but I wonder if I can make a song out of it." And it becomes this cool little, like, fun project. And a lot of times it's turned into songs that I'm like, "This is crazy."

Jay Shetty 14:50 Wow.

Russ 14:51 Like, I, I get so much more fulfillment out of it because I couldn't see it coming. A lot of my songs, I'm like, before, you know, when I'm making the beat, I already know what the whole song's gonna sound like. And most of those usually end up being very successful, so I'm not gonna downplay them. But it does make the process not as, uh, on, on a Easter egg hunt.

Jay Shetty 15:12 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Russ 15:13 You know? So-

Jay Shetty 15:13 Yeah

Russ 15:13 ... yeah.

Jay Shetty 15:14 I love hearing that because that's putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation.

Russ 15:18 Right. Right.

Jay Shetty 15:19 And most of us avoid that.

Russ 15:20 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 15:20 Like, most of us just wanna hear a beat and feel something straight away.

Russ 15:23 Right. Well, see, because people are around other people. I would never, I would probably never do that if there was people in the studio-

Jay Shetty 15:29 Yeah

Russ 15:29 ... with me, like, "Actually, out of all the beats you played, [laughs] give me the one I don't like, and I'm just gonna try to make something." You know what I mean?

Jay Shetty 15:36 Yeah.

Russ 15:36 I, like, that's why I always tell people, whatever your craft is, make sure you have it in your house if you can.

Jay Shetty 15:43 Mm.

Russ 15:43 Because those moments of solitude when you can kinda just be weird and, you know, experiment and dance around crazy and be nuts, that's where you're really gonna... You know, I have a, I have a line where I say the public praises people for what they practice in private.

Jay Shetty 15:58 Mm.

Russ 15:59 You know? So, uh, I just feel like that's when you gotta hone in on everything is what you're doing in private. So I like, when I'm by myself in the studio, I be getting weird. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 16:09 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 16:10 What's the, can you tell us what's the weirdest thing that's ever happened?

Russ 16:12 [laughs] I mean, it's not that weird.

Jay Shetty 16:15 [laughs]

Russ 16:15 But, but it's just, like, when I'm by myself, I'll put on a beat that I'm like, "I don't even know what I'm about to do on this," and I'll just put the Auto-Tune all the way up and go stand in the booth for 60 takes-

Jay Shetty 16:26 Yeah

Russ 16:26 ... just wailing and just making noises. And I'll be like, "This is wild, or this is trash," or, "This was really cool."

Jay Shetty 16:33 Yeah.

Russ 16:33 You know? Like, I sent my manager some song I did, uh, where I made a beat, and I just put the Auto-Tune on full blast and just freestyled the whole song, and I was like, I just had to get it out.

Jay Shetty 16:45 Yeah.

Russ 16:45 But it was cool. But, like, I would never put it out, but it was awesome. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 16:48 Dude, this is so inspiring. I, I, that's, I love that approach.

Russ 16:52 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 16:52 It's, it's just, it's so refreshing hearing that about-

Russ 16:56 Well, it's a refreshing process-

Jay Shetty 16:57 Yeah

Russ 16:57 ... you know, because you get so rigid-

Jay Shetty 17:00 Mm

Russ 17:00 ... with, like, your process and this is what I do, and we sit here, and I make this kind of song. The, it's like every once in a while you have to shake the snow globe.

Jay Shetty 17:06 Yeah.

Russ 17:06 That's where that whole-

Jay Shetty 17:07 Yeah

Russ 17:08 ... concept came from. You have to just, you know, it's like the Tin Man in [laughs] Wizard of Oz.

Jay Shetty 17:12 Wizard of Oz, yeah.

Russ 17:13 Like, turn the Auto-Tune up and put on some crazy beat and let me just be a maniac for an hour.

Jay Shetty 17:17 Yeah. It breaks the formula.

Russ 17:18 It does.

Jay Shetty 17:19 We, we work in this formulaic-

Russ 17:21 Yeah, it does

Jay Shetty 17:21 ... uh, product line manufacturing.

Russ 17:24 Right.

Jay Shetty 17:24 And you don't, you can't manufacture greatness.

Russ 17:26 And that's from school.

Jay Shetty 17:27 Yeah.

Russ 17:27 That's from school. School is such a factory setup, you know? The-

Jay Shetty 17:31 How were you at school? What kind of student-

Russ 17:33 I was incredible at school, to be honest.

Jay Shetty 17:34 [laughs]

Russ 17:34 I'm not even gonna lie.

Jay Shetty 17:35 [laughs]

Russ 17:35 I was, I was just like, I'm really not. I was not one of those like, "Yeah, I struggled in school, and it was difficult." I was really, really good at school 'cause I wouldn't apply myself, but I was definitely the kid who, like, didn't study, never did homework, but I would get As and Bs on all the tests.

Jay Shetty 17:50 Oh, nice.

Russ 17:50 And so everyone was just like... But I would be like, you know, I was second, I always say this, and it's not even something I'm necessarily proud of, but it just gives context. But like a senior superlative, I was, uh, like second for most likely to make a teacher retire.

Jay Shetty 18:03 Mm.

Russ 18:03 'Cause I was just the kid in class like, "I'm-" ... constantly talking, distracting people, challenging the teacher, but I had an A in the class. So I was just super annoying.

Jay Shetty 18:12 [laughs]

Russ 18:13 Which I know is a surprise to so many people. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 18:15 [laughs] And, and so tell me, go back to the point you were making before, before I interjected around why you think that factory, yes-

Russ 18:21 Well, yeah, because, you know, you're, you have an expiration date as a kid in school. You gotta be out by a certain time in high school, whatever age it is. Uh, go to this department of the building when the bell rings, you know what I mean? It's just very, like, beh, beh, beh. Like, there's no creativity in there, you know? That's why I'm really big on having arts in schools and, you know. Just because otherwise you just, I don't know, it just, like, creates these robots.

Jay Shetty 18:48 I love that you break the mold. How do you get to a point, though, where you've... What I find fascinating, already your process is fascinating

Jay Shetty 18:55 to me. What I find more interesting, though, is that your ab- your ability to trust yourself-

Russ 19:01 Yeah

Jay Shetty 19:01 ... when you come up with something insane.

Russ 19:04 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 19:04 Because very few people ever allow themselves to do a wildcard thing.

Russ 19:09 Right.

Jay Shetty 19:10 Now, when you do a wildcard thing in the studio on your own and you discover something like a sound or a-

Russ 19:15 Yeah

Jay Shetty 19:15 ... Auto-Tune or whatever it is, and you discover a, a, a beat or a sound that-

Russ 19:20 Yeah

Jay Shetty 19:20 ... you're like, "Oh, I like this," how do you then trust yourself to go with that when now when you play it to someone, they might be like, "All right, you're crazy, Russ. Like, this is never gonna work"? How do you then approach that?

