Episode 16 - The Dr. Dre Breakdown
Welcome to episode 16 of Nicky and Moose The Podcast. In this episode, the two hip-hop heads are going to pull back the curtain on the hip-hop and business mogul himself — Dr. Dre.
From DJ, to rapper, to producer, to businessman, Dr. Dre does it all and does it in legendary fashion.
Check out today’s episode as we take a look at the design he’s laid out for us to follow in our own brands and businesses.
What you will discover:
⁃The importance of controlling your own narrative.
⁃The need to make a choice as to why you do what you do.
⁃Does quality over quantity still hold up in this day and age?
⁃The significance of working on what you love every day.
⁃How to keep your creativity fresh.
⁃How to deal with critics.
⁃Why the greats never feel fully accomplished.
⁃The importance of staying true to yourself.
Take the Flight Assessment on flightassessment.com
Nicky Saunders:
What's poppin'? What's poppin'? What's poppin'? Welcome to Nicky and Moose! I'm Nicky! That's Moose! What's up Moose?
Mostafa Ghonim:
What up y'all?
Nicky Saunders:
And today we are going to talk about a living legend. I mean, we talked about all living legends, but this one, this one literally had a near death experience recently. And so we felt like we had a talk about him. I say top two producer hands down in the hip hop community. Worked with Dre...ugh! Man, already gave up the name. Look at this.
Mostafa Ghonim:
He worked with himself.
Nicky Saunders:
He worked with himself, he did. He worked with himself, right? He worked with Snoop. He worked with Eminem, The Game, Kendrick...man already said his name Dr. Dre.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Let's go. Big deal! A big deal man! Over 100 million records sold worldwide that he produced right? Over 100 million records sold worldwide. A net worth, let's just say for the safe side, north of 700 million. Right? Obviously a producer created and made his own album, but also co founder of Beats by Dre. So...
Nicky Saunders:
We doing too mu h. We're saying too much. Le 's get into the intro...saying oo much.
Jaymie Jordan:
Two kids from Queens, cut from a different cloth. Now joining forces helping you to elevate your personal brand. Yeah, I'm talking about Nicky and Moose! Bringing you a never before seen perspective into the mindset, the mentality, the behaviors, the driving force but more importantly, the stories behind the people and brands that you know and love the most.
Nicky Saunders:
So welcome to Episode 16. Look, I'm getting better. Normally, I don't say the episodes, but trying to get better. All right. And of course, every week we go over the review of the week, which I've seen your comments. I know I mess up in all of them, this is literally a segment so welcome to the review of the week. This one's coming by LSYboy100. If that was an I, then ISYboy100. Okay, here we go. Listen, I'm just trying to cover all ...cover it all right?
"My thoughts:
What's up Nicky, and Moose? I just listened to the first episode of 2021 all the way through, and I received so much value in insight from Inky, I love that you were you all are doing and keeping up the great work and keep up the great work." All right, I'm gonna get it right once,
Nicky Saunders:
I'm gonna get it right once. I need you to be
Mostafa Ghonim:
Gotta be consistent. Nah you gotta be consistent in messing up. Look, shout out to everybody who consistent. leaves us a review. We read them, we appreciate you. We would not be here without you. But let's get into this episode because Yo, we really almost lost him we really like he had a brain aneurysm or something li e that. Like he's been on t e blogs this whole time. And e saw so many celebrities ju t show memories of him like Y , we're praying for you a d everything like that. And it w s only right for us to be lik , you know what, let's pay o r tribute of some sort to him th way we know how to which i showing it on our platform. Bu Moose, what would you think ab ut when he saw the news that he as in the hospit Yeah, it came out of nowhere man. And also to see like his health and some some of the family issues that he was going through were happening at the same time. I think there were even rumors, you know, of just some theft happening. So it's like, man, here's somebody going through a lot. But also he's accomplished and meant a lot for culture, for music, for hip hop first and foremost. So it's like, to your point, it's only right that we pay our respect and keep up our tradition in trying to honor people while they're still here.
