WIZ KHALIFA: 'They Said I Only Had 12 Months...' This Is How I Built Long-Term Success

Wiz Khalifa 0:00 The craziest part of my life, I can go from performing in front of 40,000 people to either being in a dressing room, being in a plane, or being back in a bed all by myself. He is a multi-platinum selling recording artist, mini mogul, and an actor. What you want? The one, the only Wiz Khalifa. [crowd cheering]

Jay Shetty 0:19 Did you feel like a big break was coming?

Wiz Khalifa 0:21 I didn't know what that big break looked or felt like, but I knew that what I was doing was working. The gang banging and the drug selling, that's not really for me, but the looking cool, the having girls, the making music, I'm like, "I like that part of it."

Jay Shetty 0:36 [laughs] What's it like to get a record deal and then lose a record deal?

Wiz Khalifa 0:39 Oh, there's, there's no bouncing back from that. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 0:42 How unsafe was it where you were in Pittsburgh?

Wiz Khalifa 0:44 The streets is crazy out there. Like, I remember, like, one of my first friends getting shot and killed in, in seventh grade.

Jay Shetty 0:51 Wow. When, when was your sibling who passed away?

Wiz Khalifa 0:54 She passed away, I think, maybe seven years ago.

Jay Shetty 0:57 How was that experience for you, losing someone so close to you that you love?

Wiz Khalifa 1:01 I am grateful that I was able to have, like, the last moments that I had and to be able to prepare for it, and it's something that I'm still dealing with.

Jay Shetty 1:10 What's a misconception you think people have about you?

Wiz Khalifa 1:16 The number one health and wellness podcast...

Speaker 1:19 Jay Shetty.

Wiz Khalifa 1:20 Jay Shetty.

Speaker 1:20 The one, the only Jay Shetty.

Wiz Khalifa 1:23 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:25 What's up, Wiz?

Wiz Khalifa 1:26 I'm chilling. How are you?

Jay Shetty 1:27 I'm good. I'm good. It's great to have you here.

Wiz Khalifa 1:28 Yeah. Good to be here.

Jay Shetty 1:29 You walked in with this real chill energy today.

Wiz Khalifa 1:31 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:32 I was like... It, it was, it was very calming.

Wiz Khalifa 1:34 Yeah. I'm a super chill dude.

Jay Shetty 1:35 I love that, man.

Wiz Khalifa 1:36 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:37 What, what's the first thing you do in the morning?

Wiz Khalifa 1:39 Smoke weed.

Jay Shetty 1:40 Every day?

Wiz Khalifa 1:40 [laughs] Yeah. Yep.

Jay Shetty 1:41 First thing?

Wiz Khalifa 1:42 Well, I take my dog out- outside. I have a Doberman, and he's a puppy, but he's a big puppy. He's like, uh, he's 10 months now, and he wakes up pretty early, so I take him out, and then I smoke weed.

Jay Shetty 1:54 Do you ever remember a day before that was the case?

Wiz Khalifa 1:57 Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I remember the days before that was the case.

Jay Shetty 1:59 What were those days like?

Wiz Khalifa 2:01 I was in school, so I would just-

Jay Shetty 2:03 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 2:03 ... get up and iron my clothes and, you know, go off to school.

Jay Shetty 2:08 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 2:09 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 2:09 Was there, was there ever a time in your life where you tried to stop smoking, or has that ever been a, a goal?

Wiz Khalifa 2:15 Nah. Nah. I never, I never really, never really fell back off of it. I never had a reason to.

Jay Shetty 2:20 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 2:20 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 2:21 What, what does it do for you that you feel it needs to be your first habit of the day?

Wiz Khalifa 2:25 For me, it just kinda gets me in a relaxing mood. Uh, I have a lot of things on my mind, like as soon as I wake up, so it's like I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere, but if I smoke, I kinda chill, relax, put everything into its place. I write my goals down. I start to, you know, make some text messages or phone calls or whatever, depending on what the situation is. So everything just starts to come into place.

Jay Shetty 2:53 Yeah. You write your goal do- goals down regularly? Is that like a regular habit, a consistent habit?

Wiz Khalifa 2:57 Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely, espe-

Jay Shetty 2:59 Walk us through what that looks like.

Wiz Khalifa 3:01 It's really, like, me kinda, like, just spitballing stuff, whatever it is, like short-term goals of mine, whether it be about clothing, music, family, uh, visuals, content. I'm just kinda, like, just writing the first ideas, like really short, really just to the point, nothing really crazy. I have a blackboard, [laughs] so I'll sit in front of the blackboard and physically write it, or if I'm in my car or something like that, I'll write it down in my notes. You know what I'm saying? Just to like... Little reminders and things like that.

Jay Shetty 3:33 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 3:33 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 3:33 I love that.

Wiz Khalifa 3:34 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 3:34 How long have you had that habit for?

Wiz Khalifa 3:36 It goes on and off just due to, like, necessity, like how crazy my life is. So I just... I feel like I don't know how long it's been because I do it, like, so regularly, and then I look back and I see how much I've done and I'm like, "Wow, I've been doing this for-"

Jay Shetty 3:54 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 3:54 "... a long-ass freaking time."

Jay Shetty 3:55 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 3:56 So I think it's kinda like, um, like a second nature type of thing for me.

Jay Shetty 4:00 Mm. Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 4:01 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 4:01 What do you find is the craziest part of your life?

Wiz Khalifa 4:03 The craziest part of my life, I think the entertainment part is the craziest part, and I think it's because I can go from performing in front of 30,000, 40,000 people to either being in a dressing room, being in a plane, or being back in a bed all by myself, and it's like to go from, like, [laughs] that much energy to just being all by... like back by yourself, I think that's pretty crazy.

Jay Shetty 4:32 Walk

Jay Shetty 4:33 us through what that feels like mentally. Like, you just described two polar opposites-

Wiz Khalifa 4:38 Yeah

Jay Shetty 4:38 ... and the majority of people on the planet will never have really experienced those extremes.

Wiz Khalifa 4:43 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 4:43 They might experience the loneliness in a room-

Wiz Khalifa 4:45 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 4:45 ... but they won't experience the 30,000 people screaming your name-

Wiz Khalifa 4:49 Right

Jay Shetty 4:49 ... wearing your merch.

Wiz Khalifa 4:50 Right.

Jay Shetty 4:51 You know, whatever it may be, singing along to your music.

Wiz Khalifa 4:53 Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 4:54 What are you feeling in the in-betweens, in the transition of that to that?

Wiz Khalifa 5:00 You have to have this th- this thing where you kinda wind down and you know what is for where. Like, you can't bring the stage home because eventually you have to, you know, wind down and go to sleep and wake up and do it again, and you can't be, you know, too turned off when you're on the stage because you have to bring enough energy to where somebody is way in the back and they can feel you. So it's really just like a projection of, like, you know, your energy and how you feel, and the majority of the times I'm in a great mood. I have great interactions with my fans and the people around stage and things like that. So it, it goes good. I'm in a great mood, but it's just a lot of... this goes from really, really intense, and then it could just all just be shut off at one second.

Jay Shetty 5:48 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 5:49 And I think, like, that's, like, the craziest part to me.

Jay Shetty 5:52 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 5:52 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 5:52 I, I can relate. You know, I'd heard that before, and I can relate in a small, very small way comparatively, but I remember doing my first ever live show-

Wiz Khalifa 6:01 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 6:01 ... in 2019. It was at the Ace Theater.

Wiz Khalifa 6:03 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 6:04 Or maybe 2018, something like that, in the Ace Hotel, and it was, like- I don't know, 1,500 people, 2,000 people maybe

Wiz Khalifa 6:11 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 6:11 It was my first ever show, and I remember walking offstage, jumping into the car-

Wiz Khalifa 6:15 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 6:15 ... to get driven back home, and it was just the strangest feeling

Wiz Khalifa 6:19 Yeah

Jay Shetty 6:19 Like, it's so hard to explain it

Wiz Khalifa 6:21 Yeah, yeah, yeah

Jay Shetty 6:22 And I wasn't, you know, it wasn't like peop- I don't do music-

Wiz Khalifa 6:24 Yeah

Jay Shetty 6:24 ... so I've, I haven't got even with that experience, but I'm feeling connected with my audience.

Wiz Khalifa 6:28 Yeah

Jay Shetty 6:28 Then you get into the back of a black, you know, a black car. You, you barely know what, y- I didn't know anyone in the car-

Wiz Khalifa 6:34 Yeah

Jay Shetty 6:34 ... with me. I was alone, and I'm driving home, and I just felt, I was like, wow, I don't even know how to describe-

Wiz Khalifa 6:39 Yeah. Yeah

Jay Shetty 6:41 ... the juxtaposition. And then I went on my world tour last year.

Wiz Khalifa 6:43 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 6:44 We did roughly 40 cities around the world, and that was like you're in a new place every day.

Wiz Khalifa 6:49 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 6:49 And now you're feeling that-

Wiz Khalifa 6:51 Every, yeah

Jay Shetty 6:51 ... same thing every day.

Wiz Khalifa 6:52 Yeah

Jay Shetty 6:52 And so I know it's much smaller compared to what you've done, but to me, just getting that experience... And I remember that night I was lucky. I came home and my wife had planned a surprise party.

Wiz Khalifa 7:01 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 7:01 So all my closest friends were back at my house.

Wiz Khalifa 7:04 Yeah

Jay Shetty 7:04 And that kind of like, it was a relief.

Wiz Khalifa 7:06 Yeah

Jay Shetty 7:07 But it, but it is a really weird feeling.

Wiz Khalifa 7:09 Yeah. I don't think the feeling is smaller-

Jay Shetty 7:11 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 7:11 ... like, due to the crowd or whatever. I think the feeling is the feeling.

Jay Shetty 7:15 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 7:15 It's like when you're on a rollercoaster and, like, you get back and, like, you're in your bed and you still feel like you're on the rollercoaster. [laughs] Like-

Jay Shetty 7:22 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 7:22 ... it is like, you know what I mean? So I f- I feel like we still have that in common even though it might be at different levels. And it's, it's not even always 30,000 people. Sometimes it could be a, a private event, or sometimes it could be an event with some kids or something like that, to where it's like you just get really two totally different, you know, parts of life, and they're both great. I love my normal life, and I love my work life, too. It's just the difference between them is crazy.

Jay Shetty 7:54 Yeah. What's helped you continue to love them and deal with that paradox, with that ease and comfort? What's really soothed your relationship with those ch- you know, challenging or crazy experiences that you mentioned?

Wiz Khalifa 8:07 Mm-hmm. I think it has a lot to do with, like, my relationship with my fans-

Jay Shetty 8:11 Mm

Wiz Khalifa 8:12 ... because I love the people that I do music for, and they give me a really, really great response and reaction, um, not only to my performance, but to my music and just the appreciation that they have for it. So I appreciate them as well, and it makes it easier because I enjoy it and I love to create. I love to be on stage. I love to be in front of people. Yeah, so it doesn't feel like, um, I'm, like, doing anything out of, oh, I just want the money or this is just for this certain reason. It's really, really enjoyable for me.

Jay Shetty 8:47 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 8:47 So-

Jay Shetty 8:48 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 8:48 Yeah

Jay Shetty 8:48 That's beautiful, man. That's-

Wiz Khalifa 8:49 Yeah, it's a great experience

Jay Shetty 8:50 That's such a beautiful place to be.

Wiz Khalifa 8:51 Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Jay Shetty 8:52 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 8:53 Hell, yeah.

Jay Shetty 8:53 Yeah. It, that, that gratitude to your community for, for being there for you-

Wiz Khalifa 8:57 Yeah

Jay Shetty 8:57 ... for, for being present with you.

Wiz Khalifa 8:58 Yeah, definitely.

Jay Shetty 8:59 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 9:00 What's, what's been a, what's been, like, your craziest fan experience or fan interaction?

Wiz Khalifa 9:04 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 9:04 A memory that you have with one of the audience members that stays with you?

Wiz Khalifa 9:07 I think the craziest stuff is when people, like, come up and get me to, like, sign my name on them so they can get it tatted.

Jay Shetty 9:14 Wow.