Russ 19:33 It's that level of, it's that stain of confidence that's just, you can't remove. I just still o- Like, Nas has this quote in an interview, I believe, where he said, "If it doesn't scare you, you shouldn't put it out."

Jay Shetty 19:44 Mm.

Russ 19:44 So I've always kinda, like, kept that in the back of my head, you know. I usually move with that, and I'm, and I'm cool with that, and I like that. With my fans, what I've created is this trust and this unpredictab- uh, unpredictably unpredictable sort of relationship where they know they can expect me to be doing the unexpected. Meaning they know it might be raps, they know it might be singing, but they don't know what it's gonna sound like, but they know it's gonna be me. And so I think I've done a very good job at painting my canvas and kinda giving people who I am, so it's allowed me a lot of creative freedom. I always tell up-and-coming artists, like, when you're coming up, you don't wanna then... This is my opinion. When you're coming up and you're building your fan base, you're conditioning them to expect a certain thing f- from you, a certain sound or whatever, and you're, you're creating this creative window. A lot of people, if you just come up only rapping, right, and you get your whole fan base off of only rapping, let's say, you know, you just, you haven't really fully tapped into you yet, and now you wanna start singing. A lot of fans are gonna be like, "You switched up. What are you doing? Da, da, da." And, you know, you could lose a lot of people, and they might think that you're changing, when really the whole time that's been you. You just didn't have enough time to discover it. So I was really proud of myself that I was able to kind of give people the whole scope of my creativity so that when I do go left field, no one's gonna be like, "What are you doing?" 'Cause it's kinda like, "Oh yeah, that's Russ just being Russ. Like, we know that sometimes he's giving us red, sometimes it's yellow, sometimes it's orange, whatever." You know? That's kinda why I did the artworks all like that too.

Jay Shetty 21:24 Yeah.

Russ 21:24 Just to let you know that all my music is all different colors. It's not just one.

Jay Shetty 21:29 Just spending this time with you already, and even when you came in and stuff, like, you're someone who's, who's very comfortable in their own skin. But at the same time, you're not arrogant and egotistic.

Russ 21:39 Really? Wow.

Jay Shetty 21:39 And so I don't feel-

Russ 21:40 That's, you, did everyone hear that?

Jay Shetty 21:41 I'm not feeling... Yeah, I'm just, I'm just-

Russ 21:42 That's a first

Jay Shetty 21:43 ... you know, um-

Russ 21:43 No, I agree too. I think I bought into the own narrative myself.

Jay Shetty 21:46 He agrees he doesn't have an ego. I love it.

Russ 21:47 No, I definitely have an ego.

Jay Shetty 21:48 No, no. No, I mean in the sense of, let, yeah, let's talk about ego for a bit because, and, and I mean it in a good way. I, I was saying it as a compliment that I feel that you have a very, uh, you know, what, from what I'm hearing, or at least... And I'm, I'm only basing it on this conversation I've had with you, but-

Russ 22:03 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 22:03 ... it's like there's a stability between, like, knowing you wanna learn more and be better-

Russ 22:08 Yeah

Jay Shetty 22:08 ... but you are confident about who you are and, and-

Russ 22:10 Sure

Jay Shetty 22:10 ... where you are. Which is, which is a beautiful place to be, by the way. Like-

Russ 22:13 Thank you

Jay Shetty 22:13 ... who doesn't wanna be between those two things?

Russ 22:15 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 22:16 Uh, how have you tempered that ego that we all have-

Russ 22:21 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 22:22 ... with the desire to learn and grow and realize there's more to go, but I'm really happy with what I've done?

Russ 22:27 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 22:27 'Cause that's what I'm hearing.

Russ 22:28 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 22:29 But I wanna kinda break that down for people because I think a lot of people live in either extreme. Either they're celebrating their last win-

Russ 22:36 Right

Jay Shetty 22:36 ... for, like, seven years-

Russ 22:37 Right

Jay Shetty 22:38 ... or they're just like, "Oh, I'm the worst. I'm never gonna win. I'm never-"

Russ 22:41 Right

Jay Shetty 22:41 ... "gonna win," and they don't appreciate where they are.

Russ 22:43 Yeah. I think for me, to be honest, despite perception or whatever, um, I had to hype myself up. I had to be the biggest believer of myself. That's the only reason why any of this worked, and I think that, and because I'm very vocal about it, because I'm putting it out into the universe so that it comes back, it could come off like I think I have nothing left to learn and no- nobody can offer me anything, and I know it. It's like, no, y'all just don't know what self-belief sounds like, clearly. Um, you might know what it looks like, and some people are just more, um, quiet about their self-belief just to get people to like them. Otherwise, you get kinda my perception. But, um-

Jay Shetty 23:22 [laughs]

Russ 23:23 But no, I've always still been a massive fan of people and a massive just supporter of anything dope. Anyone f- anyone that knows me from when I was nothing to now, from two years old to now, like, if you're dope at anything, I'm always the first person to, like, root for you, DM you, send you advice. Like, "Bro, hit me anytime," da, da. And even just looking up to people, I'm, I'm a fan out. I'm like, "Yo, you're incredible. I would love to work with you," da. I'm that person too, so I don't know. I just- There's, it's the duality. You are able to have the utmost confidence in yourself while still also knowing that, okay, but this person is really dope too, and if we come together, it could be really fire. I'm just really confident in myself, and so I'm not desperate to reach after collabs and things like that, but doesn't mean I don't think that I know everything. And, you know, I'm always asking all my, like my engineer friends, like, "Yo, what plugin is that?" Like, "This is crazy, yo. You're fire." Then, you know, and people get... So you, you could ask even like Kid Super. When I first met him, the dude who made this sweater, um, he did my Gypsy video years ago, like 2014, and when I first met him, he thought I was hella weird because [laughs] or like socially awkward because I kept giving him mad compliments because I was so in... It was like my first real kind of video-ish, even though it wasn't like some big production. But I was just so enamored by the process, and I thought it was so dope that I'm just... Like, that's who I am. I'm a very complimentary person, and, like, I'm always gonna give people their flowers, and he was just like... I'm like, "Nah, I genuinely feel like that." So I don't know. I've always been able to have that level of duality.

Jay Shetty 25:05 Yeah. I lo- I love the idea of that, that paradox. Like, it feels like a-

Russ 25:09 Yeah

Jay Shetty 25:09 ... it feels like it's not allowed. Like, it sounds like it should not be possible to think both those things.

Russ 25:16 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 25:16 But actually, that's where all the magic happens.

Russ 25:18 I agree.

Jay Shetty 25:19 Right? Like that you... We always think though you have to choose, you have to decide, or you're either/or, but actually hearing you say that, "Yeah, actually I, I think both those things."

Russ 25:28 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 25:28 Uh, I, I love that, and I love how that doesn't stop you from appreciating others.

