Kind: captions
Language: en
I love living on the edge of life that's
like
[ __ ] Magic on the next impact Theory
super DJ and influencer Steve Aoki shows
us exactly how he's reached the upper
Stratosphere of success this is the
brilliant billion dollar gold mine IP
this is gonna change everything
this master Trend spotter reveals
something you don't want to miss
I love being able to combine these
worlds about to announce something that
that I never thought I would do but it's
exciting
foreign
welcome back to the show thanks for
having me again Tom it's been a minute
dude of course of course so I want to
know you have achieved the most absurd
things in your life and what advice do
you have for people that have huge
dreams but feel overwhelmed trying to go
after them what can they do to still see
it through
I think uh the basic answers is clearly
just staying hungry and and and finding
your passion of course that's like the
go-to but I think something that's uh
more reflective to me as an artist the
first thing I think about is just being
fluid and
um
and and just like allowing yourself to
be free once you find what you're good
at and once you're able to hone in on it
um then obviously you can build success
from from that but
um I think and I'm going to give you an
example of like uh
something that a lot of artists deal
with so when an artist when I create a
really great album and it it becomes
kind of like
the sound of Steve Aoki
and I have I built uh build a fan base
around it and all that good stuff that
comes with it and I build success around
it
now everyone expects you to do album two
like album one
that you get stuck in a structure you
you like you you start you lose that
sense of fluidity you let you lose a
sense of being free because you're like
okay this is a sound and uh and if you
album two and it's different than album
one
then fans get pissed off sometimes fans
Rebel sometimes sometimes it flops and
then like your career goes down
I've seen some of the biggest artists
the artists that have changed my life
literally like disappear of the face of
the Earth and you're like what happened
like and they like to me I'm like that's
the courage that they were able to do
and it doesn't matter if they if they
decided to do something else in my
opinion they were free to make a
decision for themselves and it's all
about their own creative Pursuits it's
not about the success so then I started
thinking differently when I started
seeing that and I'm like it's not
necessarily about like the financial
success or how many streams it has it's
more about the success to be free to be
fluent to find things that that really
move you and not be attached to like the
success of what other people think about
what you're doing or how much money
you're making from that so
um I think when you go on the artist's
perspective
it's it's so important to not be
attached to those
tenants that everyone's attached to of
what success looks like for an artist so
for me it's all about being fluid it's
all about being free and that's where I
remember after my first album my first
album was
you know really did set a sound for me
but then
I was I started working with hip-hop
artists and I was getting criticized I
started working with rock artists and
people were like wait this is an EDM and
then
I just kept on doing it so much and that
I got everyone dizzy and I'm like I
don't really care I can't I got you know
I got everyone just like I don't care
what anyone thinks and all of a sudden
seven albums later you know I'm free I'm
free and like I you know fans will be
with me or not and
um and I'm happy with myself I feel
success with myself and most importantly
I have passion with the things I do
because it's not dictated on someone
else's
like passions or someone someone else's
like expectations of you like I get
excited to go in the studio to work with
a brand new artists and and do something
no one's done and and not care if it's
going to stream well or do well or
whatever like let's just make magic
together I'm excited to go into
different fields and different
Industries and be a complete rookie and
novice and learn and grow and and
understand new cultures and communities
and develop with them and and be
handheld and be okay with that and
like that fluidity is everything I think
the fluidity has allowed me to be
to be able to grow uh and into these
other communities where I can you know
just learn more gain more wisdom
create more you know and experience more
all that so how do you balance having a
a beginner's mind like that going into
new areas with having confidence enough
to have a perspective and to have a
voice like how do you go into hip-hop as
a non-hipop artist and have a
perspective and do songs in that genre
the only way I could actually do any of
these things whether it's going into a
different musical genre going into a
different industry is having a strong
enough platform that actually has
influence already
I can't like I can't just be like oh
young Steve Aoki that like didn't really
crack you know culture in a way
to make it make a dent in culture to
have some level of influence upon upon
my creative Pursuit right and then go
hey I'm just gonna do everything like
that younger Steve Aoki can't have the
access
because they're like he's he's untested
you know you have it's just like it's
just like when you do a test I remember
watching this movie and you know and
everyone's writing like they're
everyone's doing these tests and you
know I was thinking to myself I'm like
the greater like everyone looks like
there's like certain people like oh he
might look really good or she might look
really good just by the way they dress
or their demeanor but it's really about
what they're writing that's what matters
it's about my songs or whatever I put
out to the world that actually
like makes culture turn their head go
hey this is interesting hey this is
different like uh you know outlook on on
on this particular world I'm interested
I'm I'm curious I'm oh I like it wow
great take on that so I need to have a
platform of influence in order to even
go into a different genre because
to go into a different genre to go into
a different industry
I'm going in humbly and they have to
accept me or not
right because I'm like going in there
I'm not like I'm not begging to go in
I'm like I'm like entering into a
community and I'm humbly going hey I'm
new member of the community and they're
like oh like this person has a lot to
offer to our community
I want to like invite them into my house
because you know they're they're you
know they offer whatever it is they're
offering and it's it's a great it's a
great segue so I think that's a really
important idea for people to understand
is obviously I know you behind the
camera you work your ass off man and I
think having something to offer a
community going in and being able to
create an incredible hip-hop album is a
big part of the key like if if you come
in and it isn't amazing and people
aren't enthusiastic about it then you've
got nothing but if you're busting your
ass and you're creating a new sound and
you're creating songs to get people
hyped up you've got that credibility
like you're talking about where people
give you a shot you got to think about
also where they're coming from right so
they're like if someone's you know uh
an icon or a pillar in a certain
Community they're taking a risk to work
or collaborate or partner with someone
outside the community
right so they're like I'm only going to
take the risk
that's gonna like you know maybe because
any sort of change in what you do
outside of what you do is gonna create
like eyeballs why are they doing that or
like criticism like oh I don't like that
I don't like I like what they do you
know it's like we're talking about the
the first thing about fluidity and and