Wiz Khalifa 9:14 Or they show me, like, tattoos of my face on them. I think those are the craziest interactions. 'Cause I have tattoos. I'm covered in them, so I know how important that is, and to be, you know, just me as an artist and doing what I'm doing and to want p- to have people to wanna, like, tattoo me on them is pretty, uh, is pretty tight.

Jay Shetty 9:34 Yeah. Have people ever done a lyric as well or-

Wiz Khalifa 9:36 Yeah, yeah

Jay Shetty 9:36 ... yeah?

Wiz Khalifa 9:36 They do lyrics. They do song titles. They do pictures. Um, they do autographs.

Jay Shetty 9:42 Wow.

Wiz Khalifa 9:42 They do all types of stuff.

Jay Shetty 9:43 Wow.

Wiz Khalifa 9:44 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 9:44 What, what's your most meaningful tattoo or one that really-

Wiz Khalifa 9:47 Uh

Jay Shetty 9:48 ... speaks to you?

Wiz Khalifa 9:49 Probably, uh, I got a couple. I got, you know, my mom's name. I got my brother's name, my sibling who passed away. Um, I got my little sister. Yeah, probably, like, my family tattoos mean the, mean the most to me.

Jay Shetty 10:03 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 10:03 The rest of them are just, like, stuff about life that I've learned throughout the way or things that I've called myself [laughs] throughout life.

Jay Shetty 10:12 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 10:12 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 10:13 When, when was your sibling who passed away?

Wiz Khalifa 10:15 She passed away, I think, maybe seven years ago. I don't... I don't remember exactly how many years ago.

Jay Shetty 10:20 Mm. Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 10:21 It could be, like, could be more or less.

Jay Shetty 10:23 Yeah. And, and how old was she then?

Wiz Khalifa 10:26 Uh, she would've been 40 now, so she was probably 33 when she passed away.

Jay Shetty 10:31 Right, right, right.

Wiz Khalifa 10:32 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 10:32 So you had some life together, like-

Wiz Khalifa 10:33 Oh, yeah. Hell yeah

Jay Shetty 10:34 ... basically, yeah?

Wiz Khalifa 10:34 We grew up together, like-

Jay Shetty 10:35 Yeah, yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 10:36 Yeah, same mom, same dad.

Jay Shetty 10:37 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 10:38 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 10:38 How, how was that experience for you, losing someone so close to you that you love?

Wiz Khalifa 10:43 I wouldn't say, like, rough because, you know, you get through that type of stuff and you learn how to deal with it, but it's definitely a situation that I never would've expected. Like, like, we weren't sick growing up or anything like that. We were, we're, we were always the same. So it's like when you get to a certain age, you don't plan on losing a sibling, and, um, yeah, it was just something that we had to deal with. And, you know, as her health declined, it was something that we knew was gonna happen.

Jay Shetty 11:15 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 11:16 So it was like, all right, cool. Let's get ready for it. You know what I mean? And I am grateful that I was able to have, like, the last moments that I had and to be able to prepare for it. And, you know, my son has memories of my sibling and things like that. And, um, her birthday was actually on, on Halloween, so we celebrate every year. Annually we throw a party. So yeah, um, it was definitely an experience, but, you know, it's something that I'm still dealing with. Like, you know, like, a lot of the times I'm doing, like, really, really well, and then sometimes it might, you know, it might hit me to a point where it's like, all right, you know, let me just slow down and kinda deal with this and, or just think about it or talk about it or just whatever it is that gets me through it. But, um, yeah, it's just like a continuous-

Jay Shetty 12:05 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 12:05 ... thing.

Jay Shetty 12:06 For sure.

Wiz Khalifa 12:06 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 12:07 How did you prepare for it? At the time you said you kind of knew-

Wiz Khalifa 12:10 Yeah

Jay Shetty 12:10 ... it was You know, her health was-

Wiz Khalifa 12:13 Right

Jay Shetty 12:14 ... diminishing over time.

Wiz Khalifa 12:15 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 12:15 How did you prepare at the time? Like, were there specific rituals or things you did, or memories you made together that stayed with you?

Wiz Khalifa 12:22 No, it wasn't really too many rituals or memories or anything like that. I was traveling a lot at the time, so I did make sure that I went home and spent some time with her before she passed away. And then my mom was really the one who was, like, right by her side the whole time. So she was giving me kind of like blow by blow of everything-

Jay Shetty 12:40 Mm

Wiz Khalifa 12:40 ... and just how the situation was gonna go, and I just did my best to try to make her as comfortable as possible, you know, for those last couple moments.

Jay Shetty 12:49 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 12:49 And, um, yeah.

Jay Shetty 12:51 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 12:51 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 12:51 And that, I mean, it sounds like you said you're still dealing with it even though it sounds like you made the most of that time.

Wiz Khalifa 12:57 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 12:58 And now, now you're saying you reach out to people and talk about it. Who, who would you reach out to when you wanna talk about something like that?

Wiz Khalifa 13:03 I would talk to, like, my Aunt Rachel. Uh, we had, like, you know, we all just laughed and joked and just had a real good time together. Uh, talk to my mom, talk to my dad, talk to my baby sister about it. Um, I most recently talked to, like, just one of my other aunties about it just randomly. 'Cause I, I feel like we all feel the same, and we all have losses, and you know, can relate in certain ways, even though it's not the best thing to be relatable about. But you know, we f- we feel similar about it, so it's cool to have those conversations and, you know, feel good about it afterwards.

Jay Shetty 13:40 Yeah, yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 13:40 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 13:41 I love that you still celebrate her birthday.

Wiz Khalifa 13:42 Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Jay Shetty 13:43 That, that's, that's a beautiful way to think about it.

Wiz Khalifa 13:45 Yeah, definitely. Definitely.

Jay Shetty 13:46 Yeah. It's such a hard balance, I find, in terms of mourning or grieving someone's death-

Wiz Khalifa 13:52 Uh-huh

Jay Shetty 13:52 ... and then celebrating the life you had with them.

Wiz Khalifa 13:55 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 13:55 And it's such a fine line.

Wiz Khalifa 13:57 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 13:57 And often you're pulled in either direction, but I think it's so important that we do celebrate life-

Wiz Khalifa 14:02 Yeah

Jay Shetty 14:02 ... and memories we had with someone-

Wiz Khalifa 14:04 Yeah

Jay Shetty 14:04 ... and celebrate their life as well.

Wiz Khalifa 14:05 Yeah, absolutely. I just look, I look at it as, like, if she was still here, we'd be partying, so-

Jay Shetty 14:09 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 14:10 ... let's not stop the party. It's really dope watching Kendrick then

Wiz Khalifa 14:14 and then now because we all came up together, so we were all doing the same things. We were all speaking to the same crowd. And I've reached a lot of my old goals that I was trying to do, and I reached them by being myself and doing exactly what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. It might not have been what everybody else would, would have considered was gonna take somebody to the top, but it made me feel free.

Jay Shetty 14:37 I was diving into your career, Wiz, and I feel like when someone like you becomes as successful as you've become, and, you know, is dropping successful hits here and there, you almost forget the journey that they've been on and the growth that they've been on, and I was really fascinated by that because it hasn't just been, like, a smooth, easy, linear journey. I think people think of success as, like, you tried something out, it worked, and now you're this-

Wiz Khalifa 15:03 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 15:03 ... you know, this big phenomenon, and yours had lots of twists and turns. When... Like, what was your life like before Black and Yellow?

Wiz Khalifa 15:12 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 15:12 Compared to what it is now, what was it like before that?

Wiz Khalifa 15:15 I would say it was pretty normal. Like, it was pretty regular. Um, I was just, you know, like any other 20-something-year-old. I think just the way that we were working and traveling and, like, going on the road and kinda the money that we were dealing with, a lot of it was getting reinvested back into the business. So I was making money, but I was spending money on myself, and, like, not even in a big way, but it would just be, you know, hotels, travel, things like that. So I was putting myself through, like, courses in business and how to, like, [laughs] you know, make money, spend money, reinvest, blah, blah, blah. I was doing all of this stuff naturally, but, um, it wasn't on that level yet because we hadn't met, you know, anybody who was in the game. We hadn't had business managers or anything like that. So it was just, you know, me and my friends, we were kinda just really, really hustling and making the best out of, out of what we knew how to do.

Jay Shetty 16:13 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 16:13 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 16:14 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 16:14 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 16:14 I mean, did you feel like a big break was coming, or did it feel like, "God, we don't know how this is gonna go"?

Wiz Khalifa 16:22 Well, being that I already had a record deal and then essentially lost that record deal, I didn't feel like a big break was coming. I didn't know what that big break looked or felt like, but I knew that what I was doing was working, and I knew that the people who were into me and the movement that I had created, I knew

Wiz Khalifa 16:47 that that was more popular than, you know, the mainstream and, like-

Jay Shetty 16:51 Mm

Wiz Khalifa 16:51 ... what was really, really popular at the time. So I, I was really confident in that.

Jay Shetty 16:56 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 16:56 But I didn't know, like, a big moment was coming or anything.

Jay Shetty 16:59 W- what's it like to get a record deal and then lose a record deal?

Wiz Khalifa 17:02 Uh, sh- it sucked for me. Like, just because in those days, like, if you had a record deal, like, that was it.

Jay Shetty 17:09 Mm-hmm.

Wiz Khalifa 17:09 And then if you didn't have a record deal, like, you were done. So to have one and then lose it is like, oh, there's [laughs] no bouncing back from that. Like, I never knew anybody but, who bounced back from that.

Jay Shetty 17:20 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 17:20 But in my mind, it was never over. I never counted myself out. I just never knew what the next situation was gonna look like or how long or what, what that timeframe

Wiz Khalifa 17:30 was gonna be like.

Jay Shetty 17:31 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 17:31 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 17:31 Where did that confidence come from? I, I love how self-assured you were-

Wiz Khalifa 17:35 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 17:36 ... that, like, what you were doing and the community you were building-

Wiz Khalifa 17:39 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 17:39 ... was resonating with what you were doing.

Wiz Khalifa 17:41 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 17:42 Where does that come from? Because I think, like you said, so many people today who might be listening, and they, maybe they just, you know, got kicked out of a job. Maybe they-

Wiz Khalifa 17:50 Yeah

Jay Shetty 17:50 ... got rejected from their record deal. I remember when I s- when I was first coming up with the idea for this podcast six years ago-

Wiz Khalifa 17:56 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 17:56 ... I had a production company and a, uh, a partner that was gonna launch the show with me. I went away for the holidays, Christmas holidays, came back, and then I was told that it wasn't on anymore.

Wiz Khalifa 18:09 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 18:09 So I remember that feeling-

Wiz Khalifa 18:10 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 18:10 ... and having to launch the show on my own. If someone's going through that right now, how did you maintain that composure and that confidence? Like, "No, we're doing something here."

Wiz Khalifa 18:19 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 18:20 "And we may not know when that break's coming, but we're gonna keep moving."

Wiz Khalifa 18:23 Yeah, I think it was just by, like, standing on the things that I believed in and the stuff that made me most comfortable. And if I wanted to show it, I was gonna show it. If I wanted to talk about it, I was gonna talk about it. It might not have been what everybody else would, would have considered was gonna take somebody to the top, but it made me feel free, and I enjoyed myself by doing it. And I think just in turn, a lot of people have fun enjoying watching [laughs] me do it.

Jay Shetty 18:53 Yeah, yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 18:54 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 18:55 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 18:55 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 18:55 If, if you could give your younger self any advice before Black and Yellow came out, what, what would it be?

Wiz Khalifa 19:00 I was good.

Jay Shetty 19:00 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 19:01 Keep doing what you're doing. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 19:03 [laughs] I love that.

Wiz Khalifa 19:03 You got it- you got it figured out, fool.

Jay Shetty 19:05 Is there-

Wiz Khalifa 19:06 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 19:07 Is there anything you would have liked to have known for how to deal with it afterwards?

Wiz Khalifa 19:10 Nah, nah. Everything that I've, that I learned and that I figured out, um, along my way I think happened in its time and how it was supposed to, and it's positioning me for even greater points in my life as well. Yeah.

Jay Shetty 19:26 Where did, where does that come from? Because that's such a peaceful thing and, and like I said, from the moment you walked in, there's, there's such a peace and ease about you.

Wiz Khalifa 19:34 Mm.