Nicky Saunders:
Now, here's my question, and I'm gonna take a little detour of how we usually start it. But so one of the things that what we do with the show is that we do all the research, look up the clips and everything like that. And Dre is like hardly any interviews, especially recently, right? And so I kind of want to flip that a little bit to you moves because so we saw about him in the hospital right? We're not a gossip site, we're not TMZ. But I'll mention for three seconds. Clearly he's going through a divorce right? Now, he is a very private person is this, the the downside of being a private person because he isn't always out there on social media, he isn't always out there on interviews, the media can mold, a celebrity, a person who, who has stats out of the wazoo and is a legend. They paint him and can only believe whatever side is being verbal. Is that the downside of being quiet, of still keeping that kind of old? You know, I'm not putting my business out there to the world thing. But does that allow others to paint a picture that may or may not be true? I'm not I don't know the story. So I'm not defending any situation, whether it's medical issues, or family issues. I'm just speaking from a general thing of, are we in this day and age, almost obligated to tell our own story and protect our legacy? So others won't portray it in a certain kind of light? I wanted to get your thought process with that.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, 100%, I think it's only right. You know, I love Even some of the things that you've talked about. On other episodes, or on your lives, where you talk about you control your own narrative, even if there have been bad things that have happened in your life, well start stacking good content, the good ditcher accomplishment are accomplishing so that you can push that stuff further down into the search pages. So to your point, I think we've seen a great example of this, and we covered it with Will Smith, when he got they got out in front of the new sides and said, No, no, no, we're gonna cover our own story, we're gonna tell it the way we want to say it, and more importantly, leverage it on our own platform. So absolutely, it's definitely a downfall, you know, to an extent, because if you don't have that relationship with someone, if your voice is not being heard, then you leave it to other people, to continue to make up stories and tell it however, it needs to be told. Unless you're, you know, someone who really knows how to utilize that. I would say one of the more talented people is Drake, right? He he actually is comfortable with people talking about him and boiling up his name in a lot of different areas. And he sometimes now uses that as leverage in his music in his videos to even further enhance his platform. But, and I'm not speaking to age per se, but I'm not sure if Dr. Dre, you know if that's his move, I guess time will only tell but yeah, for sure. I think that's one of the things that come with it.
Nicky Saunders:
I think at the same time, like because you brought up Drake, right. Even even him when he addresses some of the things it like the rap radar interview. Some of the things he seemed almost kind of like bitter and like still hurt about. But I think that is the downfall of fame. Because you look crazy. Speaking so much about it, like a Cardi B. No offense, Cardi. I'm just saying sometimes it looks crazy, right? But then you could go silent and not say anything and let one person say something crazy. Now everybody is believing it until you say different. Right until you finally come out and be like cool, because with the Drake thing and not go to off topic. But when we remember the battle about you know the kids situation Pusha T said, boom, dude got a kid and you ain't hear nothing about it for the longest and then a bar of I'm not hiding my kid from the world. I'm hiding the world from my kid all that blah, blah, blah, right? It's like, okay, okay, we feel better. Now. Drake addressed it, right. But it took so long. So then the narrative of Trash Trash Trash. How could you do that? Oh, my God. I just don't. I think a lot of people want to rush to the theme and want to be in the limelight. But the responsibility is sometime letting other people create this narrative of you can be very scary. Yeah, very scary. I don't know. I didn't mean to start off like that. But I just I wanted to shake it up a little bit because I was really thinking about that because It is a situation, you know what people are saying about his divorce is a situation what people are saying about his health is a situation we will never know the truth until he speaks on it. And then is that the truth? So I don't know, I was looking at the ups and downs of being quiet of being that celebrity, like we've gone over with, like, J. Cole with, you know, even a Jay Z and stuff like that. Like, is that still a smart move? In 2021?
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, yeah, I would hope he's documenting in some form, right? I can understand if your form of documentation isn't media. Because quite frankly, it's, it's not really my priority, or it's not my first love, right. But I'm, but I'm documenting in another format right now. Because I'm understanding the importance of, you've got to document somehow, right? Even even just to commemorate your own life, like you want to have something to show to your children at some point to your grandchildren to show like, Hey, here's what life was like, during COVID-19, or during the pandemic, or you know, in this error and degeneration in this memory. So I think you would hope that if he's not choosing social media, then he's using another format to document what's happening. You know, we go back to Episode 14 with Inky, and you remember the part where he talks about, I have a journal for each one of my children, so that I can tell them about the decisions that I made for them, which they may not understand right now at their age, but later down the line, they can go back and read that that's an you know, it's a form of documentation that can really help people keep memory or gain understanding and perspective from what it was like walking in your shoes
Nicky Saunders:
But see even okay. Okay, we really may be going off topic, but this is cool, right? Follow me with this. So since you brought up inky is funny, because even from a standpoint of being putting your business all out there, or being super silent, even goes from a materialistic thing, right? Um, I don't to still bring up Dr. Dre. I don't know how big or how many cars he has, and everything like that, right? Still very to himself. Same thing with Inky, um, shout out to Jose, he went to to Inky's house, and he was like, yo, inspired, you just have to see this place. And you will never see it on social media. But yet other people in where the area that inky lives are super flashy, like, Yo, this is here, this is what I have. This is all the great stuff, right? It's like, what are you doing this for? I think it also goes with that with Dre. Um, and we'll get into that with the probably with this next clip, right? The very first clip is up here in Dr. drays. tone and actions of how he deals with his career is that he does it for the art, he does it for creativity, right. He doesn't necessarily do it for the fame, and all that great stuff. It's for himself, and for other things. And we'll get all into that. But it's just like, there's such a What is it? Is there a happy medium in in the world with I'm all out there or I'm all not? Like yeah, and at least in our circles? I don't know. Yeah. But yeah, shout out to the podcast people because you're getting really what a Facebook Live show would be. But hey, we're here. We're here. So let's get into this first clip. So you're not so lost.