not worrying about what people care
about most people stay in their Zone
because it's comfortable and it's safe
and that's where success is once you've
built the success when you start
venturing out you start penetrating
those walls exposing yourself to
vulnerabilities which could tear your
business down your Artistry down
whatever it is that you're building down
it's a lot of vulnerability that you're
putting out there which is terrifying to
a lot of people but especially it takes
so much to get that success to begin
with it's not easy it's just not easy
that's why like out of any every
industry there's only a small percentage
of people that are at the top of the of
the influence chain you know it's not a
lot of people at the top it's only a
small percentage that makes the the
large amount of influence that's just
how it works and you know how I've seen
it so the other person that's bringing
you in you have like you have to bring
something to the table right
and and and also like for me like I say
I you know like a few years of years
back in 2017 I did produce a hip-hop
album and um and the artists I work with
they were my friends we like bonded on
human level like you know like we're at
shows and we like became friends and and
it it's like they did take a risk with
me they're like yeah come to my studio
and I spent like
you know a half the time making the
album in Atlanta you know I was with the
Migos I was hanging out with little
yachty and then I was working with Lil
Uzi vert in my studio in L.A and like
there's certain artists that were like
I like his Vibe it's different and I and
I want to work with him
same with the Latin space the Latin
space definitely have opened up their
arms to me in a very big way it's
allowed me to actually flourish in the
Latin community and and be a legitimate
producer and artist in that space But I
remember asking Matt about that and for
people that don't know Matt is somebody
you've partnered with for a very long
time behind the scenes and I asked Matt
I was like how on Earth is he able to go
from genre to genre to genre like this
it's really incredible even just getting
to know those people and he's like oh he
gets to know them about the music first
he connects with him he was like he'll
spot a trend coming years before other
people and so he's in there he's getting
to know people he's sharing like musical
influences and stuff with them so by the
time like it comes to collaborating they
already know each other
and as somebody I am terrible at that
that is like my Achilles heel I am just
god-awful at getting out and like
getting to know people but when people
ask me like what the secret to
networking is it's always connect as a
real human first like don't don't ask
yourself what am I going to get out of
this or where does this go just like
connect with them figure out what
they're into as a real human being what
do you guys have that overlap and then
something interesting can come out of it
and when you share values when you're
excited by the same kind of stuff then
something can come out of it naturally
but most people spend all their time
looking over somebody's shoulder to find
the cooler person in the room and you
can feel that Vibe of like Oh I'm a
stepping stone for them and that's
something that there's just none of that
in you which is I think one of the keys
to your success when you work with an
artist another artist in studio there's
there's just no there's no room for any
weird like
ulterior motives I mean we're just
creating you know and I think that
playfulness is like that's that there's
the beauty in that there's the Magic in
that you know we're just trying to make
something special together
um create something you know create a
whole new Lane of music I mean just the
idea of that you can actually bottle
that in every collaboration
and uh and and if you can do that then
it's it's genuine it's it's very
childlike you know
um I like going back to the the like the
youthful Steve Aoki that that lives in
my heart and he's always like telling me
don't forget to do this don't forget to
do that you know like like you know
like that's like I'd say like the best
way to stay grounded in any level of
success that any of us get or that I get
whatever it is is is always speak to
your inner child speak to like the the
younger you
and and find that find that buzz
because we all have it you know like I
talked to tons of artists too like you
know touring as much as I do I think
with a with a lot of artists it's easy
to get burnt out is he easy to like
lose lose like the the drive and the
happiness when you have something so
like so so kind of safe you know when
everything's so structured
um it's also hard to stay like
it's hard to stay hungry when you have
success and you realize oh this is
Success like it isn't some magical
Mountaintop where birds are singing all
the time it's like hard ass work it's a
grind and for a lot of people I think
it's really disillusioning but going
back to what you were saying in the
beginning about fluidity there's
something really interesting in that so
I've experienced that as somebody coming
into the YouTube space so in the
beginning everybody was like Thomas
already played out everybody that's
going to be big in YouTube is already
big like podcasts are done it's settled
and I was like nope there's always room
for the best and so I had to come in and
outperform people I had to figure out
what was it that I could offer people
that was different but then like so I go
from not existing to you know millions
of views a month and really doing
something and I got bored and so I was
like I need to start interviewing
different people I need to push things
into different areas and my team was
like you're crazy that's not how the
YouTube algorithm Works you're going to
destroy the channel and for 18 months I
did I [ __ ] it up like it was really
like our views were going down and I
just kept telling everybody look we have
two options number one I stopped doing
this forever because I'm bored or number
two we we ride this through we get to
the other side where the audience
realizes where I'm going and so now
Finance is one of our biggest buckets of
content but in the beginning people were
like what are you doing but I was like I
need to learn about this in my own life
I've got to be excited I've got to be
into this and if I'm into it I'm going
to create something that other people
spark on because they can feel I'm into
it but if I'm just going through the
[ __ ] motions and I'm trying to stay
in a box
not going to work exactly I that it's
it's like it really does go across like
it's just it's just the human psychology
it's just how we are you know like uh it
doesn't matter as a musician or as you
know motivational speaker YouTuber you
know whatever it is that we're doing we
need to find something that that allows
us to be free to pursue things that
whether or not people like it or not we
just have to do because we are creators
we're going to always put something out
there but we have to really believe it
genuinely and yeah and it's it's hard to
jump off of something that already works
you know but um I think as an artist
it's allowed me to just do that more I
think if I was a business owner I don't
know if I could have that kind of that
that adaptability
you know because like you know it's like
like you are a business owner you've got
so much going on no but I think that the
artist side of me was always been the
core of everything that I do so the
artist side of me when I do business is
also penetrating all of the different
things so I definitely move I mean this
is why Matt we talked about map my
manager he has to keep up with me
I mean the guys worked with me for 20
years now like I keep him entertained
for sure because I'm like Matt we're