Jay Shetty 19:35 In a, in an industry where people can get jaded-

Wiz Khalifa 19:37 Yeah

Jay Shetty 19:38 ... people can get ruffled, they get flustered.

Wiz Khalifa 19:40 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 19:41 How have you kept that peace and composure for yourself? Like, where, where's that coming from?

Wiz Khalifa 19:46 Really, like, just my goals in this shit. I have my own personal goals, and I've reached a lot of my old goals that I was trying to do, and I reached them by being myself and doing exactly what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. So, you know, knowing that that's possible and seeing that, it doesn't make me wanna rush to the next point or the next situation. I'm comfortable waiting for what's mine and, you know, just seeing what, how everything plays out as opposed to, you know, trying to make it be somebody else's story. Like, I feel like my whole story and everything, uh, of as far as my life, if I see it, I wanted it, it's just a matter of time until I get it. So, you know, I'll just wait that, that, [laughs] that amount of time and, you know, just keep, just stay down and just, you know, just be very, very, like... Have a lot of gratitude for where I'm at and what I've done so far. And even when I was coming up, I was really, really happy with what I had. So the more and more that I started to get, it wasn't because I wasn't happy where I was at and I had to get more, it was just 'cause I was so happy, it just, you know, just kept turning into more and more. So I just keep it like that.

Jay Shetty 20:59 Yeah. There's a,

Jay Shetty 21:00 there's a beautiful quote that says, "When you're grateful for what you have-

Wiz Khalifa 21:03 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 21:03 ... you'll receive more to be grateful for."

Wiz Khalifa 21:05 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 21:06 And I think it's true that gratitude expands, but it's beautiful hearing you say that. Did you learn that from anyone? Did anyone teach you, mentor you, guide you, or is this an internal thing that's kind of evolved over time?

Wiz Khalifa 21:16 This is definitely something internal [laughs] that's evolved over time and has, like, gotten me really, really far dealing with people in business or dealing with the law or dealing with just different personalities in general, um, as far as, like, just getting what I want creatively-

Jay Shetty 21:33 Mm

Wiz Khalifa 21:34 ... and not, you know, freaking losing my mind and, you know, just being able to talk to people and, and have clear conversations with an understanding of, you know, what, what works, what's real, and what's not, and what we can make real.

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Jay Shetty 23:33 What's been the hardest conversation you've ever had to have with someone?

Wiz Khalifa 23:36 The hardest conversation I've ever had to have with someone [laughs] I think the toughest conversations that I have to have are when I have to explain my ideas.

Jay Shetty 23:49 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 23:50 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 23:50 Because?

Wiz Khalifa 23:51 Because I'm so hyped up about it, like, b- before it- ... start before I verbalize it, and then as soon as I start to say it, I just feel like the level of intensity [laughs] of it just comes down. I rather just do shit sometimes and, like, just show you and, like, but I learned, you know, by working with so many other people how valuable it is to, like, have a team, so I learned how to be able to express, you know, what I'm thinking and have that go through a whole process, and then, and then we, uh, we make it real.

Jay Shetty 24:22 [laughs] That's so true, man.

Wiz Khalifa 24:24 Yeah. Yeah.

Jay Shetty 24:24 I feel like that sometimes. Like, you can see it in your head-

Wiz Khalifa 24:27 Yeah

Jay Shetty 24:27 ... but then you're like, you can't press play on the projector-

Wiz Khalifa 24:30 Yeah

Jay Shetty 24:30 ... and then it comes out.

Wiz Khalifa 24:31 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 24:31 And so when you're explaining it, everyone's, like, looking at you like-

Wiz Khalifa 24:33 Yeah

Jay Shetty 24:33 ... you're crazy.

Wiz Khalifa 24:34 Yeah, exactly.

Jay Shetty 24:35 And you are right. Sometimes I do feel we live in a time in an industry where people have heard so many ideas-

Wiz Khalifa 24:40 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 24:41 ... that until you see something-

Wiz Khalifa 24:42 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 24:43 ... you don't even understand it.

Wiz Khalifa 24:45 Right. Right.

Jay Shetty 24:45 And I feel like when you look at music or you look at movies or film or TV or whatever it is, when you watch something, you're like, "Oh, that was amazing."

Wiz Khalifa 24:52 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 24:52 But, like, someone, when they talked about it, no one wanted to buy it.

Wiz Khalifa 24:54 Right.

Jay Shetty 24:55 Did you find that record labels and people that you've worked with in music always understood you immediately? Or no, you kind of had to go prove and show-

Wiz Khalifa 25:02 Oh, man, they didn't know what to do with me. Like [laughs] there was no clue what to do with me early on. That's why I lost my first record deal, because when I came in, the song was really good, and it was a sample from a popular song that people, you know, was really recognizable. But after that it was like, "Well, what do you do? Do you make, like, five more of these songs? Or, like, what, what are we gonna do?" And they really didn't understand, like, me being from Pittsburgh, me smoking weed, me being lyrical, me, you know, being a cross between, like, you know, really, really hard hip hop culture, but then, like, really s- cool, trippy, hippy, skating, you know what I'm saying? Earthy [censored] too. Like, there was no cross between that at the time. Like, you really had to be, like, big white T, like, chain, you know what I'm saying? So like, a lot of labels didn't understand what to do with me, and it wasn't until, you know, I built my, my fan base of people who believe the same thing that I believe in and I was able to, you know, travel and do shows, and then they would come and see the show. And they'd be like, "These [censored] are going crazy over this dude. Like, it doesn't matter what we say or what we think is dope. It's obviously, you know, there." And I feel like that whole format, you know, has been done a lot, like, especially in rock and roll and, and pop music, where the act will be bigger in real life [laughs] than they are, you know what I mean, to, to other people. Like, they're, they're bigger in real life than they are, like, to hype, like, as far as the hype goes. Once they started to see that that was my situation, then that's when people started to pick up on me.

Jay Shetty 26:42 Was that the way you built this audience that understood you? Was it performing live?

Wiz Khalifa 26:47 Mm.

Jay Shetty 26:47 Do you feel like that was the significant part for you in creating this amazing connection you have with your audience?

Wiz Khalifa 26:52 Yeah, absolutely.

Jay Shetty 26:53 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 26:53 Um, performing live, going to a lot of different colleges and festivals before they were as big as they are now. Like, stuff like South by Southwest and the really, like, grassroots, underground stuff is, like, what, what built, you know, us. And we packed into a van and, and just went on our own tours just up and down and just drove ourselves. And then on top of that, YouTube had just came around, so, you know, I was recording myself and putting my vlogs on YouTube. I called it Day to Day, and I still do these to this day. Um, they're like a compilation vlog of, like, a week in, [laughs] in my life.

Jay Shetty 27:31 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 27:31 And I just started doing it 'cause I was like, my life is so crazy. Nobody sees it, and it's so much fun, and there's so much, like, stuff that goes on. I was like, so I might as well turn it into, like, you know what I mean, a little 10-minute short.

Jay Shetty 27:43 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 27:44 And it worked. It worked a lot. It helped sell a lot of merch. It helped sell a lot of tickets. It helped build a really consistent fan base of people who are still here to this day.

Jay Shetty 27:54 Yeah. Do you remember any of those trips, certain places you went to where something crazy happened that you caught on camera?

Wiz Khalifa 28:00 Man, it's all on camera, so you can-

Jay Shetty 28:01 It's all there, yeah, yeah

Wiz Khalifa 28:01 ... it's, uh, you can see it.

Jay Shetty 28:02 Anyone that stands out to you?

Wiz Khalifa 28:03 Yeah. I mean, I think, like, there's really classic episodes. There's, like, a Australian tour with me and A$AP Rocky. Um, you see, like, me and J. Cole in his early days. You see me and Curren$y in our early days. You see, uh, a lot of artists. You see me and Kendrick in his early days. You see me with Nipsey Hussle. Um, yeah, you see, like, the whole community of people who we really came up with who are, like, OGs in the game now, but there's really classic footage of us when we all just started out. Mac Miller, um, a lot of people. Everybody, man. Everybody who you listen to now was on [laughs] was in those Day to Days, like, originally.

Jay Shetty 28:48 How did you guys all meet each other back then? Like, how did you connect?

Wiz Khalifa 28:52 Yeah, we would con-

Jay Shetty 28:52 'Cause I guess there was no Instagram DM. Maybe there was. Maybe there wasn't.

Wiz Khalifa 28:55 Nah, we would connect through Twitter.

Jay Shetty 28:56 Right.

Wiz Khalifa 28:56 Yeah, Twitter was the vibe back then. There was no IG. We weren't, like, DM'ing each other on there, but we would connect through Twitter and clothing. And if, if anybody needed clothes or weed, like, we would all hit up the same peoples for clothes, weed, and, you know, just vibes and stuff like that. And we just all clicked, and as we started to, like, take off on different levels, we would just bring each other with us based off of who we, you know, not really liked the most, but were, who were, who we were closest-knit with at the time or who it made the most sense with.

Jay Shetty 29:31 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 29:31 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 29:31 What's it like watching Kendrick then and Kendrick now?

Wiz Khalifa 29:35 It's really dope watching Kendrick then and then now because we all came up together, so we were all doing the same things. We were all speaking to the same crowd, and we were at different levels in our career. And I just remember performance-wise, Kendrick would kinda, like, scream on stage. Like, he didn't sound like he did on the record, but now he's, like, one of the best performers, and he's, like, one of the... You know what I'm saying? The, the guys really carrying it. For our generation, so to see him, like, just jump up levels and levels and levels through, like, hard work and branding and, you know, just being around the right people at the right times, bringing people along with him, like Baby Keem and all of them. Like, you know what I'm saying? He's j- he's just really doing every move to the T of how you're supposed to do it.

Jay Shetty 30:25 Mm. And how's J. Cole evolved as well during that time?

Wiz Khalifa 30:28 Cole is the same thing. It's like, you know, we all started out just the homies, like, trying to get a verse on each other's tapes, and now dudes are, like, elite rappers up there, you know what I'm saying? And it's like, it's cool to see him have his own festival. It's cool to see, like, he doesn't have to do as much work throughout the year, but when he does drop, people pay attention how they're supposed to. He's, he does great tours, and, like, as a, as a performance artist and as a substance artist, I feel like he has the type of career, like, that's all you can ask for.

Jay Shetty 31:04 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 31:05 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 31:06 That's powerful.

Wiz Khalifa 31:07 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 31:07 What does it feel like? You were saying there, like, in some ways things have changed. Like, what's changed for up-and-coming artists today? Like, what are they doing right, what are they doing wrong? How would you advise someone? If you were starting out from scratch-

Wiz Khalifa 31:18 Yeah

Jay Shetty 31:18 ... today again-

Wiz Khalifa 31:19 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 31:20 ... how would you approach your career differently or in the same way?

Wiz Khalifa 31:23 I think that there's levels to it. Um, I think that a lot of people aim for, like, the surface level, where it's like you get one or two things and you're good, and that's what takes you to the top. But usually that- that- that works against you, because you'll have that spike, but then you'll go back down, and you'll have to go back up again. It's really difficult to have that spike and to have that feeling of validation and like, "Oh yeah, everybody's fucking with me," blah, blah, blah, and then boom, they're not fucking with you, and then you gotta try to do something to get them back on your team. So, you know, a lot of people are gonna wanna go that route, but it has a lot of negatives that come with it on the back end. And it's a really good time for artists to, you know, cultivate a real fan base, whether it be in front of people's eyes or whether it be behind the scenes. It's a really great time to cultivate a fan base of people that understand you, understand your slang and how you dress and what your lifestyle is about, and really push that to the forefront and let that slowly build. And eventually, whether it's a year, two years, three years, or five years, you know, you're always making a little bit of progress here, here, there, and wherever you land at, you're gonna permanently be there.

Wiz Khalifa 32:42 I believe the opposite. I think I, I should sacrifice work [laughs] for my family.

Jay Shetty 32:48 If Sebastian came up to you and was like, "I wanna be a rapper, too"-

Wiz Khalifa 32:50 Yeah

Jay Shetty 32:50 ... what, what would you say to him?

Wiz Khalifa 32:52 I'd be like, "Let's go."

Jay Shetty 32:53 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 32:54 "Studio's downstairs."

Jay Shetty 32:56 What does your relationship with God look like?