Dr. Dre:
Right now I have to like really, really search hard to find something that I really liked as far as hip hop goes. But I think it's just about the substance. Right now it feels like it's a little more quantity over quality. Made a song last night, I need to put it out tomorrow. What are you going to dedicate yourself to the art or the money? You know, it's that simple?
Nicky Saunders:
You want to go first? Because I did a whole segment.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, yeah, no, I'll take this one. Just because I think even when we were reviewing the clips, I'm like, okay, you had me at, right, this clip right here are over money. And, And truth be told, man, I think this is so critical because, and we'll expand on this process a little bit later. But of course, the one thing that at least I think our generation probably remembers Dre a little bit more for just from recent activity is Beats by Dre, right? Like that's the thing that is most relevant to them. But when you think about why Beats by Dre was created. It came and stemmed from his love and passion for music. It was recognizing that man, we're creating such great music. We're really put as a producer Of course, that that's his his first trade as a producer, the sound of how the music is, is probably the most important thing of that process for me, right, of course, I want the, the the lyrics or the substance to be great, but that's an important part of it as well. So he started to recognize, with a large part of music going now digital and into streaming, right, people are no longer really just listening from their car, or from their home where they have better sound system, that there was a tremendous gap in the marketplace. So again, I will expand more on the business side of Beats by Dre. But just understand that that only came about because he was frustrated with people walking around with headphones, not getting the sound quality that he wants. So you can argue, well, hey, his desire for this made him a billionaire. No, but it stemmed from wanting to create a better experience for the users so that they can consume the art that he made with him and his artist, you know, however you want to look at it. So I think, man, this is such a genuine, authentic and authentic clip. Because it stems from a true passion, right? It's like, what are you really doing it for? Is it for the art, or for the money? And quite frankly, in 2021, either side is okay. But just pick one. Right? Like, don't be the one that's continuing to hop back and forth. And you're about the art today, but you're about the money tomorrow. And and you got to pick one, because I think although he is about the art, and he really claims that he at one point also pondered himself with Jimmy, right, which I think created a great dynamic. And again, we'll touch on that, I think at some other clips as well. But yeah, to start it off, I love that, you know, it's this passion for the art and staying true for nearly 30 plus years. That gets him the opportunity to have what he has today.
Nicky Saunders:
And, and that's crazy, because like I said, going back to, like, the years that we're in, and he mentioned it, like, quality, over quantity kind of thing in this year quantity is everything. Like we get a new song, every day, we get a new product, a new service every single day. Right? And is the ones who try to still keep the old model of the limited kind of luxury kind of vibe. Are they losing? But I think it goes based off how do you look at things, right? Because if we look at a Kendrick Lamar, right, he doesn't put out new stuff all the time, there's still some selective few that can still kind of do that, you know, I'm a go into the craft. I'm going to master it, I'm going to put certain things out, but I'm not going to put it out all the time. Right? I think the body of work that you're going to get is important. And it has to be almost like a masterpiece than just something to feed the streets, right. But when we look at today, we look at how social media is how music is how even fashion is, right? There's so much more going out on a regular basis than maybe before. Like if we think of even fashion, we were looking forward to fall collections, summer collection, we wouldn't really get anything in between those particular times. Right? We look at music, they were certain albums that were dropping, you may get a mixtape here and there. But there were certain albums that you were looking forward to your five more months to this person drops, DMX is dropping next year, stuff like that. And that format is no not really no longer in existence. But it's very rare. And it's almost not recommended for those who are starting. So I love how him of where he is now and how he's always been has really not done it necessarily for money, but he does it for the craft and art. But my question is, Is it because of the era that he was, is that he was done? Like Can he still do that? If he came out this year, I think that that's where but my my other question is, if he came out this year, would there be a sound...like, who would have taken his place to where we are at the place it is right now. So what I mean by that is, did he come in a time to form what we know is hip hop, you know, and to create the certain artists that we have because even in this year, and I could be wrong, there are like, when it comes to Eminem, we could clearly see it in certain artists like a Joyner Lucas, right. And for all my hip hop heads, I'm gonna go there. For all my non, I apologize. I'm gonna catch you up in a little bit. Okay. But, um, you see, maybe a Kendrick Lamar with a D Smoke, right? You may see...who resemble Snoop like, in this age? I don't think anybody has really done a Snoop very well.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Not a sound maybe the aura like a Wiz Khalifa. But even he is still a little... Yeah,