Russ 25:32 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 25:32 Uh, who was it that appreciated your sound earlier on that you think made a difference to you and, and may, you know, guided you? Or was it just you for yourself?

Russ 25:42 It was me and probably Bugus.

Jay Shetty 25:44 Mm.

Russ 25:44 Like, uh, you know, for the longest time, it was just Bugus rapping and me producing, and that was, uh, my closest example of, like, someone who I thought had really good taste, and I trusted their opinion artistically. So when Bugus gave me the green light to be like, "Yo, yeah, you should rap," it was just kind of like, okay, well, game over for everyone else, like if Bugus thinks it's tight. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 26:08 [laughs]

Russ 26:09 You know? So, and that's how it still is. Like, um, you know, you... It's, it's important to have... You only need one, but it's important to have at least one person who believes in you, sometimes almost more than you.

Jay Shetty 26:23 Mm.

Russ 26:23 And, and there is no jealousy or weird, "Ugh, you can't win 'cause then I won't win." Like, it's a very weird thing, so I always, you know, commend Bugus for being like the best friend you could have in something that I'm doing. You know what I mean?

Jay Shetty 26:37 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's talk about that a bit.

Russ 26:38 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 26:38 I like, I like what you brought up there about men specifically, like, and you took me straight back to like my teenage years where-

Russ 26:44 Yeah

Jay Shetty 26:44 ... I'd be best friend with a dude, and he'd be like my brother, but then we'd go out, and he'd be like, "All right, let's see who can get more girls today." Right?

Russ 26:49 Nice.

Jay Shetty 26:49 Like that would be his mentality or like, or like, "Oh, let's see who, who be better at the sport today" or... And it was every time... I've realized that everyone in my life or male relationships,

Jay Shetty 26:59 if every time a guy, a friend of mine, has tried to turn a friendship into a competition-

Russ 27:04 Yeah

Jay Shetty 27:05 ... they haven't lasted in my life.

Russ 27:07 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 27:07 Like, they're no longer in my life because I just want it to be friends. I-

Russ 27:11 Well, now don't get me wrong

Jay Shetty 27:11 Yeah

Russ 27:11 ... me and Bugus, dumb competitive.

Jay Shetty 27:13 Okay. So ex- explain.

Russ 27:14 We played basketball together.

Jay Shetty 27:16 Right.

Russ 27:16 Like anything me and Bugus will turn into a competition, for sure. But when it comes to a dream you're following after, like it's never like, "Yo, how many streams did your song do, bro?"

Jay Shetty 27:24 [laughs]

Russ 27:25 You know what I'm saying? It's never been that.

Jay Shetty 27:27 How do you build that balance? What is it about him, and what is it about you that allows you to build that kind of a friendship? Because I think that's rare.

Russ 27:34 Yeah, I do too.

Jay Shetty 27:34 Especially in today's social media world-

Russ 27:36 Yeah

Jay Shetty 27:36 ... stream world, I mean, followers, views-

Russ 27:39 Yeah

Jay Shetty 27:39 ... comments, engagement, all this stuff that we all talk about.

Russ 27:42 I think we're both trying to do the same thing, you know? And we're both, uh, we were both real friends before all this, and we both understood. You know, we read Napoleon Hill, so we understand the power of a mastermind, and we just, as big of egos as me and him have, we never let it get in the way of like supporting one another and any of that, you know? So I don't know. I just think it comes down to the person. Like how real are you? [laughs] You know?

Jay Shetty 28:10 Mm.

Russ 28:10 Some people are just fake. It is what it is.

Jay Shetty 28:13 Yeah. Yeah. No, and that, and that idea of being able to have at least even one person-

Russ 28:18 Just one. That's all you need

Jay Shetty 28:19 ... like you said, just one.

Russ 28:19 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 28:19 You don't need... Yeah, because sometimes we try and we want 10 or 20 like that.

Russ 28:24 Right.

Jay Shetty 28:24 And you're right, for most of us-

Russ 28:25 No

Jay Shetty 28:25 ... we're lucky to have one.

Russ 28:27 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 28:27 And that's, that's a good enough start. You mentioned Napoleon Hill and Mastermind.

Russ 28:31 Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 28:31 When, what age were you when you read that book?

Russ 28:33 17. Bugus gave me the book. So Bugus was putting me on to a lot of that stuff. He put me onto Napoleon Hill. He put me onto The Alchemist. Um, you know, so that's the thing. We weren't just like the, I would say, the like typical 17, 18-year-olds, you know, hanging out. We graduated high school 17, and we just were locked in the studio from then until now. You know? So it was a lot of self-discovery, but out the gate, once we left high school, we were reading those books. So it was just kind of like we were ready to go mentally. Like we read those books, and we, we're both the kind of, the kind of people that we buy into something quick, and then we latch onto it, and then that's that.

Jay Shetty 29:15 [laughs]

Russ 29:16 You know? If that's what we believe, you can't tell us anything different. You know? Like if I'm g- I went vegan for a year because I watched one documentary, and like that was that. Like once something clicks in my brain, I'm done. You know what I mean? Like right now, I haven't had bread or grains in two weeks because I just like woke up, and it clicked. Like my brother, a nutritionist, told me, and I latched onto him. Boom. That's it. I've like, me and him have always been very good at just once we decide something, that's what it is. He lost a bunch of weight, you know, 30, 40 pounds, 'cause he just decided, "I'm done." You know? So once me and him decided this is what we were doing with our lives, there was no, "Yeah, but maybe we're not doing it with our lives" or... The, it, this was it, and we were both fully committed, and every day and every, like every second of our lives was committed to this, you know?

Jay Shetty 30:04 That requires such a level of discipline to like-

Russ 30:06 Yeah

Jay Shetty 30:06 ... make a choice and to stick with it. And I find like that's something a lot of us struggle with today, like having specific, yeah

Russ 30:12 I'm terrible at discipline, and I've

Russ 30:14 always been terrible at work ethic. But-

Jay Shetty 30:15 Well, it sounds like it

Russ 30:16 ... but then I realized that it was the work and not my work ethic. It was the work, you know? I didn't have good work ethic in school 'cause I didn't like the work. It's not hard to get up and do something you love every day. And I think, I think people get judged off their work ethic incorrectly because they get judged... Their work ethic is judged off of how well and how consistent they're doing work they don't enjoy.

Jay Shetty 30:39 Mm-hmm.

Russ 30:40 How can you, how can you judge somebody off of that?

Jay Shetty 30:42 Yeah.

Russ 30:42 Judge me off of, you know, what I love. That's how I can really tell if you're about it or not. Like, you say you love this. You say you love basketball, and I know you do, but you just, you're not putting in the work. That's how I know you're not really about it. Now I can judge you accurately.

Jay Shetty 30:57 Mm.

Russ 30:57 But if you're like, if you're a basketball player and you love basketball, but, um, you know, somebody's g- judging you off of how well you do, uh, paintings, and every day you're in the art studio, that's not even fair.