Wiz Khalifa 32:57 My relationship with God is the shit.

Jay Shetty 32:59 There's a lot of people today who get told, "You've only got 12 months. You had your hit."

Wiz Khalifa 33:05 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 33:05 "We've got 12 months to make as much money off of you as possible."

Wiz Khalifa 33:08 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 33:08 Like, a lot of people hear that like, "Hey, look, your career's not gonna be that long."

Wiz Khalifa 33:12 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 33:12 "Let's make the most we can." What would you say to someone who feels that fear themselves or gets told that? Like, "Hey, look, you had one hit. Let's just, you know-

Wiz Khalifa 33:21 Yeah

Jay Shetty 33:21 ... crush this peak"?

Wiz Khalifa 33:22 If somebody tells you that, you better get some drugs and start selling them. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 33:30 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 33:30 Use that money, flip it. [laughs] Nah. Get some real estate, um, 'cause if... I mean, like, somebody who only has a year plan in you and they're like, "Yo, you're only gonna be here for this amount of time," they're gonna move on. They're gonna find other artists or, you know, different people to represent, and you're gonna be assed out. Like, so any artist or any personality who somebody is already talking about, like, the- the limit of the, the lifespan of their career, they should definitely be worried and not try to race to, you know, do the most in that amount of time, but to try to figure out how to extend that lifespan.

Jay Shetty 34:19 Mm-hmm.

Wiz Khalifa 34:19 So let's take what that person just told you and let's try to figure out, you know, what, what the next five years looks like instead of the, you know, next 12 months.

Jay Shetty 34:29 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 34:29 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 34:29 That's good advice.

Wiz Khalifa 34:30 Yeah, definitely.

Jay Shetty 34:31 How far into the future do you look when you're planning music, work, life?

Wiz Khalifa 34:35 I always try to look at least five or 10 years in advance.

Jay Shetty 34:38 Wow.

Wiz Khalifa 34:38 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 34:39 How different

Jay Shetty 34:40 is where you are today from where you looked at where you'd be five to 10 years ago?

Wiz Khalifa 34:44 I'm doing way better business-wise than I've ever done.

Jay Shetty 34:49 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 34:49 Not just making money, but, uh, managing money.

Jay Shetty 34:53 Mm-hmm.

Wiz Khalifa 34:53 And I feel like I'm getting better and better at that, and, you know, that's what's gonna take me, [laughs] you know, into the, into the future as well, is, uh, not only just, you know, the making of the money, but the money management.

Jay Shetty 35:07 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 35:08 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 35:08 What, what have been your best moves in money management or business that you think people could learn from?

Wiz Khalifa 35:14 My best moves in business is just, um, being accountable for everything. Um, I think in rap music we get so caught up on, on the lifestyle and we're like, "I have to have this," or if it's a new truck, "I'm buying that," or... But me, I'm more like, "I'm only gonna spend this much on clothes this month. You know, if I want a new car, I'm gonna wait a year and a half until I get it," you know what I mean? Or, "I'm gonna move money from this account to spend on this so this is here and that's there, and, you know, we can still pay for tour. And, you know, how much are we spending on tour? How much are we making off a tour? How much comes in off of merch on top of the other businesses and things like that?" But really the money management, like the everyday type of spending where it's like, you know, you could get carried away buying too many clothes or You know, getting too many nice rooms or, you know what I mean? And, and I ha- I have a lot of luxuries that come with my life, but I could also do without a lot of th- that stuff, too. So the unnecessary stuff and knowing what the stuff that it's not really needed, paying attention to that, not letting just those things just slip through the cracks [laughs] 'cause they-

Jay Shetty 36:33 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 36:34 ... all add up and shit. So I think just being way more conscious of, of that type of stuff.

Jay Shetty 36:41 Yeah. Did you learn that the hard way because you were overspending, or did you learn that because you saw other people before you overspending?

Wiz Khalifa 36:48 Luckily, I didn't get to a point where I overspent or overspent. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 36:53 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 36:53 I just re- received large-ass amounts of money, and with that comes advice. And, you know, so it's like yearly or quarterly, you know, we need to have these conversations where it's like, "This is what the money looks like. Uh, we had to spend for this because of that," or, you know, "You had a little bit of fun spending [laughs] this."

Jay Shetty 37:15 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 37:16 "So let's just bring it back on this, this, that, and the other thing." And just throughout time of having those conversations, you start to figure out where the unnecessary spending and the problems come from. Or even if you start to create little different issues, you, you be like, "Okay, this isn't really working in our favor, so we need to wiggle out of this." And, um, you know, if it, even if it's spending this big chunk over here, that's gonna take away from the, uh, continuous spending that's kinda like bleeding and taking away. So just to learn that and have that visual in my head, you know, uh, while I'm making decisions. A lot of people do- they feel like they're being controlled if somebody's telling them that.

Jay Shetty 37:59 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 37:59 But for me, it's a choice. It's like, do you wanna be broke 20 years from now, or do you wanna be having more money 20 years from now? All right, well, this is how you do it, so.

Jay Shetty 38:08 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 38:09 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 38:09 It's good advice, man.

Wiz Khalifa 38:10 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 38:10 It, it makes sense, and it's, it's hard to do in the moment 'cause you just, you wanna get that thing, or you wanna buy that thing-

Wiz Khalifa 38:15 Right

Jay Shetty 38:15 ... and, and it applies across the board. What, what's the dumbest thing you ever bought and now you look back and go, "Oh, God, that was dumb"?

Wiz Khalifa 38:20 [laughs] Man, I don't think it was ever, like, one dumb thing.

Jay Shetty 38:27 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 38:27 I just used to be dumb how I, how I bought stuff. Like, I would see anything and just like it and buy it.

Jay Shetty 38:34 Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 38:34 It didn't matter how much it cost.

Jay Shetty 38:35 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 38:36 If, if it was a car, I wanted it, I would buy it, like, right then and there. Sometimes it'd be a watch or something like that.

Jay Shetty 38:42 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 38:42 And, like, a lot of these watches, I don't even have no more. So it's like-

Jay Shetty 38:46 You gave them away or sold them?

Wiz Khalifa 38:48 Sold, gave away, lost.

Jay Shetty 38:51 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 38:52 [laughs] Yeah.

Jay Shetty 38:55 And, and what was the best investment you've ever made?

Wiz Khalifa 38:57 Um, it'd probably be, like, some stocks or it's like some-

Jay Shetty 39:00 Mm-hmm

Wiz Khalifa 39:00 ... you know, like, a percentage of, of a business that I've invested in.

Jay Shetty 39:05 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 39:05 Yeah, I've ha- I've had multiple, but there's some really good ones that, you know, I put some money into that is gonna come back-

Jay Shetty 39:13 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 39:13 ... in, in some really good ways.

Jay Shetty 39:15 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 39:16 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 39:16 I hope people get inspired by hearing you talk about how sometimes you gotta put off those big purchases, wait a year for that car, because-

Wiz Khalifa 39:23 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 39:23 ... I think when, when we're young especially, and, and you come into even a little bit of money, which feels like a lot of money-

Wiz Khalifa 39:30 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 39:30 ... it's so easy to, to spend and just get carried away. And especially now, I feel like with all of us just ordering things off of Amazon and everything else-

Wiz Khalifa 39:39 Yeah

Jay Shetty 39:39 ... nowadays, like, you have no idea how much money you spend.

Wiz Khalifa 39:41 Oh, for sure.

Jay Shetty 39:42 It's so easy to just-

Wiz Khalifa 39:43 It's super easy-

Jay Shetty 39:44 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 39:44 ... to look up and, you know, however much just be gone, and when it's gone, it's gone.

Jay Shetty 39:52 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 39:52 And to me, like, I f- I feel like you have to go through that. You have to really feel that and understand it, and whatever, you know, you believe in, I believe in God, so it's like, that's God telling me, like, "Okay, you spent this much. It's gone. You're gonna get more, but you need to deal with the feeling of you having it and it being gone. And then now we'll see what getting more feels like." But some people, when they have it and it's over with, they don't even know what that bounce back feels like or looks like. So, you know, unfortunately, the, the best way to learn is to go through it. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 40:29 Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 40:30 But, um-

Jay Shetty 40:30 You're right.

Wiz Khalifa 40:31 Yeah, yeah. But afterwards, like, you know, it's on you after that. Like, are you gonna keep doing the same thing over and over, or are you gonna learn from, you know, what happened?

Jay Shetty 40:39 Yeah. What

Jay Shetty 40:40 is, what does your relationship with God look like?

Wiz Khalifa 40:41 My relationship with God is the shit. I pray all the time. I thank God all the time. Yeah, a lot of people... There, there's certain people who don't feel like God is, like, a higher power or anything like that, but I like to just imagine that my God is just, like, chilling up in the sky, like, with a big, deep voice. The, the sun could be going down, and I could be driving, and Hotel California could be on, and I'll be like, "Thank you, God." Like, you know what I mean? 'Cause, like, the situation just feels right.

Jay Shetty 41:11 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 41:12 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 41:12 And what does God say to you in God's deep voice?

Wiz Khalifa 41:14 You're welcome. You're, you're, you're supposed to have this. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 41:18 [laughs] That's awesome.

Wiz Khalifa 41:19 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 41:20 Has that always been there since you were young, or is that, it's come with time as well?

Wiz Khalifa 41:23 Yeah, definitely since I was a teenager.

Jay Shetty 41:25 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 41:26 Definitely since I was, like... I could remember, you know, being in, like, ninth, tenth, no, probably even, like, eighth, eighth grade, just praying every night, thanking God for a wonderful day, asking Him to bless everybody that I care for. Yeah, just, like, really cool stuff.

Jay Shetty 41:44 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 41:44 Like, just normal, normal-ass shit that I want the world to feel.

Jay Shetty 41:47 What would you pray for? What else apart from other people?

Wiz Khalifa 41:50 To be safe. I was, I was in a crazy-ass place when I lived in Pittsburgh, so I definitely asked for, like, that, that safety. The older I get, you know, I, I ask for, like, patience and understanding and s- things like that. You know what I'm saying? So just regular shit.

Jay Shetty 42:08 Wow. Wow, that's not regular. That's, that's pretty deep.

Wiz Khalifa 42:10 Yeah. Yeah.

Jay Shetty 42:10 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 42:11 How unsafe was it where you were in Pittsburgh? Like, what was that-

Wiz Khalifa 42:13 It's super unsafe in Pittsburgh, man. Like, the streets is crazy out there Friends of mine started getting murdered when I was in, like, seventh grade. Like, I remember, like, one of my f- first friends getting shot and killed w- in, in seventh grade.

Jay Shetty 42:27 Wow. And then when did you leave Pittsburgh?

Wiz Khalifa 42:29 I came to Pittsburgh permanently when I was in middle school, and I stayed throughout high school, and I probably didn't dip until, uh, I was, like, 23 years old.

Jay Shetty 42:40 Right. Right. 'Cause you moved around a lot growing up, right?

Wiz Khalifa 42:43 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 42:44 Or at least as, at least as far as I saw.

Wiz Khalifa 42:45 Yeah, probably like every-

Jay Shetty 42:46 Spent two years in Japan.

Wiz Khalifa 42:47 Yeah, every two years I would bounce around. And my mom was always in Pittsburgh, so I would go live with my dad for two years, and then I would come back to Pittsburgh. Then I would go live with my dad, and then I would come back to Pittsburgh. So I was in Pittsburgh in third grade, and I was also there for middle school, and then I came back for high school. And then other than that, I lived, like, in Oklahoma, South Carolina, Japan. Yeah, those were a couple other places.

Jay Shetty 43:12 What was your favorite place?

Wiz Khalifa 43:14 I think Japan was my favorite place.

Jay Shetty 43:15 How old were you when you were in Japan?

Wiz Khalifa 43:17 Uh, I was in, like, fifth or sixth grade.

Jay Shetty 43:19 Okay.

Wiz Khalifa 43:19 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 43:20 What was that like? I mean, Japan at that time, but now I feel like everyone's like, "Japan's the place to go." But you were there when it-

Wiz Khalifa 43:24 Yeah, it's cool when you're, like, exploring Japanese culture, but I, I just realized, like, as an adult that that shit was kinda fucked up. 'Cause it was like I'm living on an American base in Japan.