diving into the world of collectible
cards and um I am I've now partnered and
co-founding a TCG company
learn about it quick go because I'm
going in hard and I need you by my side
or web3 or nft how do you do that you
you so there there is a narrow band of
humanity that is really good at reading
culture you're definitely one of those
people
but how is it intuitive and it just like
you've always had that ability or do you
know where to look like how do you read
these things because so to give people
context sorry let me tell them about
metazoo so you have uh you co-own a
company called metazoo you found them
when they were really small they're now
bigger than Digimon I don't I don't know
if you're talking numbers but the
numbers are staggering how the hell did
you find that
Okay so
just a just a pre-roll that pre-roll to
before I get to metazoo
um since I was a kid okay this is what
I've what I've learned my skill set is I
I have the best skill set that I have is
not even being in the studio making
music or being on stage DJing it's
literally my ability to share I love
sharing interesting sharing things that
I care about
when I care about something the first
thing I want to do is share it when I
learn about like you know I just went to
a longevity conference the peer diamand
is held in San Francisco oh once I learn
about these different things these
attendance of Aging whatever I was like
sharing that with certain people I was
like I need to share this information
and and uh you know that's why I became
a musician that's why I became a
producer because I love music and I I
was like I want to create things that I
love that make me feel a certain way to
share it I want to perform those things
live I want to the music that I want to
play that I that I produce I want to
play it live I want to share it and I
starting starting a label same thing I
signed an artist oh my God like there's
no one that really knows this art except
for a small group of people we gotta
blow them up like if we could blow them
up and share that and and be a part of
the success that's that's like [ __ ]
Magic
so it's like anything it doesn't matter
if it's music or if it's like a startup
company or if it's you know because like
you know in the last 10 years I've been
big on on just Angel Investing or
whatever it might be I get excited about
different projects covid
being stuck at home
you know that's like the time that's the
time where I can actually explore all
these different
like interest outside of music and
that's when I got into you know that's
the the start of my nft career and
interest into the whole web three space
and the start of my collectible card
journey and sports cards and Pokemon
cards which led to what I wanted to do
is like I love breaking these Pokemon
boxes I love the whole culture and the
hobby
I'm an entrepreneur I want to start my
own you know you know how you know how
like when we have our conversations like
we created neon future we want to start
a comic book series we want to create a
whole IP around that you're we're the
same we're the same like uh kind of web
of like you know we love something we
want to disrupt and create in that space
do something new in that space so I
scanned all the new TCG companies I was
like the top three are magic Pokemon
Yu-Gi-Oh they've been around for 20
years but there's all these new ones
that are popping up because of covid and
obviously it was booming during covid
right because everyone's at home
watching the breaks and I'm and I'm part
of that I'm and I'm like join tops I
started creating card sets and I was
doing the breaks and I opened up a card
shop with Dan Fleischman cards and
coffee now seven card shops around the
United States for growing
um but I wanted I wanted to be part of a
new TCG company and scanning all the
different ones talking to a bunch of
different founders uh when I got to
metazoo
and I talked to Mike Waddell who created
The Meta Zoo uh franchise in IP an idea
around Cryptids I was like this is the
brilliant billion dollar gold mine IP is
taking all Cryptids and most people
don't even know where Cryptid is Bigfoot
Loch Ness monster chupacabra a ghost you
know an alien Santa Claus like like all
these like they're all public domain
people don't even think about it because
you see it on you know Nat Geo like oh
it was a Bigfoot watching or something
you know like you know all these
fantasies they're all public domain but
you can create your own and create a
whole world out of all of them no one's
done this it's bizarre
and uh Mike Waddell saw the vision
through and it was at like the seedling
stage and um I came in very early and
became a co-founder and you know and a
big partner of the company and um you
know it was very humble beginnings with
the kickstarter uh approach of garnering
interest and creating enough money to to
drop the very first boxes of these cards
find the whole breaking phenomenon
though like you found that really early
how do you read like that the thing that
I really want to understand is how you
read culture and so I don't know if it's
just oh I'm into all these geeky things
and I see when one starts getting hot
and it just happens that you're already
into it because like I know the story of
the pickle patch and how you get into
music and all that and we talked about
that in the last interview but like that
same thing of like being super early to
EDM and reading that well and obviously
being very early to nfts being very
early to the Resurgence of TCG uh and
the breaking phenomenon were you just
already watching videos like that on
YouTube like how how do you read culture
I mean exactly what you're saying it's
like it's like friends like you know
just probing asking a curiosity
I'm just a very curious person like
I I'm an anr by heart like I I always
want to like I'm scanning things looking
for things about to break
I mean I've been doing it since I was a
teenager you know scan like like that
was music music was my main platform I
was like oh this band hasn't broke how
do we how do we help grow them like you
know it's like the excitement to like
share something that's that's happening
on like a you know subdermal level you
know this underground space I mean I'm
an underground kid at heart um I come
from Punk and hardcore listen we we're
it's a bunch of passionate kids to like
just get together and listen to music
that no one no one understands like I
get those cultures I love the cultures
where no one else gets it and then it
blows up and you're like
see I told you so you know what I mean
like I love being part of these kinds of
Worlds and that will never leave no
matter what age I am and it doesn't
matter if it's music it doesn't matter
if it's cards it doesn't matter if it's
digital it's like I'm always looking for
it you know you know I've always said
this like
hundreds of years ago I would probably
be on a ship like you know scrubbing the
deck just so we can go find some new
land and not do horrible things that
they did but like just the excitement of
like going out there exploring like I
love snowboarding and and Hiking up uh
Mountain along with my friends to find
like Uncharted snow and then we just hit
it ourselves
you know it's like this idea of
discovery
the truth is hitting your career goals
is not easy you have to be willing to go
the extra mile to stand out and do hard
things better than anybody else but
there are 10 steps I want to take you
through that will 100x your efficiency
so you can crush your goals and get back
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created a list of the 10 most impactful
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free by clicking the link in today's
description alright my friend back to
today's episode
I just had a guy on the show uh from the