Jay Shetty 31:10 I love that. What, what do you think is the most difficult thing you've been through personally? Like, what's been a moment in time in your life where you felt you were really battling with something to overcome it?

Russ 31:24 2018 was pretty rough for me, uh, just because when I was 17 and I had this vision of what my life was gonna be and what it was going to be like to be on and successful and a musician and money and fame and whatever, uh, I had this very innocent, like, just the world is made out of, like, marshmallows and cotton candy perspective on it, you know? And when I got on, it started off like that, but then it very quickly turned, and I got this very nasty side of, like, fame where there's a lot of negativity and hate and narratives and things that are out of your control and things that are so frustrating and trying to fight everything. 'Cause I'm, I'm a fighter, you know, and I'm competitive, and I don't, I don't like just rolling over. So this isn't a broken version of success. This just is success. This comes with it, too. I didn't, like, I didn't plan for that. I thought, like, once you get on, everything is perfect and everything is fine, 'cause that's what you think when you're 17. So, um, that was tough, just like the dose of reality of like, oh, okay, this is not what I thought it was gonna be. But that has to be okay because this is what it is.

Jay Shetty 32:37 That's such a brilliant thought that you just said, that it wasn't a broken version of success. That just was success. [laughs]

Russ 32:44 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 32:44 And it's so interesting because you're so right that when we're teens, we think we're gonna get to a place where it doesn't matter. And even now, I think a lot of people look at people like yourself and other people that we both may know-

Russ 32:55 Yeah

Jay Shetty 32:55 ... in our lives, and people just be like, "Oh, yeah, but that, that person's life,

Jay Shetty 32:59 everything probably just works out just-"

Russ 33:00 Right

Jay Shetty 33:00 ... "the way they want it."

Russ 33:01 Well, that's, well, like, that's what's so frustrating, right, is that people on the outside looking in, their response to everything any famous person is going through is, "You have millions of dollars. Why do you care about anything?" It's like, what do y'all think money is? According to most people's theory, once you have fame and money, you have no emotions. That's it. You're no longer a human is what you're trying to tell me. I shouldn't feel sadness. I shouldn't feel anything because I have money and fame. It's like, okay, let's run with that. Fine. I'll buy into that for the sake of the conversation. However, if you're telling me now that because of money I'm above certain human emotions, then you're telling me I'm above you. So now when I act like I'm above you, don't now also come back and say, "Why are you acting like you're better than me?" Well, you just told me I'm better than you because I don't even have the same emotions you have. So which one is it? Am I better than you, or do I experience the same emotions as you? It can't be both.

Jay Shetty 34:02 Mm.

Russ 34:02 That's why I encourage people on the outside looking in to just shut up. [laughs] You know? It's like, just-

Jay Shetty 34:09 In, in, in a, in a, I'll take a more compassionate, empathetic line, but yes.

Russ 34:12 Go ahead. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 34:13 In, in the same idea of, yes, like the idea of... I, and I love the way you explained that. I think it's a, it's a great way of cutting through the noise-

Russ 34:21 Yeah

Jay Shetty 34:21 ... because it's, it's so easy because also when we think someone is safe-

Russ 34:28 Yeah

Jay Shetty 34:29 ... from human emotion because of money and fame, then we think when we get money and fame, we will also be free-

Russ 34:35 Right, right

Jay Shetty 34:36 ... of human emotion. So-

Russ 34:37 And then you're in for a rude awakening

Jay Shetty 34:38 ... right, exactly. We're projecting it onto you, but then you're setting the same standard for yourself-

Russ 34:43 Yeah

Jay Shetty 34:43 ... of I hope... And I, and literally I've heard, I think every person who's rich and famous will say the same thing-

Russ 34:49 Yeah

Jay Shetty 34:49 ... of just like, "Hey, this is-"

Russ 34:51 Yeah

Jay Shetty 34:51 ... "this is what it really ended up as." Go on, sorry to-

Russ 34:53 And no, no, no, and it doesn't matter what any rich and famous person says. Everyone on the outside looking in won't believe it.

Jay Shetty 35:00 Yeah.

Russ 35:00 They'll be like, "Nah, that won't be me, though."

Jay Shetty 35:02 Yeah.

Russ 35:02 And it's like, I, you know what? I hear you. I was there, too.

Jay Shetty 35:04 Yeah.

Russ 35:04 But, you know, I think, I think the beauty of understanding is understanding when you don't understand.

Jay Shetty 35:12 Mm-hmm.

Russ 35:12 And I always say that. I think there's understanding in understanding that you don't understand.

Jay Shetty 35:17 Yeah.

Russ 35:18 Like, a lot of people need to accept that you don't get it.

Jay Shetty 35:20 Yeah.

Russ 35:21 And that is being compassionate.

Jay Shetty 35:24 Yeah.

Russ 35:25 Like, I can hear you, but it doesn't mean that I feel you, and it doesn't mean that I get it. You know? That, that's it.

Jay Shetty 35:30 Well said.

Russ 35:30 That's it.

Jay Shetty 35:31 Well said, man. That is so true. I, I think that was, yeah, that's such a great definition of compassion that you just gave because I think even when... Like, e- it's even when someone calls you up and said, "Hey, my, my parent just..." I had a friend tell me this. "My parent just got diagnosed with stage four cancer."

Russ 35:46 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 35:46 It's like I can't empathize. I, I've never-

Russ 35:49 No

Jay Shetty 35:49 ... been in that position.

Russ 35:50 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 35:50 So I can't be like, "Oh, I feel you. I, I get it."

Russ 35:52 Right.

Jay Shetty 35:52 I have to understand that I don't under-

Russ 35:54 That you don't understand

Jay Shetty 35:55 ... that I don't understand.

Russ 35:55 But that is understanding.

Jay Shetty 35:57 Correct, yes.

Russ 35:58 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 35:58 Yes. Yeah.

Russ 35:59 And sometimes that's all s- people are looking for in those moments is just like, "I just want you to be here and present. I don't expect you to get it." You know? It's the people who try to act like they get it-

Jay Shetty 36:10 Yeah

Russ 36:10 ... that actually makes you feel even more alone.

Jay Shetty 36:13 Mm.

Russ 36:13 It's like, wow, you're really showing me that you have no clue what's going on.

Jay Shetty 36:15 Yeah.

Russ 36:16 You know?

Jay Shetty 36:16 And, I mean, when you're talking about this time in your life, the 2018 when you're experiencing success, not broken success-

Russ 36:22 Yeah

Jay Shetty 36:23 ... in your words- What are you learning at that time? Like, what is the, what's ... We've, we kind of know what you're learning, but what's your process of-

Russ 36:33 Getting out of it?

Jay Shetty 36:34 Yeah, of figuring it out even before-

Russ 36:36 Letting go

Jay Shetty 36:36 ... you try to get out of it.