Jay Shetty 43:36 Right.

Wiz Khalifa 43:36 And, like, just the concept of, like, Americans occupying Japan was like you'd never find a Japanese base in America, but, like, we have the audacity to, like, go over there and just be like, "Here. Here's our base. We're gonna operate as Americans. We're gonna send our kids to school here. Don't teach them your language. Nothing. It's just gonna act like America in Japan."

Jay Shetty 43:59 Wow.

Wiz Khalifa 43:59 So that's, that's [laughs] yeah.

Jay Shetty 44:00 So you never learned Japanese?

Wiz Khalifa 44:02 I learned a little bit of Japanese.

Jay Shetty 44:04 Okay. Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 44:04 But it was, like, basic. It wasn't, like, really any, like, diving into the culture or anything like that.

Jay Shetty 44:08 Right, right, right.

Wiz Khalifa 44:09 Like, it's just you live on post, and you travel from one base to another base, and that's pretty much what it was.

Jay Shetty 44:16 How, how do you think that experience impacted you now? Like, how has that childhood experience of moving around, darting around every two years defined who you are today?

Wiz Khalifa 44:25 It was cool because I was able to just be a regular kid, and I was able to, like, meet friends and different groups of friends and run around and play and knock on doors and ride bikes and climb hills and stuff like that. So it was super chill, man. It was fun just being normal and not really worrying about too much. I think the older that I got and the more settled that I got in, in Pittsburgh, that's when I started to, like, figure out, you know, who I wanted to be later in life. But in those early years, it was just all about, like, being a kid and just playing with my friends.

Jay Shetty 45:00 Mm-hmm.

Wiz Khalifa 45:00 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 45:01 When you saw all of that around you, how did you have... What gave you that feeling to dream and to want something more? When you're seeing, like, the violence around you, you're saying it's a rough neighborhood-

Wiz Khalifa 45:11 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 45:11 ... what, what's given you the ability to go, "There's, there's more to life than this"?

Wiz Khalifa 45:15 I think it was just, like, knowing that I had talent with music. Um, I always did music since I was younger. My, uh, my uncles and my cousins were older than me. They were, like, you know, 15, 16, all the way up to almost, like, 20 years old, and I was, like, the baby. I'm 13 years old. So I'm really kinda trying to do what they're doing, but I'm picking the parts that make the most sense for me. So it's like the gang banging and the drug selling and the guns and all that shit, I'm like, "That's not really for me." But the looking cool, the having girls, the getting money, the making music, I'm like, "I like that part of it."

Jay Shetty 45:54 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 45:54 So that's what I always really stuck to, like, just even as a kid. Like, I was just like, "I'm gonna just do what I know is cool for me," which is just making music. And, you know, that's kinda like what led me on my path.

Jay Shetty 46:07 Yeah. How could you... How did you stay away from all of the other things? Because sometimes those can look cool when you're young.

Wiz Khalifa 46:13 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 46:13 They can, they can be attractive when you're young-

Wiz Khalifa 46:15 Yeah

Jay Shetty 46:15 ... and powerful.

Wiz Khalifa 46:15 I didn't really stay away from it. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 46:17 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 46:18 I definitely like, you know, the older that I got and the m- you know, the more, uh, fun I started to have, I kinda was in and out of that stuff, but it wasn't for me, you know? Like, just... There's, it's a lifestyle for some people, and for a lot of those people, like, they're still doing it now. And for me, it was just kinda like, you know, being a kid or, like, a rite of, rite of passage type thing, or it's, like, product of my environment type stuff. You know, like, the little stuff that I would get into is like, "I'm here, so, you know, I'm, I'm getting down. Like, I'm not gonna be the only one who's not down."

Jay Shetty 46:54 Mm-hmm.

Wiz Khalifa 46:55 You know, you grow out of that stuff, too.

Jay Shetty 46:57 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 46:57 And you learn from that stuff as well, so I learned from the, the things that I did do, and I learned from the things I didn't do as well.

Jay Shetty 47:04 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 47:05 I mean, now you're a father yourself.

Wiz Khalifa 47:06 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 47:07 How do you feel looking now from the perspective of being a dad?

Wiz Khalifa 47:11 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 47:12 You've been a father to Sebastian for a while now.

Wiz Khalifa 47:15 Right.

Jay Shetty 47:16 And then you just had a daughter, Cadence, I believe.

Wiz Khalifa 47:18 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 47:18 Congratulations.

Wiz Khalifa 47:19 Thank you.

Jay Shetty 47:19 And, like, what's it been like to be a father to Sebastian? And then how is your views of fatherhood changing now that you've had a daughter?

Wiz Khalifa 47:27 Yeah. It's been really good. Um, having Sebastian and having a boy, especially at his age, um, he's 11 now, and there's just cer- certain instincts that are starting to kick in. You know, where it's like he was a young boy, now he's, like, a, you know, a young man, and he's growing into a, more of a young man, um, every day really. And just that programming of, you know, life and discipline and, uh, being polite and, you know, on top of, you know, just everyday stuff of, like, handling his emotions with his friends and things like that. It's a really, like, fun experience going through all of that with him 'cause I'm able to remember what it was like for me as a kid. So instead of just, like, telling him the rules and what you should and shouldn't do- It's more like guiding him of, you know, how to, you know, navigate through these situations, which is really, really fun. And I had that with my dad as well. He was always, you know, there for me and talked to me about a lot. And he was way more disciplinary than lenient, and I'm a super lenient parent with my son, but I'm also, like, really real with him, and he's able to be real with me, and he's able to talk to me about, you know, real-life things. And when I think about the stuff that I did when I was, you know, coming up, you know, by the time I was his age, I was doing a lot more stuff because like I said, my uncles and my cousins were older, and I'm just thankful that I was able to have those experiences and know what's appropriate and what's right and what's not, so I'm able to monitor what goes on with him and what will affect his behavior later. And then just having a baby girl, I think it just adds to it now because I'm able to just give all types of love. Like, I got the tough love with my boy, and then I got, like, just the sweetness of having a daughter, which, you know, helps, uh, helps out a lot.

Jay Shetty 49:24 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 49:25 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 49:25 How do you think you're gonna shift your strategy as she grows up?

Wiz Khalifa 49:28 I think I'm gonna do it pretty much the same, just, like, cater to her needs. Like, whatever she needs. If she's, like, super girly girl, then we doing, you know, ballet, and we doing dance, and we doing drama, and we doing all the girly stuff. And if she's a tough girl, then we doing kickboxing, and we [laughs] doing whatever else to rough her up. We do horseback riding. We do whatever we wanna do. Like, you know what I'm saying? There's no... The sky's the limit, but, you know, keep her active, keep her entertained, and just cater to her needs.

Jay Shetty 50:02 Yeah. What's Sebastian into right now, like 11 year old? What's, what's, like, his obsession?

Wiz Khalifa 50:06 Um, he loves basketball.

Jay Shetty 50:08 Okay.

Wiz Khalifa 50:08 Yeah, he loves to play basketball. He's really just now learning, like, the fundamentals of it, but he's good at it. He's a athletic kid, and he's, like... It's good to see him, like, roughing around with the boys, like, being one of the boys. They talk shit to each other. They get in each other's faces, and, like, they really get after it, so he's, he's, like, gravitating towards basketball more than anything.

Jay Shetty 50:32 Nice.

Wiz Khalifa 50:32 Just that and just being with the fr- being with his friends-

Jay Shetty 50:35 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 50:35 ... like, just being a kid.

Jay Shetty 50:36 Were you ever any good at basketball? Was that the-

Wiz Khalifa 50:38 Yeah. Hell yeah, I could hoop. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 50:40 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 50:40 I never had, like, like, official training like what he's going through.

Jay Shetty 50:44 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 50:44 But if I did, bro, I would be so much better than I actually am, and I'm really, really good, so I would be, like... I'd be deadly if I knew how to do it, what he's learning right now.

Jay Shetty 50:54 So you could give him some pointers along the way.

Wiz Khalifa 50:56 Just, like, naturally. You know what I'm saying?

Jay Shetty 50:58 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 50:59 Hell yeah.

Jay Shetty 50:59 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 50:59 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 51:00 I love that. And you never did ballet or anything or anything like that? No.

Wiz Khalifa 51:02 Nah, nah, I never did that. I did, like, acting classes and shit like that. I was in, like, speech and drama and all of that shit, but never no dance, though.

Jay Shetty 51:10 Did that help, speech and drama classes? Like, how did that-

Wiz Khalifa 51:12 I think that helped.

Jay Shetty 51:12 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 51:13 Yeah, I think it helped a lot because it was like, you know, you learn how to project your voice and all of that stuff, and you learn how to, like, hit cues on stage and, you know, just kinda like get outside of yourself in front of people, where you're still yourself but then you're, like, outside of yourself. I definitely think that helped for my performance.

Jay Shetty 51:34 Yeah. If Sebastian came up to you and was like, "I wanna be a rapper, too"-

Wiz Khalifa 51:37 Yeah

Jay Shetty 51:37 ... what, what would you say to him?

Wiz Khalifa 51:39 I'd be like, "Let's go."

Jay Shetty 51:40 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 51:41 "Studio's downstairs." [laughs]

Jay Shetty 51:43 [laughs] What advice would you have for him to find his voice?

Wiz Khalifa 51:46 Studio's downstairs.

Jay Shetty 51:47 Just get in there.

Wiz Khalifa 51:48 [laughs] Get, get in there and start rapping.

Jay Shetty 51:50 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 51:50 Yep.

Jay Shetty 51:51 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 51:51 Hell yeah.

Jay Shetty 51:52 Would you want that, or you d- you, you're kind of open to whatever?

Wiz Khalifa 51:55 I would... Yeah, I wouldn't mind, especially the way that I'm implemented in, in the game. Like, I do what I wanna do. I'm not, like... Nobody controls me. Nobody tells... Nobody's, like, working me harder than I need to be worked or anything. So I see the same vision for him.

Jay Shetty 52:13 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 52:13 Especially in the, the age that we're in. So it's like if you're gonna be an artist, you're gonna be in complete control of everything, so it starts now.

Jay Shetty 52:22 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 52:22 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 52:22 Yeah. The team was saying that you plan a lot of your life around him.

Wiz Khalifa 52:26 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 52:26 Like, they were saying that, like, spo- his sports games and things like that.

Wiz Khalifa 52:29 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 52:30 Like, you've, you've really taken that idea of an artist should be in control of their own life.

Wiz Khalifa 52:33 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 52:34 Like, like, walk us through that mentality, that mindset.

Wiz Khalifa 52:36 A lot of people focus so much on their work, and they think, like, uh, that the work is gonna come to an end at some point or they have to sacrifice things that are important for work, and I believe the opposite. I think I, I should sacrifice work [laughs] for my family, and it should just be the other way around because of how much that I work and how fortunate I am to be in the situation where I put in a lot of work. I've done a lot of things, so I don't have to, you know, feel this sense of urgency that things aren't gonna go my way if I miss out on something or if I, you know, speak up and just try to make sure that everything works out how I would rather at work. And, you know, I had the point in my life where I would be in the studio every day, or I would be, you know, a different country every day, or I would be, you know, a show, a fitting, a signing, a TV appearance, a blah, blah, blah. I would do all of these things back to back to back to back to back. So I've done that already, but now it's more important for me to just wake up, uh, work out, spend time with my family, make sure that he is at his best because he needs to go to practice. He needs to train every day for him to be successful later on in life, and if I'm not there to, like, motivate that, either he's gonna get it from somebody else, I don't know who, or it's just not gonna happen at all. And that's my job right now is to make sure that he's successful, so, you know, if I miss this or if that doesn't, you know, go the way that it's supposed to, I'm cool with that-

Jay Shetty 54:22 Mm

Wiz Khalifa 54:22 ... because in the end, he's gonna get to be as successful as he needs to be.

Jay Shetty 54:27 Yeah, that's beautiful, man.

Wiz Khalifa 54:28 Yeah, thank you.