DNA company and they scanned people's
DNA and he was saying look they've we
now really understand the human genome
and the big data has gotten so good at
understanding what the genomics mean so
it isn't just oh you have this allele or
this marker it's like this allele and
this marker mean this and one of the
things he was looking at is the three
phases of dopamine and so you've got the
ability to produce dopamine there's a
gene for that you've got the receptors
for dopamine there's a gene for that and
then you've got the ability to clean out
the dopamine to reset there's a gene for
that and depending on the combinations
that you have will determine a lot about
your personality and I would be so
curious to know what your markers are
because that quest for the new getting
excited about it which I think is one of
the things that uh really has driven a
lot of your success one of the weirdest
moments in my life and you're either
going to understand this immediately
you're going to think I'm crazy
it was weird and heartwarming at the
same time so I went to I can't even
remember what you were celebrating the
launch of something or number of years
Denmark had been in business maybe it
was the 20th anniversary or something
and you got Gorilla Biscuits back
together a band that were it not for you
I never would have heard of and I was
standing with you and Mike Shinoda from
Linkin Park listening to this your
favorite band as a kid growing up and
I'm like I'm with two of the biggest
musicians on planet Earth listening to
this band that you were so passionate
about that I had never heard of
and there was just something about how
you like people pay so much money they
fly from around the world to watch you
perform and there you were completely
enthralled by this band I don't know
there's something about the way that you
were able to get lost in that I found it
really
interesting in terms of knowing you and
knowing how you get into things
so that event was called day one is like
the it was honoring the day one of you
know my journey my first tattoo was a
grill discus tattoo so I mean that's
like the band that that got me into
hardcore and pocket got me into silk
screen t-shirts which eventually got me
into starting a fashion label years
later so
um you know I remember when we were cut
we were coming together like okay we
gotta create like the journey where does
it start I'm like we gotta get girl
biscuits back together like they just
like they're like they're like you know
they're probably in their late 40s 50s
and uh
you know I think they were playing some
shows here and there
um but they knew of me because I'm a
hardcore kid but when I was a hardcore
kid I was just a fan no one knew me then
you know I was a very Anonymous just
screaming like yellow haired Punk kid
from Orange County that was like you
know just go to shows all the time and
try to be in a band and you know do that
whole thing but you know obviously now I
have a platform so they're like oh yeah
he's a hardcore kid he's got the girl
that's the girl at GB tattoo
um so I was able to somehow convince
these guys to play in an art gallery at
a fashion opening
um with like they had like we gotta
bring our fans this is gonna be really
bizarre because I'm like please so I
have like all their fans coming through
and they're all like men in their 30s
40s and 50s
all tatted up and then like the
streetwear crew because it's right right
on Fairfax right next to Supreme
um and uh it was such like an
interesting moment I'll never get it we
made like it was so cool for me one of
the coolest things because you know
merch is my game
um we made you know
um special Aoki shirts with like my logo
my head you know with the missing eyes
and nose and we put the Gorilla Biscuits
gorilla head in the middle I'm like oh
man that's so cool and then obviously
they perform and I'm like losing my mind
I know all the lyrics like I used to
jump off my bed and jump off like you
know like one part of my room into the
bed pretending I was stage diving like
playing as playing their songs like back
to back to back so uh I'm glad you're a
part of that Tom that was that was uh
something I'll never forget dude same it
was so interesting it was a really cool
moment and I've I think about you a lot
in terms of so I want longevity that
really matters to me I want longevity in
two ways that you and I share I want to
live for a long time that obviously
really matters to me but I want to live
for a long time because there's so many
aspects in my career that I want to
explore and so many different things
that I want to do
and the way that you're able to stay
enthusiastic the way that despite your
success you still work really hard like
they if I were to describe the things
that people need to do in order to be
successful over a long period of time it
would be those things like to to remain
hungry in the face of success is one of
the most difficult things and one of the
key markers of people that have real
longevity and so in that moment I was
like wow like this is how you keep it
you you were having so much fun music
obviously brought you so much joy still
like even all these years later that's
really interesting so now I want to
dovetail that into your obviously at The
Cutting Edge of what I think is the most
important movement and entertainment for
the foreseeable future which is web 3
and I love that we're having this
conversation now in a massive bare cycle
so there's no empty hype there's no
people that are left in it because they
think oh my God I'm gonna get rich like
this is people who are like this is
going to change everything this is the
coolest [ __ ] I've seen ever I'm more
obsessed now than I've ever been and I
want to know what do you think is next
like what keeps you hyped about this
when there isn't the just gazillion
eyeballs focused on it you're still in
there you're still building where is
this going
I think um
what I'm excited about is what the
metaverse can look like because now we
see what it does look like now with
sandbox and you know like sandbox and
decentraland and what the metaverse is
is amazing for what it is and what
they're doing and the amount of work
they're putting into it and and and uh
for me luckily I've been working closely
with sandbox we made the aoki's
playhouse like this this insane it's
like basically modeled after my house
and we spent a lot of time designing it
making quests and having fun with the
gamification of of the house and now
just we're just about to drop the uh uh
the the Aoki water park
um that's also with the avatars so I
work obviously really really closely
with uh with sandbox what I'm really
looking forward to is like what the
visual layer is going to be coming up
next I don't need to explain the culture
of gaming and how how much of an effect
it has on culture it is clearly a big
part of who we are as a society and as a
culture or whatever it is
when when web3 looks like gaming and
this is what I'm talking about the
transition of sandbox and you know what
it looks like right now and what sandbox
will look like when it looks like
fortnite when it looks like Call of Duty
when it looks like everything else is
happening
then the gaming industry will be web3
you know and that's just that's the
nature of how it works this is what I'm
excited about when that transition
happens and because I know it will be
happen and it's inevitable
that that underlying underlying factor
of ownership because that's the main
thing about web3's ownership
when when that thing when that ownership
starts like getting attached to things
that visibly and becomes less clunky and
becomes more normal and how we
identify with each other how we talk
digitally how we socialize digitally how
we date how we game all of that
then it's it's like we will ultimately
live everything will be web 3.