Russ 36:37 Letting go of my hold onto what it needs to be. That was the ego. The ego was like, "It's supposed to be like this though," and it's, it's supposed to be what it is.

Jay Shetty 36:49 Mm.

Russ 36:49 You know? And once I let go of all that and then that's why I came out with Shake the Snow Globe, 'cause I realized I just needed to reset and un-jade. I was like, man, it is what it is.

Jay Shetty 36:59 Yeah.

Russ 36:59 It just is what it is. Like, [laughs] it's, it's what it's supposed to be, and as long as I'm still operating from a place of love and a place of wanting to share, um, I'm gonna be a'ight.

Jay Shetty 37:09 Yeah.

Russ 37:09 It'll be what it needs to be, you know?

Jay Shetty 37:11 And that time is also what r- led to the book in 2019, It's All In Your Head.

Russ 37:15 Which it was all in my head. A lot of times in my life, I kind of sometimes accidentally speak things into existence, so I had the title of It's All In Your Head for years.

Jay Shetty 37:25 Mm.

Russ 37:25 Like, I always had this idea of writing that, um, from a positive standpoint obviously, like, you know, manifesting and self-belief and all those things. But it's funny that I had this title, It's All In Your Head, right? You're your own worst

Russ 37:39 enemy or your, your own biggest fan. You pick, whatever it is. And then while I have this title, 2018 happens and I'm losing to myself mentally. You know? I had to snap out of it, you know? So it was just one of those things where I needed to, like, listen to my own [laughs] advice and be like, "Bro, it's all in your head now." [laughs] You know? Like ... But now on the negative side.

Jay Shetty 38:07 Yeah.

Russ 38:07 But it's a choice at this point. Do you wanna fight everything and fight the whole world, or do you wanna let it go?

Jay Shetty 38:12 Yeah. And was writing the book quite therapeutic in that? Because I almost feel like-

Russ 38:15 Yeah

Jay Shetty 38:15 ... when you're writing a book called It's All In Your Head, it's far more simpler to go inward because-

Russ 38:21 Yeah

Jay Shetty 38:21 ... you're kind of dealing with topics and themes that work for you. What was the biggest thing that you put in the book that you felt was what helped you overcome and work through some stuff?

Russ 38:29 Man, that whole book, and especially the process of it, was like an interview. So I had this woman who would come, and she had the tape recorder. Man, I had all the chapters mapped out, like what I was ... You know, 'cause it was all song titles. So I knew what the chapters were gonna be. I knew what I was gonna talk about. Um, I just needed somebody to help me organize all my thoughts. So she would come with the tape recorder and just, we would go chapter by chapter. And she would say, "Okay, we'll talk about manifesting and what it means to you," and I would just talk. And so it was really, like, a week and a half of therapy sessions, and then we organized all of it together. And I, you know, did my stuff and whatever. And it was like, man, this was ... It- that's why I love that book, 'cause it's really me. Like, that was me talking to a therapist for a week and a half in a book, [laughs] you know?

Jay Shetty 39:15 I love ... Yeah.

Russ 39:15 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 39:16 And how amazing is that?

Russ 39:16 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 39:16 That people have that accessible to them.

Russ 39:19 Right.

Jay Shetty 39:19 Because if everyone could have a diary of them being in therapy-

Russ 39:23 Right

Jay Shetty 39:23 ... I think that'd be phenomenal.

Russ 39:24 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 39:24 Like, to, to be able to look back and, and work through it. You've, you've mentioned manifestation a f- a few times, and, and I think you've taught us some really, in my opinion, again, very personal and refreshing ways.

Russ 39:36 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 39:36 We hear about the word a lot.

Russ 39:38 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 39:38 And randomly, you're obviously someone who believes it, lives it, knows it, is experiencing it. What is the process that you have practiced for you-

Russ 39:48 Yeah

Jay Shetty 39:48 ... that has worked for you that others could understand? Because I think there's a lot of, like, misconceptions around it. But for someone who it's working for and someone who believes in it-

Russ 39:56 Yeah

Jay Shetty 39:56 ... how would you describe it for yourself?

Russ 39:58 It's that knowing thing you were talking about. It's not necessarily just seeing it. "Ooh, I can see myself with money," and they're like, "Then that's it. Now you're gonna get money." It's more so knowing it and also feeling it and, and not just like ... Excuse me. Not just, oh, like I said, you can see the beach house you bought your mom. It's, it's what does it feel like though? What i- do- like, what does it feel like when you see your mom's reaction to getting the beach house, and can you, can you feel that? Can you feel the car turning the corner to the beach hou- It's about immersing yourself in that feeling as if it was going on right now. And when you do that on a daily basis, it's not long before reality catches up with your thoughts, you know? And like I said, it just has to be something you believe and buy into, this whole theory, you know? If you believe that we are just the universe experiencing itself and, you know, we're all in tune and connected to the infinite and all these things, then you're gonna be fine as far as b- [laughs] as far as this, you know, method goes. But if you don't, then it's not for you, you know? And God bless.

Jay Shetty 41:01 And was, was that the best thing you manifested?

Russ 41:03 The beach house?

Jay Shetty 41:03 Yeah.

Russ 41:04 Uh, it was one of them for sure.

Jay Shetty 41:06 Yeah.

Russ 41:06 But just, like, this whole career, man. Just this whole life was a complete, uh, product of law of attraction, but also being proactive. I wasn't just sitting there-

Jay Shetty 41:15 That's what I was gonna ask you, yeah.

Russ 41:16 Yeah, no. You don't just, like, click your heels and go back to Kansas. [laughs] You know what I mean? Like, it's, uh-

Jay Shetty 41:22 Tell us about the work.

Russ 41:23 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 41:23 Tell us about the pro- the, the actual, like ... So we get it. The, the immersion, the feeling.

Russ 41:27 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 41:27 Which, and I know you're doing the other part too. Tell us about the strategy, the, the networking, the, the-

Russ 41:33 Yeah

Jay Shetty 41:33 ... the actual skill.

Russ 41:35 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 41:35 Because you have to have a skill, right?

Russ 41:36 Well, skill can get developed, you know? Skill is developed. I was not the most skilled when I started at all. All of it sucked. So, um, you know, you develop skill through

Russ 41:47 repetition and through practice and putting in the work. But yeah, I don't think people understand that you actually need to put in the work and be persistent. You just also have to couple it with a very positive mindset. But, you know, uh, Will Smith talks about, um, the concept of, and I've, like, mentioned this a lot, like laying a brick a day until you have a wall.

Jay Shetty 42:08 Mm.

Russ 42:09 You know, I think his dad took them ... You know what story I'm talking about?

Jay Shetty 42:12 Yeah, yeah.