Jay Shetty 54:28 Because I feel like there's such a... Ah, it's wonderful to hear because I feel like we're living at a time where there's such a pressure to constantly be relevant To constantly, like, keep up-

Wiz Khalifa 54:38 Yeah

Jay Shetty 54:38 ... with, you know, what everyone's doing, and now you've got a million platforms to stay relevant on, and-

Wiz Khalifa 54:43 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 54:43 ... everyone's doing this and that. And so it sounds like you've created, like, a healthy detachment-

Wiz Khalifa 54:48 Yeah

Jay Shetty 54:48 ... between who you are at your work and who you are at home.

Wiz Khalifa 54:51 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 54:52 And that's, that's quite a beautiful thing.

Wiz Khalifa 54:53 Yeah, I see that better working out long term. Like I said, I look, like, five, 10 years-

Jay Shetty 54:58 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 54:58 ... into the future.

Jay Shetty 54:59 I think you're right.

Wiz Khalifa 55:00 And me chilling and me with [laughs] my family seems way more realistic than me, like, ripping and running around still, so I might as well get used to it.

Jay Shetty 55:09 Did you feel your dad

Jay Shetty 55:10 was super involved in that way as well? You were saying earlier that-

Wiz Khalifa 55:12 Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. My dad was super involved with, with me, especially, like, through my teenage years. Um, a lot of my time that I spent, like, early in the studio was with my dad.

Jay Shetty 55:22 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 55:23 Uh, 'cause he built a studio and was running it. He didn't know about music, and he didn't know about any of that stuff, but I told him I was into it, and he built a studio and was like, "All right, learn how to use the equipment. Start writing songs. Put an album out. Do this, do that," and I did it all. And he was like, "Damn, I didn't know you was really gonna do it." [laughs] I'm like, "Yeah, this is what I wanna do." So, like, just through, you know, seeing how important him being involved with what I was passionate about took me to the level that I'm at, it lets me know, like, whatever my son and my daughter are passionate about, I have to experience those things with them. I can't just give them money and provide it for them, I have to actually do it with them, and it's gonna make a hell of a difference.

Jay Shetty 56:08 Yeah. How does your dad feel about seeing you now?

Wiz Khalifa 56:10 My dad loves it, man. He's, like, in awe [laughs] like, all the time, and I think out of everything, he understands, like, how hard I work too, and he's really proud of it. Sometimes he gets a little bit worried. Like, he's like, "Is this too much?" Like, you know what I mean? Like, "I know you do a lot." I'm like, "No, it's cool. I'm built for this. Like, this is what I do." So he sees how much I work, and he sees how much effort I put in, like, constantly, but he, he's really proud of me.

Jay Shetty 56:38 Yeah. What's something you learned from your mom?

Wiz Khalifa 56:40 The value of family. Yeah, my mom taught me the value of family. She always kept me around my family members. She kept me around my cousins, my aunts, my granddad, my... She even keeps me around my dad's side of the family, and they got divorced when I was two years old, but she still hangs out with my dad's sisters, my aunts-

Jay Shetty 57:01 Amazing

Wiz Khalifa 57:02 ... my cousins and all that on their, their side, so she keeps me in touch with them. She keeps my kids in touch with them. She does the whole genealogy of [laughs] the whole family. Like, my mother is so family-oriented, and that, like, rubbed off on me as well.

Jay Shetty 57:16 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 57:16 Mm.

Jay Shetty 57:17 That's beautiful.

Wiz Khalifa 57:18 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 57:18 Well, what's a misconception you think people have about you, if they have one at all?

Wiz Khalifa 57:22 I don't think at this point there is any misconceptions. I think there's just, like, learning more about me. I think that the more people learn about me, the more they, they see, like, how chill, how educated, how well-spoken and, like, thought out a lot of things that I do are, and they start to really understand why the people who love me, you know, whether it's my music or I changed their life in whatever way, they start to understand, like, where that comes from.

Jay Shetty 57:50 Yeah. What, what's something about you that people may not know that you'd like them to understand a- along those lines?

Wiz Khalifa 57:56 I think right now I just want people to know, like how you said, like, how detached I am from the whole success world. [laughs] Like-

Jay Shetty 58:07 Yeah. I get that

Wiz Khalifa 58:07 ... I'm cool with it, but, like, that's not the goal, and it's not... And a lot of people say, like, "Oh, well, you have money, so it's easy for you to say that." But I think you just reach certain points in your life where different things are important, no matter how much money you have.

Jay Shetty 58:22 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 58:22 And you know, some people, I'm 37 years old, some people reach my age, and this is the time that they start their business, and they're like, "I'm gonna go hard and I'm gonna build my empire now." I was just lucky to have got a head start in my 20s, build my empire, and now I really understand, like, you know, how to sustain it and maintain it and keep it going for the next 10, 20 years, and those are the things that I'm really, really working on. Uh, along with the music, you know, which is super-duper important, but it's really just about, like, making this thing last.

Jay Shetty 58:58 Yeah, and I do, I think you're right. I don't think it's about how much money you do or don't have. I think anything can become a drug.

Wiz Khalifa 59:04 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 59:05 And you can get addicted to it.

Wiz Khalifa 59:06 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 59:06 And I remember, you know, Kevin Hart was sitting in that chair, and he was talking about how success became a drug for him.

Wiz Khalifa 59:11 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 59:12 He was just addicted to more and more of it.

Wiz Khalifa 59:13 Mm.

Jay Shetty 59:14 And so it's easy for you to get addicted and obsessed and just... And you're actually saying, "Well, actually, I'm, I, I don't wanna get addicted to it."

Wiz Khalifa 59:21 Nah, yeah, no.

Jay Shetty 59:22 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 59:22 It's my work. It's my job.

Jay Shetty 59:23 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 59:24 It's what I'm really, really good at, and I don't never wanna give that up for, you know, the, a normal life or anything like that, but I do value my normal life [laughs] -

Jay Shetty 59:35 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 59:35 ... as much as I value, you know, the, the... I value the 30,000 people on stage, but I also value being in my bed alone at night [laughs] when the lights are off, but I love it.

Jay Shetty 59:46 Yeah, yeah. I, I-

Wiz Khalifa 59:47 Yeah

Jay Shetty 59:47 ... I, I appreciate that, and I think, I think we need more of that healthy thinking, 'cause I think if you only like one or the other-

Wiz Khalifa 59:54 Yeah

Jay Shetty 59:54 ... or if you start to detest one or the other-

Wiz Khalifa 59:56 Right

Jay Shetty 59:57 ... that's when it starts to get scary. Like, a lot of people love being in the audience. They don't like being alone.

Wiz Khalifa 1:00:01 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:00:02 For a lot of people, like, "Oh, God, I hate being with the fans now."

Wiz Khalifa 1:00:04 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 1:00:05 "I love being alone."

Wiz Khalifa 1:00:06 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 1:00:06 And I think both of those can lead to a lot of, like-

Wiz Khalifa 1:00:08 Right

Jay Shetty 1:00:08 ... pain internally.

Wiz Khalifa 1:00:09 Yeah, you have to work on both, and w- when you know what you're here for, um, you know wh- which time is to do which one. I spent a lot of time working on the other side of it to where I love my job and I love what I do, and I'm very grateful to be able to make the amounts of money doing what I do, but that's not everything to me. I work as hard on my personal life as I do on that side of it. I'm in the st- you know, if I'm in the studio 12 hours- Or if I'm on a plane, you know, 16 hours and I barely get any sleep, and I don't eat, and I'll do promo, and I do a great show, and I do a meet and greet, and I smile, and I take everybody's picture, that's all part of the game. That's me going hard to make sure that that part of it lasts. When I'm by myself, I'm waking up, you know, at a good, at a decent time. I'm going to sleep at a decent time. I'm working out. I'm spending these certain hours. I do yoga. You know, there's just certain things that go with the process, and then like you said, planning things around my kids, so it's like I'm making sure that I'm spending this family time where it's not they're getting the short end of the stick off of anything. So I'm working passionately and hard on my normal life the same way that I do in, you know, my professional life. And sometimes it takes more energy in the normal life than it does in the professional life.

Jay Shetty 1:01:31 I agree with you.

Wiz Khalifa 1:01:32 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:01:32 Yeah, sometimes it's easy to be disciplined at work.

Wiz Khalifa 1:01:34 Right. Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:01:35 But to actually show up for your family and be a discipline at home-

Wiz Khalifa 1:01:37 Right. Right

Jay Shetty 1:01:38 ... it requires a whole nother thing.

Wiz Khalifa 1:01:39 And a lot of people, they run from that 'cause it's easier to, you know, just put all the, put all the guilt and responsibility, "Oh, I gotta work. It's my job. It's this." It's easy for you to do that. Take some time, you know what I'm saying? You know, be a little bit nervous, be a little bit uncomfortable, be a little bit bored.

Jay Shetty 1:01:56 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 1:01:57 But you're not gonna be bored if you're around people you love. Like, I'm never bored around my kids. But you know, take, be passionate about your normal life as well.

Jay Shetty 1:02:05 Yeah, it sounds like you have so much order and discipline in your life.

Wiz Khalifa 1:02:08 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 1:02:08 Like, when I'm hearing that I'm like, sounds like everything's very structured and organized and intentional.

Wiz Khalifa 1:02:13 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:02:13 It's not like this random like-

Wiz Khalifa 1:02:15 Yeah, it's not random at all

Jay Shetty 1:02:17 ... yeah, every day is very regimented.

Wiz Khalifa 1:02:18 Yeah, it's definitely regimented. You know, I look at my schedule regularly. I'm updating the schedule regularly. And it's just really built to make me happy.

Jay Shetty 1:02:28 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 1:02:29 [laughs] Like, I'm cool with everything that I have to do as long as I'm happy. Like, you know what I'm saying? And if we talk about it, and we arrange it, and we put it in all the times that it's supposed to be, I'll be really, really happy, and I'll love to do it, but when things start coming out of left field, and you have your idea of what an appropriate time is, and we didn't run that by each other, like, that's not gonna make me happy to do this, and I'm doing this because I love it.

Jay Shetty 1:02:55 Yeah. I saw your Men's Health

Jay Shetty 1:02:57 video-

Wiz Khalifa 1:02:57 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 1:02:57 ... with the MMA-

Wiz Khalifa 1:02:59 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:02:59 ... which has become your fascination and I guess-

Wiz Khalifa 1:03:01 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:03:02 ... workout routine for-

Wiz Khalifa 1:03:03 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:03:03 ... a couple of years now, I feel.

Wiz Khalifa 1:03:05 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 1:03:05 Where, where did that start, and how did that come about?

Wiz Khalifa 1:03:07 A lot of my, my big homies were getting... And when I say big homies, I mean security. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:03:11 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 1:03:12 They were getting into MMA and doing jujitsu and just martial arts and just meeting all types of people. And this was like almost 10 years ago, and they were just telling me like, "Bro, this is the next wave. Like, everybody's about to be doing this," blah, blah, blah, this, that, and the other thing. "You gotta get into it. You gotta get into it." I'm like, "Yeah, it's cool, but, you know, I'd rather like, you know, smoke weed and be in the studio." Like, you know what I'm saying? But s- as soon as I started working out, I just developed like a passion for it, like out of nowhere. And it didn't make me slow down smoking any. Like, I was able to like still get stoned, but I love training, and I love working out, and I love like learning new things. So it just, just kept building on top of each other and just building and building. And then I just, you know, started to develop, um, some skills that, you know, we're still sharpening to this day.

Jay Shetty 1:04:02 Mm. Do you go to watch as well, or are you just like training?

Wiz Khalifa 1:04:05 Oh yeah, I watch the shows as well.

Jay Shetty 1:04:06 Yeah, yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:04:06 Yeah, I got a company called PFL that I'm involved with. Uh, I go to their shows all the, I mean, I go to their, uh, their fights all the time. I go to boxing matches. There's wrestling matches. There's jujitsu matches. There's all types of stuff. Combat sports is like, as you've seen, it's grown so much, and so many influencers wanna do it. And it's just a really good lifelong thing too. Like, it's gotten popular for how much money it makes people and things like that, but as a lifelong practice, like I would suggest that for any and everybody.

Jay Shetty 1:04:41 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:04:42 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:04:42 If, if there are men who are watching who wanna get into health and fitness, what would be your best advice for them to motivate them, inspire them, let them know how important it's been for you and it could be for them?