it's a really interesting idea are you
watching Michael Saylor at all no oh man
tap into him he's utterly fascinating so
he's a Bitcoin guy just 100 top to
bottom but he gave me this idea so I've
been trying to put words to why I'm so
obsessed with web3 ownership is a big
part of it though I come at it from a
different angle I want people to to
differentiate ownership from investment
I don't think nfts are an investment I
think the SEC is going to handle that
anyway and just put the kibosh on that
but ownership's important but Michael
Saylor has a brilliant idea that finally
put words to what I felt about why web3
is huge and what he said is that for
for things in a virtual world to matter
they have to be like matter meaning they
have to be tangible they have to have a
the qualities of something that's
physical now what does that mean because
obviously virtual things are never going
to be literal like tactile touching
things but what he said was what the the
magic of the blockchain is very simply
that it introduces irreversible
transactions and he said people think
that's a bad thing because it's like oh
my God like somebody stole my money you
and I both know unfortunately multiple
people in some of the groups that we're
a part of that have had things stolen
from their wallet it's like oh my God
like if you could get it back like you
would 100 and Michael Saylor said that's
a mistake you want it to be an
irreversible transaction and the reason
you want it to be in your reversible
transaction and for people that are new
there are ways to protect yourself
obviously but the reason you want it to
be in your reversible transaction is now
it's like physics and he said physics
are the irreversible transactions if you
stand on the top of a building and you
drop a ball it is going to fall all you
can't stop at Midway and retract it back
to your hand it's like once you let it
go physics has it now and it's going to
do what physics are going to do but
because of that you can build on top of
it because it's all predictable so take
the human body pumping the blood through
the heart only works because there's a
predictable amount of gravity and the
way that liquids you know can move
between membranes if any of the laws of
physics stop working it all falls apart
and we all die the planets spin out of
control and nothing like it all falls
apart and so by introducing these
irreversible transactions you now
introduce digital scarcity you introduce
value and so all the things because
people are like oh why would you want to
introduce scarcity into the virtual
world it's like you have to because if
you don't do that nobody Builds on top
of it you don't get the kind of
Creations that we can have now and so
for me web3 the thing that I'm most
obsessed with is one now the virtual
world which can do things that are
limited only by our imagination we can
learn literally create the physics as
long as there are physics and
now we're able to get the value pouring
into that ecosystem so that we can do
all of this incredible stuff and the
idea that I am most excited about is
what I call signaling molecules so in in
health in nutrition they talk about that
that what you eat sends a signal to your
body so the different things you eat
send different signals and I mean just
like drugs and alcohol right they send a
signal to your to your brain to your
body
with nfts now you can tell a game like
oh you have the Snoop Dogg skin then
there are certain areas of the game that
you can go into that other people can't
go into there's a party that you're
invited to in the real world by the way
that you can go into because you have it
and so it's there's there's two concepts
that I love there's that signaling
molecules the game can read what you
have in your wallet and react in a
customized way to you and then there's
borderless entertainment because now
you're carrying that signal with you
wherever you go so you can for instance
literally I promise you I did not plan
this but with your nfts you can get into
your concerts with your nft so it acts
in real life as a signaling molecule to
get me into something but it also has
things that it does in the virtual world
in sandbox or whatever and I think that
ability to whether it's in real life
whether it's in game whether it's in one
game or another game like that seamless
borderless experience is going to change
everything that's exactly why I mean I
have my own Community membership I mean
you already know about this but for
Everyone's Watching I'm in your
community yeah but that's the whole
point it is this borderless kind of you
bringing in IRL and web3 and it really
is the bridge that needs to happen now
because we are so early that anyone
that's part of web3 it's like anyone's
part of web3 we get all the network of
what I'm doing in the web 3 but my main
thing that I do make music and play
shows that's one service that I can give
to so many people
that's I can give a different kind of
level of Engagement that that um that
you know not other people can give so
that's one thing of service I can give
to everyone as part of the aucuber so
that's been a lot of fun to be able to
like to to link up with these members
um different shows
um and I mean I'm doing things that I
would never have thought or dreamed of
doing you know like
um making songs with the members you
know that that's a commitment that I had
to you know be okay with and um I know I
remember when when Matt and I were
coming up with the membership community
and what it serves what is what it's all
about the structure
we're like okay
um well we'll make a tier structure so
that you know people that you know just
like we're talking about people that are
are part of it there's a scarcity and
there's you know like certain things
that only certain people can do
um and and I can't I can't do I can't
make songs with 2500 people nor would I
want to but I'd make us I make a song
with a few people I I'm okay with that
to share the studio and and actually put
it put it out to all dsps and make an
official song and um they deserve are
deservingly the ones that should be at
the highest level so we created six
different tiers and um at the highest
level I remember when we started Aoki
verse we're like well how this has an
aspirational tier
um and you know if people could come up
there that'd be great but maybe they'll
happen in a year's time and in like in
weeks there's already two members up
there which was like already exciting to
see the engagement the excitement and
obviously when when I did meet them in
in person I was you know I was like wow
this is It's like a different kind of
relationship than like a fan you know
this is not a fan club this is a
membership Community these are members
these are we're like hand in hand on on
like creating this new culture and um
and the conversation is going back to
what you know the first thing I was
talking about is fluid or just engaging
in a lot of different aspects and uh
um it's been a lot of fun to to build
out the AO Keepers and what that looks
like and what that'll be we're about to
announce a level seven I haven't even
announced that anywhere else we're gonna
about about to announce a level seven
which is um
you know something that that I never
thought I would do but this is like you
know much more of a responsibility for
me
um but it's exciting and uh and and you
know I love being able to combine these
worlds you know into into one and just
like in my last show I remember I saw
I just played over the weekend my last
What republic pool party and hakkasan
and there was uh a member he was a level
five member you know which is pretty
high it's like you know he had to spend
256 credits and each credit's about like
0.1 each so
um I remember like I actually pulled I
took off my pants at a show I was
wearing I was wearing Aoki 101s at an AO
Keepers show and I took them off while I
was playing and I gave it to him because
I'm just like it's just like it you know
it's like that kind of like I'm like
let's see all the passports right now
and then he's like a level five passport
I'm like wow hold on a second and I just
came from the pants but it was cool to
see him he's rocking the pants you know
he's at the show and we we got to link
up and uh yeah it's it's a great way to
engage with your fans and that's one
that's another thing that I talk about
with artists so you know because the big