Russ 42:12 They, like, did the brick a day. Like, how are we gonna build a wall? And you go out there and you lay a brick a day. So I really resonate with that whole, um, story and concept, and I think it's really true. I think a lot of people are just focused on the whole bigger picture and, like- How am I gonna be this famous musician? Like, I haven't even made a song yet. It's like you're not supposed to be thinking about, like, all that to the point where it's daunting and crippling. You're just supposed to, you know what? I know I'm gonna get there. I can feel what it's like, but in the meantime, I'm gonna lay a brick a day. I'm gonna make a song a day or make a beat a day or find samples every day or study every day. Like, as long as you're doing something towards the bigger picture, a small thing every day, you're good.

Jay Shetty 42:49 That's real.

Russ 42:50 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 42:50 That's real. And that, and that's how it has to be built.

Russ 42:52 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 42:52 Everyone always think it's like that, the wallet analogy that you're talking about. You kind of just turn up... I was thinking about that one day. I was, I was looking out into the city of LA, and I was just thinking like, "Someone had to think about this."

Russ 43:04 Right.

Jay Shetty 43:04 I was in Dubai recently. I was thinking the same. It's like, it's just a desert.

Russ 43:08 It's a... No, it's a bunch of ideas.

Jay Shetty 43:09 Yeah, and someone had to think about it first. Like, they would've looked out onto, like, desert-

Russ 43:13 Yeah

Jay Shetty 43:14 ... and had to think about it. But we don't think about that because we walk into a city.

Russ 43:18 You walk into ev- Like, that's what I find fascinating is that every day you're walking around in somebody's idea. That's how you know thoughts are powerful. Like-

Jay Shetty 43:26 Mm.

Russ 43:26 We're sitting in s- Like, this chair was somebody's idea to make it look like this and the cushions to be this soft and these shoes. So like, you're just constantly surrounded by other people's ideas, and I think the really cool thing about free will is contributing your ideas back into the infrastructure of what's already going on.

Jay Shetty 43:43 That's so powerful, man.

Russ 43:45 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 43:45 That, what you just said now is so powerful. How, how do we, how do we know if our idea is good, or is that even the right question?

Russ 43:53 I don't think that's the right question. I think, I think is it serviceable, you know? Does it help?

Jay Shetty 44:02 Mm.

Russ 44:03 L- you know, is it just for you, or is it, are you serving a bigger purpose? That's why I think music is really great because we're, you know, it's a service for the world we're providing. You know, big or small, however you wanna quantify it is on you, but it's definitely a service that we're providing. And I realized, you know, after I got money and fame and whatever, um, [lips smack] I was like, man, the whole point of this... Like, I had, I literally said this to myself the other day in the shower. That's where all my ideas happen. [laughs] And I don't feel bad-

Jay Shetty 44:35 Why is it in the shower?

Russ 44:36 I don't feel bad about that 'cause Pharrell said the same thing.

Jay Shetty 44:38 Yeah, yeah.

Russ 44:38 Um, but I literally just blurted out, I was like, "I need more money so I can help more people." It was just, like, a thing that blurted out. And I was like, I was like, "Yeah, that's the whole point of all this." I had this, like, epiphany where I was like, "I'm 28. I made it. The only thing left to do is obviously I keep making it, but it's to help other people make it," you know? And I just think that our goal is to just give, and I think there's a very, uh, misled sort of idea that we're supposed to be getters.

Jay Shetty 45:15 Mm.

Russ 45:15 And I think, um, Boogies actually mentioned this concept to me about being a go giver instead of a go getter. I think a lot of times, especially

Russ 45:25 with music success, fame, we're just thinking about what can we get, you know, and what can I get from the world when I put this song out and so on and so forth, but it's more so about what can I give to the world.

Jay Shetty 45:36 Tell me about a message or a piece of fan mail or an experience you've had with a fan or a listener that made you realize how impactful music is on someone. I'm sure you've had some phenomenal and, you know-

Russ 45:50 It's so many, man-

Jay Shetty 45:51 Yeah

Russ 45:51 ... to be honest, and I'm so fortunate that it's so many. But every day people are sending me messages of, "You saved my life," and you meet people and they're crying their eyes out 'cause it's like you helped them so much. And that's, you know, that's when you realize it's just way bigger than you, you know? It's just way bigger than you. And like I said, I think I'm just excited to keep giving to the world, and I know that could sound cliché and like you don't believe that I'm actually that generous. But it's really like, you know, anyone around me knows, like, I'm always trying to help, you know? I'm always trying to, like, give people money or whatever. Just because it's like, that's... You know, my mom told me a long time ago, um, when I first started getting money, [lips smack] she said, uh, "Money is meant to change people's realities, and so if you have the ability to do it, you should." So I get a kick out of just, like, you know, I'll see a fan on Twitter and they're, like, raising money for, like, their dance program and I'm just like, "Here." You know, a kid will send me a DM like, you know, my mom's funeral, and I'm just like, why not, you know? And I don't need to post about it. It's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to give it back. And I, and I think I'm also a very big believer in not blocking the natural flow of the universe, and I think money is a force of energy. And when you get it and you're just focused on keeping it, you're gonna lose it.

Jay Shetty 47:19 Mm-hmm.

Russ 47:19 So I always get money and give it right back, and I think that's why it keeps coming in.

Jay Shetty 47:23 Yeah.

Russ 47:23 I just give it away.

Jay Shetty 47:24 Yeah. And it's given in your own way, right? Like, I think what I love about what you're saying and, and you're talking about the cliché of giving, to me it's you figured out how you like giving.

Russ 47:33 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 47:34 And, and that's-

Russ 47:35 Yeah

Jay Shetty 47:35 ... what matters for all of us-

Russ 47:36 Yeah

Jay Shetty 47:36 ... because some people are gonna do charity work.

Russ 47:38 Sure.

Jay Shetty 47:38 Some people are gonna build schools. Some people are gonna support the people around them. Some people are gonna help-

Russ 47:44 Yeah

Jay Shetty 47:44 ... a person on Twitter or whatever who, who can't even pay for their-

Russ 47:47 Right

Jay Shetty 47:47 ... mother's funeral, whatever it is. Like, you know, the point is of supporting in the way you can-

Russ 47:53 Yeah

Jay Shetty 47:53 ... and in the way you feel called to.

Russ 47:55 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 47:55 'Cause that's all you have.

Russ 47:56 And it tripped me out when, like I said, when Boogies brought this concept to me and-

Jay Shetty 48:02 Go giver.

Russ 48:03 Yeah, go giver. And, and I was like, man, I never fully understood the complete reason why I got so much out of life already. And he was like, "It's 'cause you gave so much."

Jay Shetty 48:19 Mm.

Russ 48:20 And I never thought about it like that. But you know, when you think about, you know, I have more songs out than- Some of the veterans in the game, most of them, you know, I got 500 songs. I just like, the game I give, the try--

Russ 48:34 like, I give a lot and I don't think about it while I'm doing it. I'm not like, "I'm about to give this so I can get it." [chuckles]

Jay Shetty 48:38 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Russ 48:39 You know?