Wiz Khalifa 1:04:51 I would just try to paint the scenario of you being about late 30s, out with your kid. Somebody like is just in your face, and your kid is standing right there, and you only got 30 seconds to prove to your child [laughs] that you're their protector-

Jay Shetty 1:05:14 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 1:05:16 [laughs] Or somebody who's finna get whooped. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:05:20 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 1:05:21 Start working out now. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:05:23 [laughs] That's hilarious.

Wiz Khalifa 1:05:26 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:05:26 And it's

Jay Shetty 1:05:27 funny 'cause my next question was gonna be about like, you know, I feel like masculinity is such a big talking point right now.

Wiz Khalifa 1:05:33 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 1:05:33 And, you know, a lot of men feeling like they've inherited the mistakes made by men in the past.

Wiz Khalifa 1:05:40 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 1:05:40 And so men carrying a lo- around a lot of judgment, men feeling left behind in the conversation.

Wiz Khalifa 1:05:46 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 1:05:47 The different things you've talked about today and the way you're organizing your life, like masculinity is a very broad spectrum. It's not just-

Wiz Khalifa 1:05:53 Right

Jay Shetty 1:05:53 ... one way.

Wiz Khalifa 1:05:54 Right.

Jay Shetty 1:05:54 And so how, have you ever thought about that, raising a son for yourself, the message you put out? I feel like rap and hip-hop had-

Wiz Khalifa 1:06:02 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:06:02 ... a version of masculinity before-

Wiz Khalifa 1:06:04 Yeah, yeah, yeah

Jay Shetty 1:06:04 ... and that's ri-

Wiz Khalifa 1:06:05 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:06:05 ... what are, what are your thoughts on that?

Wiz Khalifa 1:06:06 I think I've always like approached masculinity just off of my vision of it, and the most masculine in people that I respect and just the, the situations that I look at as what, you know, a man should model themselves as are usually the most like mo- moderate and mild tempered and just chill and kind of, you know, observant and just guiding the situation. And any way that you can position yourself to be that type of person, I've always felt like that was the more, you know, respectable thing. And we all have feelings, and we all have emotions, and that's where like training in combat sports It helps you, like, to put all of that stuff in the right place. Because when you get a chance to get that stuff out, you realize where it has a place at and where it doesn't. And a lot of people, they don't have a place to get that stuff out, so they think that they're being masculine by, like, shouting or yelling or being rude to somebody. But really, that should be, like, the last case scenario. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, that's why I say protecting your child, because I would never use what I know to hurt anybody unless it was to protect my family-

Jay Shetty 1:07:30 Mm. Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 1:07:30 ... or myself. It wouldn't be in any other situation, because to me, like, that's not cool. That's not tough. That's not even what it's for. So I think the idea of masculinity, it just comes from whoever is putting it out at the moment and what they've learned from it. And, you know, the world judges the way that it does based off of their experiences, because they think, you know, the most mean or the most scary or this, that, and the other thing. But they haven't ... They, they show that, but there, there's not a lot of real situations that people are in that prove that, that, that that's the right thing. And from my experience [laughs] what's proven the most is the most mild, chill, moderate people are the ones that you should probably be, like, the most worried about.

Jay Shetty 1:08:20 Yeah. [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 1:08:20 So the more that you can position yourself in life to have an understanding of your own emotions and be in control of your reactions to things, I think that just makes you more looked at as what people would consider masculine or a leader or a provider or something like that, rather than, like, an emotional, you know, person.

Jay Shetty 1:08:44 Yeah, that's a really powerful answer, man.

Wiz Khalifa 1:08:46 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:08:46 I feel like y- you kinda feel the world going through two extremes, where it's like masculinity used to be this bravado, chauvinistic, arrogant-

Wiz Khalifa 1:08:56 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:08:56 ... you know, alpha male type, and then it swung to, like, being vulnerable and soft and this.

Wiz Khalifa 1:09:00 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:09:00 And now I kind of feel like it's kind of swinging back the other way.

Wiz Khalifa 1:09:03 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:09:03 And, and it's almost like I like how you described it, because it's not really hard or soft. It's kinda like-

Wiz Khalifa 1:09:10 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:09:10 ... the person who can, like, calm it down-

Wiz Khalifa 1:09:13 Right

Jay Shetty 1:09:13 ... guide it, move it along, knows what to do with everything.

Wiz Khalifa 1:09:15 Exactly.

Jay Shetty 1:09:16 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:09:16 Exactly. 'Cause I've seen both, you know? And I've been around ... Like, growing up in Pittsburgh, you see a lot of dudes where it's like the street nigga type is, like, the hyper-masculine. But a lot of those dudes end up, like, going to jail, getting shot, or when they come home from their jail, they're not who they used to be, and all of that masculinity kinda goes away when you see, like, the, the perception of this person [laughs] go away. You see who they really are. So it's like deep down, who really are you inside without this whole thing that you're, like, putting off on people? And men have a lot of pressure, especially, like, growing up, 'cause we're more compe- we're, like, really competitive. So it's like I could see it with my son, like, being in sports with him and his friends, you know what I mean? They just off-rip just go to this certain type of personality, and I'm like, "Bro, you know you're, like, a better teammate if you tell dudes, like, 'Yo, good shot.'" Like, you know what I'm saying? "Good job. I see you," blah, blah, blah. But they don't understand that now as kids. They're so competitive, and they're so at each other's throats. And sometimes that carries on in life, but I think you just have to have an example of somebody to, like, let you know, like, "Yo, it's cool to just be, like, chill and..."

Jay Shetty 1:10:33 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:10:33 You know what I mean? Like, the homie. It's cool to talk shit sometimes too, 'cause that shit is fun. But, like, at the root of it, y'all still gotta be friends and care about each other and take care of each other, and that's the, the more, you know what I mean, brotherly dope part about it-

Jay Shetty 1:10:48 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 1:10:48 ... other than going at each other's necks.

Jay Shetty 1:10:50 Yeah. And we need to see that modeled more. It's hard-

Wiz Khalifa 1:10:52 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:10:52 ... 'cause you don't see it that much.

Wiz Khalifa 1:10:53 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:10:54 So it's hard to know as a man how to-

Wiz Khalifa 1:10:56 Right

Jay Shetty 1:10:56 ... how to do that.

Wiz Khalifa 1:10:57 Right.

Jay Shetty 1:10:57 But you're right. If you look at the best athletes in the world-

Wiz Khalifa 1:10:59 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 1:10:59 ... they're the ones who kept their calm when things were-

Wiz Khalifa 1:11:01 Right

Jay Shetty 1:11:02 ... tough.

Wiz Khalifa 1:11:02 Right.

Jay Shetty 1:11:03 They, they weren't the ones spewing anger. And it's interesting 'cause MMA, I think people who haven't been trained in martial arts or don't know people who have-

Wiz Khalifa 1:11:10 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 1:11:10 ... often can think of it as, like, combat sports are, like, angry and-

Wiz Khalifa 1:11:13 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 1:11:13 But, but have you learned any practices from MMA that you feel apply really well to what we're talking about right now?

Wiz Khalifa 1:11:19 I think just getting punched in the face. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:11:22 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 1:11:23 You learn how to be calm and, like, not get emotional when somebody hits you in the face and you still got three rounds to do work, or you still got three minutes in a round or five minutes in a round to do work. Like, you can't let your emotions ... You have to be calm. You have to think. You have to remember your footwork. You have to remember your breathing. You have to remember defense so you don't get hit again. There's way more to the story than just I got punched in the face, and a lot of people will never really get that, that lesson or get that feeling of I got hit, and I gotta keep it moving, you know? Most people want something to happen as soon as they get hit. But, you know, I think just through martial arts, and it sounds extreme, and it sounds crazy, but I think everybody should get punched in the face. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:12:11 [laughs] I know what you're saying, though. I get what you're saying.

Wiz Khalifa 1:12:15 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:12:15 Like, it's like it's only at that point do you know-

Wiz Khalifa 1:12:18 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 1:12:18 ... how tolerant and still you are.

Wiz Khalifa 1:12:20 Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:12:20 'Cause up until then, you can be like, "I'm s- I'm super chill," and-

Wiz Khalifa 1:12:23 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:12:23 ... "I'm calm," but it's, it's responding to that.

Wiz Khalifa 1:12:25 Yeah, and there's a lot of dudes who's like, "If somebody punches me in the face, I'll kill him."

Jay Shetty 1:12:29 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:12:29 But like, no, you won't. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:12:31 Yeah. Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:12:32 You gotta fight back. You got three minutes, or you're gonna keep getting punched in the face. [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:12:37 Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:12:38 So it's like it's fun to, when you just remove everything and hit somebody in the face.

Jay Shetty 1:12:43 How often do you get punched in the face when you're practicing?

Wiz Khalifa 1:12:45 [laughs] We do sparring off and on, especially 'cause I gotta do, like, appearances and-

Jay Shetty 1:12:50 That's what I was wondering [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 1:12:51 ... and shows and shit like that. 'Cause anything could happen. Like, my nose rings could come out. I could get black eye. Like, I, my forehead could get split.

Jay Shetty 1:12:59 You gotta protect the face.

Wiz Khalifa 1:13:01 Yeah, for sure.

Jay Shetty 1:13:02 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 1:13:02 So I, I, when I know I'm not having to do too much, that's when we usually do, do some sparring.

Jay Shetty 1:13:07 Yeah, yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:13:07 Yeah. Or we'll do light sparring, where it's not like, you know, nobody's- In too much danger

Jay Shetty 1:13:13 Yeah, yeah

Wiz Khalifa 1:13:13 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:13:14 Yeah, that makes, that makes sense.

Wiz Khalifa 1:13:15 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:13:15 I was trying to figure out how you're-

Wiz Khalifa 1:13:17 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:13:17 ... how you're doing that. Yeah, no, I, I'm really glad we dove into the masculinity thing 'cause-

Wiz Khalifa 1:13:21 Mm-hmm

Jay Shetty 1:13:21 ... I just feel like it's, it's such a need right now, and I want y- you know, men and women to both feel like, you know, that we're, we're kind of having these conversations that I think sometimes on the, on the bigger screens you don't see them.

Wiz Khalifa 1:13:35 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:13:35 You know?

Wiz Khalifa 1:13:36 Yeah, and I think it's like the word masculinity has gotten, like, so abused [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:13:41 Oh, interesting. Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 1:13:42 ... to, to where people, like, think it's a bad thing. And it's like there are good examples of masculinity. Like, I have a daughter, so she has to see what a masculine man is like. She has to see what a provider is like. She has to see what somebody who is gonna make her feel protected as well as cared for, and, you know, all of the things that, that describe what real masculinity is beyond, you know, what you can do physically to somebody or even, uh, financially. You know what I'm saying? Emotionally being there for her. There's a lot of things that me having the right types of masculinity are gonna be, you know, positive for her to see.

Jay Shetty 1:14:26 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:14:26 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:14:26 100%.

Wiz Khalifa 1:14:27 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:14:27 100%,

Jay Shetty 1:14:28 man. And with this new album, what was the energy that you put into it? Like, it's a sequel, so there's that.

Wiz Khalifa 1:14:33 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 1:14:33 There's... Was there something you were trying to revisit-

Wiz Khalifa 1:14:35 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:14:35 ... or bring back?

Wiz Khalifa 1:14:36 [laughs] Yeah, I think I'm just revisiting, like, when I did Kush and Orange Juice, the, the, the style of it was, like, you know, stoner kid, everybody just smoke weed, be cool, be chill, and this is the soundtrack to the lifestyle, and, um, I've done a lot with my music to where I've, you know, had my take on what I think music should sound like at certain points. I've had, you know, my take on what I think are, like, really big, huge records and what those should sound like, and then I've also just experimented with, you know, what street culture is at the time and just what's popular to the kids. And I think with Kush and Orange Juice, it really resonated with people because of the lifestyle that it created and the things that I talked about in that lifestyle and the way that the music sounded and grooved with that lifestyle. So just being aware of that and knowing what type of chaotic state that we're in right now, I just felt like it was the perfect time to just reintroduce people to a more laid back, chill, just smoke some weed and vibe out, you know? And, um, create a whole crowd of people who wanna do the same thing.

Jay Shetty 1:15:54 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:15:55 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:15:55 And it's interesting, right? Like, you- it's like you're chilled out, but then you're super productive.

Wiz Khalifa 1:16:00 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:16:00 How, how do you hope that your audience kind of feels both of those as well?