question to me always when it comes to
to web3 nft is what's up with music nfts
because I'm a musician producer so
um that is something that is gonna
happen that what royal is is building
out and in different services like what
slowed that down like that seems like
the most obvious thing on planet Earth
is it the legalities of people getting
royalties off of an nft or something
else yeah see that's the thing where
like I don't know like it seems like a
Securities thing I don't know any of
these questions I think that's that's
where Justin Blau can come in and start
answering away on the web 3 side of
things because what he's doing with
Royals very interesting I think it's
going to be very cool when it becomes
more normal and I love he's you know
he's he's slowly getting it out there
um I think it's gonna be a longer Road
uh than expected but in the interim
artists in the music are are building
communities and having a different way
to engage with their fans you know Snoop
Dogg is doing a tremendous job I think
he's one of the leaders and as far as
musicians in the space doing a lot in
web3 taking Death Row Records entirely
offline and making an nft label you know
that's a statement you know yeah
um and then well we we got in the studio
we made it we made an album of music
together and it was all nft based you
know oh whatever we make is going to be
nft based for now so we dropped two nfts
just recently to the Aoki verse members
you got one and uh and to his
um Gala games uh Snoop stash so um yeah
you know it's like right now it's all
it's like I'm just trying to find ways
to reward the community and do drops you
know we just dropped Sky pods you know a
way where you could showcase your nfts
in in our own cloud world that we
created our own metaverse our first
interpretation of what a metaverse looks
like in AO cubers
um and you know we're just console every
week we got new drops new air like allow
lists new air drops uh you know and and
a lot of fun stuff to engage with fans
in the IRL no it's amazing I've heard
you say that
um passive entertainment is dead and
communities are the future what do you
mean by passive entertainment and why do
you think communities are going to be
everything moving forward
passive entertainment is is like kind of
in the background it's like it's always
going to be there it's actually the most
the most common entertainment that we
have whatever is on the radio playing in
the car uh you know like you're on your
phone you hear something the background
TV is playing like like that's always
going to be there but I don't think it
really drives culture you know it's like
it's kind of there but it doesn't strike
you it's not a passion point you know
I'm looking for the things that like
move you make you stop in your seat and
change the Outlook of what you want to
do
I I'm looking for jumping into a coal
plunge instead of like taking a hot
shower like hot showers are passive you
know like like I was in a cold Plunge at
12 midnight last night just to like you
know just know that when I sleep I'm
gonna sleep good you know so like for me
that's just like that's just how I look
at life and and if I can do things as
not just a Creator but also knowing
myself as a consumer and as someone that
consumes culture in different ways I'm
always looking for the deliberate like
the creators and the producers and
artists that are creating a deliberate
impact on me and and like you know not
only you know being part of their
culture but understanding what it is
about that you know and also applying
that to my community so the only way you
can really change the game or disrupt
culture is deliberately I just don't I
just don't feel like at scale
passively things don't really move but
there are at scale large artists that
are extremely deliberate like BTS
they've completely disrupted the music
space entirely they changed what you
know what popular music sounds like what
the language is you know the fact is
Korean not English you know the fact is
Asian faces in popular culture on
television you know that's singing you
know songs non-english like to me as an
Asian it's like that's so powerful
what is up my friend Tom bilyu here and
I have a big question to ask you how
would you rate your level of personal
discipline on a scale of one to ten if
your answer is anything less than a ten
I've got something cool for you and let
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boring which is what kills most people
or possibly scary or even painful now
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requires you to do those challenging
stressful things and to stick with them
even when it gets boring and it will get
boring building your levels of personal
discipline is not easy but let me tell
you it pays off in fact I will tell you
you're never going to achieve anything
meaningful unless you develop discipline
right I've just released a class from
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University until then my friends be
legendary peace out
the bet that South Korea made
forget when like back in the I mean it
was early like 50s 60s something like
that they were like okay we're gonna
align ourselves with American culture
and we're gonna show that we can hang
with that and the formula that they've
done both music K dramas like dude it's
it is such a brilliant example of
reading culture playing it well and
showing that there's always room for the
best like if you're able to create music
that makes you feel the way that people
want to feel
doesn't matter it I mean they're smart
to obviously inject a little bit of
English to like really like you know
make it stick but it's I'm Blown Away by
what they've done I think like what you
did by pivoting when you're doing a
certain amount of content is working and
is getting millions of views and then
boom you're like I'm not feeling this
and you made a deliberate change to do
something that that you know ex like
showed a vulnerability where you start
losing views that's a deliberate action
you know and that's what I'm talking
about I think like
artists that do that artists that take a
stand for their art and uh take a stand
for what they really believe in not
necessarily for what the world wants
those are deliberations that I I that
really you know strike me and being
strategic like that's the the thing that
I've taken away from what South Korea
has been able to do culturally because
America was the cultural export like we
just had that on luck when you and I
were growing up it was like America
exported culture and that was just that
and now to see other countries read that
and go okay I see you we can do that too
and there have been few that have done
it as well as South Korea obviously uh
Latin music is way on the rise but I
think that what South Korea has been
able to do from the size of their
country to the disproportionate amount
that they've exported story and music is
really mind-blowing and what I like to
your point
its intention it was reading the culture
it was going okay I see what America's
doing I see why this works we're going
to learn that style of Storytelling
we're going to get very good at it and
in some ways with the the K drums I
think they've surpassed Us in in a
certain style of Storytelling
but it's incredible like when
um squid games just ate the world I was
like these guys man like this is such
brilliant storytelling yeah I'm very
very impressed with that level of
intentionality I'm actually going back
out there to Asia in a few days so I'm
excited to I'm going to um I'm going to
Seoul
not for a show just to like hang out I'm
really really excited to go out there
and I was lucky to go to like big hit
the whole headquarters get to see like
how it all works like the studio the the
dance setup the uh all the different you
know the structure of how that that
label management works um
yeah I just I just uh
big fan of uh BTS big fan of uh a big
hit the whole the whole team out there
no doubt no doubt so going back to what
you're saying about cold plunges talk to
me about longevity you're with Peter
diamandis at a longevity conference
you're taking cold bass I know you plan
to get cryogenically frozen we talked
about the last time we got together like
what's the what's new on the frontier
what are you actually implementing in
your life
um I think one of the most important
things that that anyone can do and I'm