Jay Shetty 48:39 Yeah, yeah.

Russ 48:39 I'm just, like, giving it 'cause I naturally wanna do that. But it makes a lot of sense that, you know, givers get more than the getters.

Jay Shetty 48:47 Yeah.

Russ 48:47 You know?

Jay Shetty 48:47 And even when you're giving and it's not even being loved or received that way, but you continue to give.

Russ 48:53 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 48:53 'Cause sometimes it's easy to give when everyone's kind of like, "Oh, we love you"-

Russ 48:56 Receiving it, yeah

Jay Shetty 48:56 ... and they give you the validation, but sometimes you're just giving because-

Russ 48:59 Well, see, but if you're only giving it to get something back, then you're not giving me anything, you're loaning it.

Jay Shetty 49:04 Mm.

Russ 49:05 That's what I always tell people. I s- I... Like, women, I don't care who it is, don't give me love if you're only giving it to get something back. Then it's conditional, and it's not giving, you're loaning me love.

Jay Shetty 49:15 Mm.

Russ 49:16 You're, you're only loaning me love for an extended period of time until I give it back. I don't do that. I, I give love and give game and give money and whatever it is. I don't expect anything back. I give it because that feels like the right thing to do and it aligns with my spirit.

Jay Shetty 49:32 How do you feel or how do you respond when you realize someone just loaned it to you when you thought that they were giving it to you?

Russ 49:40 I expect most people to act like that.

Jay Shetty 49:42 Right.

Russ 49:42 'Cause most people are like that. Most people are out for self. They're very self-serving. And so I know that most people are operating from a place of, "I'm not doing any favors," you know, "I'm not doing anything for free." And so I'm not really surprised. I'm not that naive, you know. I think you can be s- you can be naive if you want to the point of like, "Ah, I really thought you were just helping me out." [laughs]

Jay Shetty 50:06 [laughs]

Russ 50:07 It's just like, okay. You know, I don't assume anyone's just helping me out. I, I, like, you get in trouble and you get your feelings hurt when you assume people are as kind as you.

Jay Shetty 50:16 Mm.

Russ 50:17 Or people, it's, you know, not to be like, "I'm the most kind person ever," but you can get your feelings hurt if you assume everyone is like you.

Jay Shetty 50:23 Mm-hmm.

Russ 50:24 That's when you get disappointed and, you know, and you suffer. And the whole thing with suffering, it comes from attachment. So if you get attached to the idea that, "Oh, well, they're gonna operate how I'm operating," you're gonna suffer.

Jay Shetty 50:35 Yeah.

Russ 50:35 You know? So I try not to get attached to anything really.

Jay Shetty 50:38 Yeah.

Russ 50:38 That's the only time people suffer is when there's attachment involved.

Jay Shetty 50:42 Yeah.

Russ 50:42 You know, you're not gonna freak out if a water bottle right here gets, like, burned or your table gets burned. You're not that attached to a table, you know? So that's when you gotta, like, choose in life what you're, what's worth getting attached to, which I really think it's people and animals. People and pets. That's about it.

Jay Shetty 50:59 Yeah.

Russ 50:59 You know, everything else is pretty replaceable-

Jay Shetty 51:02 Yeah

Russ 51:02 ... off top of my head.

Jay Shetty 51:03 Yeah, I'm gonna add people, pets, and purpose. We'll add a third one.

Russ 51:06 Sure.

Jay Shetty 51:06 Yeah.

Russ 51:07 People, pets, and purpose.

Jay Shetty 51:08 Yeah.

Russ 51:08 I like that.

Jay Shetty 51:08 Yeah.

Russ 51:09 But even the purpose, it's hard. You know, you get so attached to that, you can suffer a lot along the way-

Jay Shetty 51:14 Yeah

Russ 51:14 ... if things don't go the way you want them. That's, that's what happened to me in 2018.

Jay Shetty 51:17 Mm.

Russ 51:17 I was suffering because it wasn't going the way I was attached to. And once I let go of that attachment to how I thought it was supposed to go, I was fine.

Jay Shetty 51:25 Yeah.

Russ 51:26 You know, sure there's dips in here and there, but for the most part, I'm good. You know?

Jay Shetty 51:30 Yeah, I would, yeah, I always say to people, "You, you get to where you want in life, just not in the way you imagined it."

Russ 51:35 Yeah, or when.

Jay Shetty 51:36 Uh, yeah, or when you imagined it.

Russ 51:37 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 51:37 And that's the challenge, right? It's like you have reality and then you have your projector screen up here.

Russ 51:42 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 51:42 And you're trying to make this projector screen happen, but, but this is reality right now.

Russ 51:46 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 51:46 And that's what you're actually going through.

Russ 51:48 Just have faith that whatever you want, you're gonna get it, and whatever life you want, you're, you're gonna achieve it.

Russ 51:55 But it doesn't matter when. That should be irrelevant. You know? You ha- you can't put a deadline on your own success. It's crazy.

Jay Shetty 52:04 Yeah.

Russ 52:04 It ruins people. You know, you know those people that are like, "By 30, if I don't have da-da-da." And it's like, then what's, what's gonna happen at 30 if you don't? You know what I'm saying? Like-

Jay Shetty 52:12 Yeah

Russ 52:13 ... what happens? [laughs] You know?

Jay Shetty 52:14 Totally.

Russ 52:15 It's crazy.

Jay Shetty 52:15 And you don't know when.

Russ 52:16 Yeah, you don't.

Jay Shetty 52:17 Like, you know, you're 28 now. Like, my, my life took off externally. Internally, my journey started at 16.

Russ 52:24 Sure.

Jay Shetty 52:24 But externally, my journey started at 28.

Russ 52:27 Wow.

Jay Shetty 52:28 And so-

Russ 52:28 See?

Jay Shetty 52:29 ... you know, I'm 33 now.

Russ 52:30 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 52:30 And, and it's, and it's just interesting. It's like you just don't know when-

Russ 52:33 No

Jay Shetty 52:33 ... what's gonna happen, and, and you just-

Russ 52:35 But you trusted the way.

Jay Shetty 52:36 But you trust, yeah.

Russ 52:36 And you believed in it, yeah.

Jay Shetty 52:37 Yeah, I love that. Trust the way.

Russ 52:39 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 52:39 Yeah, that's, that's really beautiful, man. Dude, this has been, like, this has been one of the most refreshing conversations-

Russ 52:45 Yeah

Jay Shetty 52:45 ... I've had in a long time.

Russ 52:46 Nice.

Jay Shetty 52:47 Like, I love how you've brought everything you've learned along the way and made it so practical-

Russ 52:53 Yeah

Jay Shetty 52:54 ... in your actual life.

Russ 52:54 Well, I've had to make sense of my whole everything. Like-

Jay Shetty 52:57 Yeah

Russ 52:57 ... I think-

Jay Shetty 52:57 But you've really made sense of it.