Wiz Khalifa 1:16:04 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 1:16:04 Because it's almost like-

Wiz Khalifa 1:16:05 Man-

Jay Shetty 1:16:05 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 1:16:05 ... it's been good because-

Jay Shetty 1:16:06 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 1:16:06 ... I think just through experience I've learned that the majority of people who listen to my music end up bossing up.

Jay Shetty 1:16:13 Yeah, I love that.

Wiz Khalifa 1:16:14 Yeah, like, I've, there's a lot of artists now, you know, who were in, like, middle school, high school when Kush and Orange Juice came out, or they watch my Day2Days and they're like, "Man, this is what really, you know, let me know this is what I needed to do to be an artist," or, "I studied you every day," blah, blah, blah. Or, "I dropped out of college and I got my friends and, you know, we started our label, and now we're Big Sean and," whoa, [laughs] you know what I'm saying? So, like, I've seen a lot of people who have taken my blueprint and turned it into, you know, exactly what I've done with it. So, um, I think the message gets across really, really well that, you know, you, you be a pothead, but you be productive, and you boss up and put all the homies on. I think they get that, that message really well.

Jay Shetty 1:17:02 I love that. I love that.

Wiz Khalifa 1:17:03 Yeah. Thank you.

Jay Shetty 1:17:03 How does, how does it feel that See You Again is the second most viewed video-

Wiz Khalifa 1:17:08 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:17:08 ... on YouTube-

Wiz Khalifa 1:17:09 Yeah

Jay Shetty 1:17:09 ... music video of all time?

Wiz Khalifa 1:17:11 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:17:11 I mean, that's insane.

Wiz Khalifa 1:17:12 Yeah. It's pretty cool.

Jay Shetty 1:17:13 How does that feel?

Wiz Khalifa 1:17:14 It feels good. I think it feels better that I'm able to, like, walk around because most people, they, they would think that if your video is that popular or if you have that much success that you're just, like, not even real, but, like, to me, I can still go to my son's games. I can still, you know, go pick records out. I can still go to the gym without a fleet of security with me, so, like, I didn't sacrifice my, uh, sanity [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:17:43 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 1:17:43 ... to be the second most viewed person in the world, so I'm happy about that.

Jay Shetty 1:17:48 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:17:48 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:17:48 And it's, it's such a great song, too, to be known for, I feel like.

Wiz Khalifa 1:17:51 It's a really good song, and shout out to Charlie too, man. Like, Charlie did his thing and-

Jay Shetty 1:17:55 Yeah

Wiz Khalifa 1:17:55 ... the whole process of, like, making that song was like a dream come true because it was for a soundtrack, so you never know how that's gonna go. There was like 10 other people who were supposed to be on the song, so you know, me writing a verse, I was just, like, writing a verse. I wasn't like, "This is, this song's gonna change my life. I need to sit down."

Jay Shetty 1:18:14 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 1:18:15 I was just like, "Yo, yeah, yeah, here you go."

Jay Shetty 1:18:16 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 1:18:17 Like, it's a dope verse. Like, I love the verse and shit, but they were like, you know, they re- it really connected with the people who were doing the movie at the time, and, uh, you know, shout out to Weave and, and Constance and Will and everybody, but we just kinda, like, just shaved it down, and it just ended up making sense with it just being me and Charlie on there, and that song has taken us, like, super duper far.

Jay Shetty 1:18:40 Yeah. It's dope, man.

Wiz Khalifa 1:18:40 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:18:41 It's amazing. What, what was your motivation to go sober from alcohol?

Wiz Khalifa 1:18:44 I ha- my motivation to be sober from alcohol was just I had drank for so long. Since I was able to drink, I've been drinking, and I never seen a reason to really stop 'cause, like, I just love partying. I love being around people. I love, you know, just being a vibe. After one, I think it was one show, I just got, like, completely wasted, which was normal, but I was like, man, I- I don't really have too many, like, memories o- [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:19:15 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 1:19:15 ... of, of places. [laughs] like, I was like, I, I mean, like, I love doing these shows and shit, but, like, I don't be remembering, like, you know what I mean, anything. I was like, I wanna kinda, like, experience this stuff, remember where I'm at, remember the people who I'm dealing with, actually enjoy it, not just be, like, turnt up, you know? So yeah, it was just a time of, like, just gathering [laughs] information, and I'm real happy for that.

Jay Shetty 1:19:39 Yeah. Was it hard to break away because-

Wiz Khalifa 1:19:41 Nah

Jay Shetty 1:19:41 ... the... No.

Wiz Khalifa 1:19:41 Nah, nah, it wasn't difficult at all. I think w- when I wanna do something, I'm good at it.

Jay Shetty 1:19:46 Mm.

Wiz Khalifa 1:19:46 Like, if it means something to me, I have my own reasons for doing it. Nobody's making me do it. Or e- I feel like even if somebody made me do it, if it was, like, a challenge or something like that, or if, like, I had to for legal reasons or something like that, I wouldn't have a problem doing a lot of things. But, you know, for me, it's just my lifestyle is so free and it's so fun, so half of the time it's like, "Why would I stop?"

Jay Shetty 1:20:10 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:20:10 But if I make up a, an, a reason for myself, I usually end up sticking to it.

Jay Shetty 1:20:14 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:20:15 Yeah, yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:20:16 Wiz, at the start of the interview I asked you what's the first thing you do when you wake up.

Wiz Khalifa 1:20:19 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:20:19 What's, what's the last thing you do before you go to bed?

Wiz Khalifa 1:20:22 Last thing I do before I go to bed, kiss my son and my daughter.

Jay Shetty 1:20:26 Nice.

Wiz Khalifa 1:20:27 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:20:27 I love that.

Wiz Khalifa 1:20:28 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:20:28 It's beautiful. Wiz, I end

Jay Shetty 1:20:30 every episode... You've been amazing, so generous with your time. Great, just great energy. I've really enjoyed spending this time with you, man.

Wiz Khalifa 1:20:36 Thank you. Thank you.

Jay Shetty 1:20:36 Yeah, appreciate you. Feel like I've learned so much about you today that I didn't know for sure.

Wiz Khalifa 1:20:40 Thank you.

Jay Shetty 1:20:41 Uh, we end every episode with a Final Five.

Wiz Khalifa 1:20:44 Mm-hmm.

Jay Shetty 1:20:44 These have to be answered in one word to one sentence maximum.

Wiz Khalifa 1:20:47 Okay.

Jay Shetty 1:20:47 And so Wiz Khalifa, these are your Fast Five, Final Five. Uh, the first question is what's the best advice you've ever heard or received?

Wiz Khalifa 1:20:55 Just be you. That's from Snoop Dogg.

Jay Shetty 1:20:57 Nice. Uh, question number two: What's the worst advice you ever heard or received?

Wiz Khalifa 1:21:01 Change your name from Wiz Khalifa.

Jay Shetty 1:21:04 To?

Wiz Khalifa 1:21:05 I don't know. They just told me that that name wasn't gonna work.

Jay Shetty 1:21:08 Why didn't, why didn't they like the name?

Wiz Khalifa 1:21:09 'Cause it's just too different, you know what I'm saying? Like, it didn't sound like nothing, it didn't give off... You didn't get any visual from that back in the day when I told you that that was my name.

Jay Shetty 1:21:21 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:21:21 So a lot of people, close people to me was like, "I like you. You can rap. You're really cool, but you need to change your name." And it ended up working out for me because in the years that I was being discovered, it's a brand-new name, so when you Google that name, I'm the only thing that comes up.

Jay Shetty 1:21:37 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:21:37 So it was, like, one of the most Googled names, like, you know, for that year.

Jay Shetty 1:21:41 Yeah.

Wiz Khalifa 1:21:41 So the thing that people told me wasn't gonna work ended up working.

Jay Shetty 1:21:44 I love it. Where did it come from?

Wiz Khalifa 1:21:46 Uh, Wiz is short for Wisdom, and Khalifa is leader or successor.

Jay Shetty 1:21:49 Yeah, yeah. How did you come across the word Khalifa? 'Cause that's-

Wiz Khalifa 1:21:52 Khalif- my parents are, uh... Well, my grandparents, my granddad is, uh, Muslim.

Jay Shetty 1:21:57 Right.

Wiz Khalifa 1:21:57 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:21:57 Right, right, right.

Wiz Khalifa 1:21:58 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:21:58 Yeah, I was wondering.

Wiz Khalifa 1:21:59 Yeah.

Jay Shetty 1:21:59 Very cool, man.

Wiz Khalifa 1:22:00 Exactly.

Jay Shetty 1:22:00 I think it's a dope name.

Wiz Khalifa 1:22:01 Thank you, man.

Jay Shetty 1:22:02 Yeah, it's cool. It's cool. I love this hat too.

Wiz Khalifa 1:22:03 Yeah, good look, yo.

Jay Shetty 1:22:04 This, I saw this on your, on your merch yesterday when it came out.

Wiz Khalifa 1:22:07 Yeah, new merch.

Jay Shetty 1:22:07 I was like-

Wiz Khalifa 1:22:07 New merch

Jay Shetty 1:22:07 ... yeah, I like this

Wiz Khalifa 1:22:07 I'm a walking billboard, baby.

Jay Shetty 1:22:09 I like this hat. Yeah, I like this hat.

Wiz Khalifa 1:22:09 All I wear is me.

Jay Shetty 1:22:10 Yeah, I love it.

Wiz Khalifa 1:22:11 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:22:12 Uh, question number three: What's something that you used to value that you no longer value?

Wiz Khalifa 1:22:16 I used to really enjoy going to nightclubs. I don't enjoy it anymore.

Jay Shetty 1:22:20 Because?

Wiz Khalifa 1:22:21 Uh, I feel like the music isn't the same. I feel like people don't really dance anymore, like they're just in, like, sections just kinda chilling. And it just kinda defeats the purpose of going out. Like, I never went out just to look cool. I would go out to get girls, and I really don't, like, chase women all like that no more. [laughs] And I think it's just the polite thing to do. Like, normally, like, like I said, anymore, because, like, normally even being in a relationship, I would just be like, "Yo, this is part of my life." Like, you know what I'm saying? "I'm gonna be around hella chicks. Get used to it." [laughs] You know what I'm saying? That's what I would do before. Like, but now I don't really, like, I don't really care for that shit no more.

Jay Shetty 1:22:59 Uh, question number four: How would you define your current purpose?

Wiz Khalifa 1:23:03 I would define my current purpose as a leader and as a provider and as somebody who a lot of people look up to, so it doesn't matter what I get personally, it's more about what I do for, for others.

Jay Shetty 1:23:22 Uh, and fifth and final question, we ask this to every guest who's ever been on this show: If you could create one law that everyone in the world had to follow, what would it be?

Wiz Khalifa 1:23:31 Smoke weed every day.

Jay Shetty 1:23:33 [laughs]

Wiz Khalifa 1:23:33 [laughs]

Jay Shetty 1:23:38 I love it. Wiz Khalifa, Kush & Orange Juice 2.

Wiz Khalifa 1:23:41 Yep.

Jay Shetty 1:23:42 Thank you so much, man.

Wiz Khalifa 1:23:43 Thank you too.

Jay Shetty 1:23:43 This is, this is so much fun.

Wiz Khalifa 1:23:44 [laughs] Thank you, man.

Jay Shetty 1:23:45 I had a great time. Thank you, man.

Wiz Khalifa 1:23:46 I had a good time too. Appreciate you.

Jay Shetty 1:23:46 Yeah, I hope you did, man. I appreciate-

Wiz Khalifa 1:23:47 I like your jeans too, man

Jay Shetty 1:23:48 Thank you, man. I appreciate you.

Wiz Khalifa 1:23:49 Yeah, it's cool.

Jay Shetty 1:23:49 If this is the year that you're trying to get creative, you're trying to build more, I need you to listen to this episode with Rick Rubin on how to break into your most creative self, how to use unconventional methods that lead to success, and the secret to genuinely loving what you do. If you're trying to find your passion and your lane, Rick Rubin's episode is the one for you.

Speaker 1:24:12 Just because I like it, that doesn't give it any value. Like, as an artist, if you like it, that's all of the value. That's the success comes when you say, "I like this enough for other people to see it."