doing this more and more is diagnostic
checks like I just got it yeah just like
you know like I just got back from doing
blood work today I did like like 15
balls of blood today
um what are you checking for every every
level I can on my blood you know I just
want to know like you know all my
different levels
um do you have somebody interpret the
the results yeah two different doctors I
I talk to to go through all that just so
I know what I'm deficient in if I am
deficient anything right now I'm very
healthy overall so it's um it's more
about fine tuning and and staying on top
of that and you know my my biggest issue
and I think this issue hits a lot of
musicians out there that tour like like
I do is sleep because my sleep schedule
is is never the same it's erratic if I
could sleep every night the same time
and wake up every day same time I would
because I know that is uh that will
attribute to a longer life period so the
fact that I don't I know that will
affect my brain and yesterday I just got
back from getting my brain scanned uh by
Dr Eamon in Orange County someone out
there yeah yeah yeah went out there saw
him had a full diagnostic report on my
brain
I oh wow I got to see my brain like like
usually you see the top part of your
brain you know with uh fmris this one we
got to see the bottom where I got to see
the temporal lobes and the underside of
the brain which like you know this is
pretty recent technology I think maybe
in the last five years or something like
that
um but I got to see it healthy brain in
my brain
and this is where it gets really
exciting so I think what I think a lot
of people are and I talk to they're
they're really terrified to see their
results of their body because
you know we treat our bodies
badly in general you know we don't
realize how much damage we do to our
brain through extreme sports like myself
that's like my main my main uh cause of
injuries to my brain
um from you know just like big spills
snowboarding or what what not I mean I'm
really more careful about that these
days
um the emotional trauma that we might
have experienced through our lives you
know and some trauma I didn't even
realize had such an effect on me you
know
um so I got to see like and this is like
no I'll I'll share this here
um my brain
for the most part is pretty pretty good
looking it's a good looking brain so I'm
pretty happy about that there is like on
the prefrontal Corvette cortex which is
like the main driver of of your brain
there is a little Valley here right in
the middle and that's most likely from
like some some level impact from back
here and hitting hitting the inside of
the inside of the skull so I've hit the
back of my head plenty of times I had
Amnesia from like flying off of a jump
when I was 12 in line oh you know like
so I'm definitely all the damage you've
done when you're a kid growing up they
will have
they will have significant impact
throughout your entire life unless you
actually do something about it
um the other interesting thing that I
saw was my temporal lobes on the
underside of the brain when you go up
they have like these kind of shapes like
this these These are called temporal
lobes I wish I had like my brain to show
you there were a bit mangled really
interesting yeah so that was what Dr
Eamon was saying is from emotional
trauma that I've experienced and and my
really how can he tell that that's
emotional trauma this I don't know I he
just like a he's a brain expert so he's
like this area is emotional trauma this
area is you know so he was able to
explain like what areas of the brain
um are associated with what function or
what you know do you know what emotional
trauma registered for you uh for me I
was thinking about the emotional trauma
it's like usually breakups
um but but my breath my best friend man
manager passing away tragically
uh you know which is too too young for
him at 45 Michael thean he's one I have
two managers Matt and Michael he was
like my soul mate
without being you know my my girlfriend
you know
uh he had a heart attack when he was
walking his dog that's another
conversation to have because
it's like it's the Widowmaker hard sack
it it actually kills a lot of men in
their 40s he was in shape he wasn't he
was like he was working out I mean he
was a bit unhealthy to eat all kinds of
food and you know I'm sure he had like a
party past which he did but like nothing
to Warrant a heart attack at 45. so that
shook me really bad
um so if I didn't know it would shake me
up that bad would you see the mangled
like this these mangle temporal lobes so
um
now it's just about healing you know so
um I mean I went so deep on the brain
because it just happened yesterday but
longevity overall is a big one for me I
live in a very ironic headspace because
I love living on the edge of life like
jumping into water off cliffs you know
but really high high you know very high
levels whatever
um and you know pushing yourself like
physically
um but I am becoming more risk-averse
and becoming a little bit more
conservative in that space because of
the brain trauma or just naturally
getting older I think well I think maybe
naturally getting older but really based
on the fact that I care about my brain
you know and also like
just me as an artist DJing so much
there's no doubt I am an athlete at
least at the very least a mental athlete
and I train like an athlete and even at
the level that I'm going you know I
don't I don't like I might occasionally
have a drink or a beer or something like
that but I don't drink before my shows I
don't party or do drugs
you know I don't do drugs and party like
that and not since a party I party as in
like go crazy in my shows but I've had
both my shoulder rotator cuff surgeries
because of just doing this repetitive
damage they're crazy my knee my I have a
meniscus damage from jumping off stages
like there's some my tinnitus in my ear
from just hearing damage like the
occupational hazards of DJing is is a
lot more it's a lot higher than most
people think you know because people
like oh you're just pressing buttons
standing there I mean it's like
it's you know at level 44 now so like
I'm like wow I can't like
you know I could still jump off stages
and have fun but I now I think
how many more of these can I actually do
to my niece you know before when you're
like 20 30 you're like it's unlimited
amount
it's not it's not like eventually you
you're you're like joints and Bones get
they just can't sustain the impact over
and over and over and over again so you
have to rifle that yeah it's really
we're living in a super interesting time
where we get to actually watch people
that have this kind of longevity go
through the different Cycles in their
lives so obviously uh take somebody like
Snoop Dogg or even 50 Cent where we're
seeing these major different movements
in their career and now same with you
right watching you go through from for
people that have really been paying
attention from the you know the pickle
patch days when you help break some of
the biggest artists I mean Lady Gaga
Kanye West Skrillex like all came
through uh the I don't think that was a
pickle patch but it came through like
your early early Club parties in L.A
yeah and then now obviously as the DJing
I mean
Global sensation all of that but seeing
you also Branch into business same with
50 same with P Diddy like watching guys
have this longevity of career while the
body is going to have its issues to your
point about being an athlete of the Mind
the reason I I like playing the game of
business is that it's the only game
where you don't have to worry about your
body wearing out where if you take care
of your mind like you really can go and
push and I will assume that you're not
mentioning numbers for a reason but I
know some of the numbers of some of your
businesses and they're [ __ ] bananas
man and so
see I mean like I do want to like let
your your uh fans know about this one
because it is it's exciting please yeah
I'm saying like trust me that's uh
Meadow zoo is a TCG what is a TCG it's a
trading card game like Pokemon right and
like I said it talks about the whole
Cryptids and I you know how it's an IP
that hasn't been tapped and here we are
taking these these creatures these Crypt
is like Bigfoot that has like 20 million
followers and chupacabra has a gazillion
followers and so forth and we're they're
all living in silos in their own world
and we're all creating they're our own