Russ 52:59 Thank you.

Jay Shetty 52:59 Like, when I'm listening to you, I'm like, wow, like this is... You know, you can tell that Russ has reflected and deeply-

Russ 53:07 Yeah

Jay Shetty 53:07 ... intern- internalized-

Russ 53:09 Yeah

Jay Shetty 53:09 ... these concepts because it's really easy to say the stuff, uh, but the practical aspects of it, of how you live it-

Russ 53:17 Yeah

Jay Shetty 53:18 ... is what's blown me away.

Russ 53:19 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 53:20 Like-

Russ 53:20 I appreciate it. Well, y- I always-

Jay Shetty 53:21 Yeah

Russ 53:21 ... tell people, being a musician, uh, it's such a self-discovery thing. Like, you learn just so much about yourself and the universe when you're an artist and you're, you know... It, it's just, I don't, it's such about, like, diving deep into the depths of yourself and discovering you and it's... When you're making, when you, when you're the type of artist I feel like I am, which is I'm trying to talk about the truth, I'm trying to help people. I had to kind of, those self-help books and just kinda moving through this journey, I had to find the way to apply all of this stuff to my life in a practi- practical, productive way.

Jay Shetty 53:55 You can tell, man.

Russ 53:56 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 53:56 You can tell, it's real.

Russ 53:57 Thank you. Thank you.

Jay Shetty 53:57 But yeah, we, we end every interview with the final five, so this is a rapid fire fast five.

Russ 54:01 Okay, sick.

Jay Shetty 54:02 So you gotta answer every question in one word or one sentence maximum.

Russ 54:06 Fire.

Jay Shetty 54:07 So that's for every one of them. Easy for you. You're, you're a lyricist and, and-

Russ 54:10 [laughs] Yeah

Jay Shetty 54:10 ... you know, you've g- this will be easy for you. All right, the first question is, uh, what's the best advice you've ever received?

Russ 54:16 What if it can turn out better than you can imagine?

Jay Shetty 54:19 Second question, what's the worst advice you've ever received?

Russ 54:21 Be realistic.

Jay Shetty 54:22 [laughs] Nice. That's good. That's a good one. All right, third question, what's one thing you're trying to learn or grow and develop right now?

Russ 54:31 More of a affinity and appreciation for the present moment

Jay Shetty 54:37 Mm. Mm, I like that. All right, question number four: What's one thing that you think other people value but you don't value?

Russ 54:47 I don't know. What do people value that I think is dumb? Um, Crocs. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 54:52 [laughs] Good answer. Good answer. All right. I agree. [laughs]

Russ 54:55 Yeah, good.

Jay Shetty 54:56 All right, fifth and final question. Uh, if you could create one law in the world that everyone had to follow, what would it be?

Russ 55:04 The golden rule, bro, [laughs] that they teach you in fifth grade. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 55:07 [laughs]

Russ 55:08 Like, do unto others as they would... You know what I mean? If everyone had to only treat people the way that they would be treated, I think obviously the world would be in a much better spot. You'd be much more conscious of like, "All right, maybe I shouldn't do this." But the thing that's funny about that, I always laugh when people think they get away with something. You didn't. There's always... To me, I believe the universe is seeing everything. Jay Electronica has this line where he's, "The universe is listening. Be careful what you say in it." You know?

Jay Shetty 55:37 Mm.

Russ 55:37 It's like, you might think you got over on me. You didn't. Somebody saw.

Jay Shetty 55:41 Yeah.

Russ 55:42 You know? Good luck. Enjoy that.

Jay Shetty 55:43 And the worst thing is you saw somewhere deep inside of yourself.

Russ 55:46 Yeah. You have to live-

Jay Shetty 55:47 And that's the worst one, I feel

Russ 55:49 ... Yeah.

Jay Shetty 55:49 Like, that's the one that eats you up the most. Everyone, Russ, this has been honestly one of my favorite conversations with that.

Russ 55:54 Thank you. That was really awesome.

Jay Shetty 55:55 There were so many things you shared that I hope everyone who's listening and watching is gonna go back and listen and watch and write notes.

Russ 56:01 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 56:02 Uh, I didn't tell you at the start, but now I'm like, "You should have taken notes"-

Russ 56:04 Wow

Jay Shetty 56:04 ... because this is one of those episodes where there were just so many practical examples of not listening to people's opinions-

Russ 56:11 Mm

Jay Shetty 56:11 ... finding solitude for your creativity, allowing yourself to be wild and insane on-

Russ 56:15 Yeah

Jay Shetty 56:15 ... your own so you can discover new things about yourself, uh, the ability to balance confidence with humility at the same time. I mean, you've just been dropping, uh-

Russ 56:24 Thank you

Jay Shetty 56:24 ... bars the whole time, man.

Russ 56:25 No, I, I really like the way you framed all the questions though, 'cause it had me thinking in ways I wasn't. Like, I never really thought about the duality of the ego while also being a fan and just being... I never told anyone about being crazy in the studio when you're by yourself, like the Auto-Tune thing and, you know. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 56:41 I love that.

Russ 56:41 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 56:41 That was one of my favorite things.

Russ 56:43 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 56:43 But no, I appreciate it, man, and I hope everyone who's listening and watching, uh, go and grab a copy of Russ's book, It’s All In Your Head.

Russ 56:49 Yes.

Jay Shetty 56:49 It will be a great read for you if you loved this conversation.

Russ 56:52 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 56:52 And of course, uh, all the music, all the albums.

Russ 56:55 Thank you.

Jay Shetty 56:55 But, uh, thank you for coming on On Purpose, man, and we hope we can have you back for part two.

Russ 56:59 For sure.

Jay Shetty 57:00 Uh, this-

Russ 57:00 Thanks for having me.

Jay Shetty 57:00 Yeah, we should do this regularly 'cause I feel like-

Russ 57:02 Yeah

Jay Shetty 57:02 ... it would be nice to see your evolution-

Russ 57:05 Yeah

Jay Shetty 57:05 ... uh, and your growth as time goes on.

Russ 57:07 Yeah. Awesome.

Jay Shetty 57:08 I loved it, man. Thank you, Russ.

Russ 57:09 Thank you, bro.

Jay Shetty 57:09 Thank you. Everyone who's listening and watching, thank you for watching On Purpose, and I want you to tag me and Russ on Instagram with the things that stood out to you, on Twitter as well. What is it that you heard? What is it that he said that you just can't stop thinking about and you wanna share with your friends? Make sure you tag both of us. I love noticing what really resonates with you guys. Uh, thank you again for listening and watching. We'll see you next time. If you want even more videos just like this one, make sure you subscribe and click on the boxes over here. I'm also excited to let you know that you can now get my book, Think Like a Monk, from thinklikeamonkbook.com. Check below in the description to make sure you order today.