versions of them in a universe together
and uh and this idea is like this is
this is bananas this is going to be
something that's going to blow up
16 months we've uh are we've we've broke
over 50 million Revenue
it's bananas and uh and and just on the
secondary businesses outside of the
boxes the boxes are are incredible sell
through incredible secondary market
right uh which is the main business but
the secondary business is like
you know when we drop skateboards we
dropped Meadow skateboards in 14 minutes
sold two million dollars in skateboards
crazy man Christmas paper a million
dollars in Christmas paper in five hours
first five minutes five hundred thousand
dollars of Christmas wrapping paper
and it comes with a promo card and
people are selling these promo cards for
you know 4X on secondary markets like
the kickstarter boxes that were going
for fifty dollars at the peak they were
going for twelve thousand dollars in
less than a year's time you just don't
see this kind of increase from 50 to
even 10 000 I mean I don't know what
that is a 200x in in less than a year
now it's sitting at like five or six
thousand because we are living in a bear
market and all collectible cards have
gone down sure uh but
you know and I'm just talking about the
money and sense I mean like you know no
one really goes into the the background
of that
um because the culture is so deep and so
immersive and and you know there's it's
it's beautiful to like just see the the
this culture and Community come together
around
this brand that that that's been growing
for the past 16 months and seeing the
tattoos of different metazoo Cryptids
um and now what's exciting for me
personally is creating a new part of
metazoo that lives in the medicine
Universe which is hero Quest my album
um that now I'm I'm doing something
disruptive in the music space music
album
with a TCG card set
so then when we dropped the CDs we it
actually came with a hero QUEST card
that lives in the meta Zoo world and you
know
broke 30 000 maybe we sold 30 000 CDs in
five hours you know uh based on these
cards and you know people were excited
about the album I think the cards were
the Big Driver
um
oh yeah we just hit number one uh this
week for our first week sales damn
congratulations so that's that's pretty
exciting but a big shout out to metazoo
fans that like went in droves and and
like
you know broke the server on buying
those CDs but
um
you know I love creating worlds building
worlds and I get to do that with metazoo
now with heroquest
uh creating these new characters and uh
building a story so it's just uh
exciting to do so much in that space
it's it it's like a massive passion
point for me to create and build in in
the TCG space and connect it with my
music
yeah see I this moment for me right now
is so incredible because we're able to
get this information out on YouTube
people are growing up watching this
content I didn't have this when I was a
kid I couldn't get the behind the scenes
look of somebody and watch how they mold
and shape their career and growing up
with the internet and being able to see
this and and understanding the concept
of
being a business athlete an athlete of
the mind that you can learn things
outside of your your core moment you
know for so long musicians would just
fade into nothingness but now you said
it earlier you said now I have a
platform people really understand like
hey I can build this platform and now I
can anything that I'm passionate about I
have a voice and if you have a voice and
you can get attention then you can
really do something now you have to be
clever you have to work hard you've
really gotta innovate but doing things
like the album with the drop pushing
into web 3
um it's it's really interesting and so
there's every species has to choose a
path forward and from an evolutionary
standpoint and every species except
humans have chosen to hardwire virtually
everything whereas humans were like no
I'm gonna read from culture
so we have been quote unquote modern
humans for 250 000 years but in the last
100 years we've had more progress than
all of the 249 you know 49 900 years
before that because of the way that
culture is this exponentially stacking
thing and now that we have the internet
like people can learn so fast
so yeah it's really incredible man it's
incredible to see you leverage pillars
of success across all of these different
areas to such tremendous effect it's
it's really extraordinary and I know the
Next Generation Now is going to be able
to leverage that to like just keep going
and going and going it's it is about the
stacking and that like going into web3
that's where it gets really exciting
because this is a new frontier with like
actually no rules so good and bad it's
good and bad you know because there are
no rules right it's decentralized
um there it's like I I I I you know I'm
sure there's there's uh patents you
could do in web3 but I really feel like
it's a patentless world and in a
beautiful way though in a way where it's
like oh this this uh project has a great
idea this project has a great idea we
could create a project with that great
idea and that great idea but with our
vision and then when we create that and
it has an impact in the space then
another project goes that's a great idea
I'm going to take that idea and this
other idea with our vision and then it
just you're like oh that one did
something interesting only a few weeks
later or a few months later or however
long it takes but because it moves
pretty quickly right so fast you have to
innovate and iterate very quickly in
real time you have to build teams like
so like here's here's where like I think
this is where the power goes to the
anonymous persons out there and and the
singular people out there instead of
like these big large companies because
the big large companies they they can't
maneuver that quick they have to go
through so much red tape so the the
power is really in you know the the you
know the these kids that they use this
is new this is like a new world for them
to create whatever they want to create
so um I really I really say like you
know when I whenever I talk about I'm
like
go like don't think about it just do it
like it creates something that's of like
that that's a vision that that you
believe in and other police other people
can align with that and and you could
actually have a real impact in web three
just you have to be consistent and you
have to keep doing it over time and time
again and even through the bear Market
Aoki versus State strong we are we are a
strong community and we're it's just
amazing even through all this all the
down like the community is vibrant the
community is going how do you manage
your time like you have so many
different things going on how do you
allocate that most precious of resources
it's it's a like the the team is
important like if you saw my calendar
it's
you know I mean as much as I have like
my own travel schedule and DJing like
that's the DJing part is only a couple
hours the travel part takes up a lot wow
that's such a good point yeah yeah so I
have like a full schedule I mean like
it's like I have my own nine to five
of you know of all my different
businesses and all the different
responsibilities that I have
um some of which are
front facing public-facing stuff I pivot
quite a lot some of which are like like
boom we're going live
doing podcasts you know and then some of
which are just like planning prepping in
our calls
um setting up the next album you know
it's just it's it makes it interesting
though because there's a lot going on
there's a lot going on speaking of which
man where can people follow you
um everything's at Steve Aoki pretty
much you know like all all things there
like but then I have you know meta zoo
games hero Quest games
um Aoki verse that's all up there too
you know it's like it's all very very
pretty simple to find switch out
I love it brother as always thank you so
much for spending some time it is always
a pleasure and everybody at home if you
haven't already be sure to subscribe and
until next time my friends be legendary
take care peace
long story short I had an opportunity to
audition for this crazy character that
an entire episode is about and it is the
first thing I'd ever done as an actor
and he was the first one to actually
believe in me that I could that I could
do this
and I'm on set
and I'm freaking out