Nicky Saunders:
Right. But we can see certain people kind of take that, that influence, and that kind of vibe, but even when you look at a Kendrick, who was crafted by Dre, and a D smoke... D Smoke is coming out with way more music than what Kendrick did. I just think we, we have to look at the model of of past, we can only admire it, I don't think we can copy it anymore. I think there are certain things we can copy the maybe certain projects we can use that model with. But I don't necessarily think that if Dre was to come out this year, or even last year, he could enjoy and become as successful as he is. If he started last year with the, the, the way his mindset and how he goes about it. But we are still waiting for this Detox album. I'm just saying. Yeah, I don't you know, but it was something to think about when he said that, because I was like, it's so true. But is it relevant now? Like, can we really tell artists now? Yeah. Quality over quantity, they'll get beat each time. Because it's who is in the people's faces. You may even be losing money. But that goes the same way as branding like do you want to be an available always available kind of brand or an exclusive brand? You know, how do you how do you want to brand yourself? How do you want to pitch yourself? One may make more money, one may not one may work more one may not. But at the same time, what... Actually let me go to the next clip before I say the work ethic. Let me go to this next clip. Hold on. Hold on. I just wanted to do that. Don't mind me.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Tradition.
Dr. Dre:
I've been in the game close to 27 years. And I've actually thought about this just recently out of the entire 27 my 27 year career, there's only been two weeks that I've been out of the studio. I've never been out of studio longer than two weeks in my entire career. That's how much love I have for this thing that I do. So that's the thing, just the passion that you have for it. And really, really put your all into it.
Mostafa Ghonim:
You see how brolic my man was right there? What in the?
Nicky Saunders:
So real quick. There was this one interview that they were like, um sir you're like 50 and you are brolic What is going on? Like what's happened? For for you non-New Yorkers, brolic means very swole, very fit. His muscles are huge or, however you want to deal with this. For you non-New Yorkers, we apologize. But he was saying look, it got to a point where I was investing in things that could be replaced and you can't replace me. Like, when I'm gone, I'm gone. So I have to put the investment back in myself for longevity. Like, I'm not purchasing anything, maybe I will, maybe I will buy that bike. Maybe I will buy that bike. I'm not mentioning them because they don't sponsor this podcast. But anyways. So to the clip, right? Work ethic, crazy! To think that he has not taking a day off like to, like from very, very beginning to now is crazy, right? Um, but it shows that it's not, it doesn't when it doesn't feel like work to the person, he can go forever. Do you know how much music is probably in the archives? That we won't know until maybe possibly he dies? Yeah, like do you write Do you know the the legacy that he's not only already created, but has in a vault that is gonna last longer than probably seven careers combined. Because every single day, he's doing what he loves, right? And going back to the whole, you know, quality over quantity kind of thing. My man has quantity. My man has hundreds and thousands of beats, of songs and everything like that. And he's looking for the right reason, the right time, and the right artist. He doesn't feel like he has to. It's not about money, like he said in the last clip. Has nothing to do about money. He honestly loves and enjoys this, and is looking to only come out with masterpieces each and every single solitary time. Right? For that it made me like, once again, shout out to Moose for allowing us to do this podcast because I'm learning something new and trying to put things in my own toolbox of like, Yo, I need to be creating this every single day, I need to do something and say this has been done every single day. So if, for whatever reason something has happened, right? My creations are there and cannot be tapped with like, you cannot sit here and say there was ever period that Nicky fell off. Because I've worked on my stuff every single day. You know, some people when they're gone, they could put out maybe one or two more products, one or two more albums, one or two more things, but then that's it, and we have to live off their memory, their memories. Tupac probably still has 900 songs that is unreleased. All produced by Dre too ya mean? Like,
Mostafa Ghonim:
Right, that's real.
Nicky Saunders:
Um, there was a, and we're gonna get into an interview that he did with LL, like, he does collaborations with artists and those still don't even come out because even in the interview that he said was like, yo, me and L have tracks and maybe we'll put it out maybe we won't. Because he's, he's really creating, because that's his first love. And whatever comes out that is worthy of coming out due to the timing and everything like that cool. But it's so amazing to see a legend of a person who is top five to some top two for me, right? To still work the way he does. Because he loves it. Not because of money not because of anything else. Like he understands my passion and my gift is going to allow me to do all these other things. The second I stop having fun with this is the second I'll stop. And people pray to have that. But they want the millionaire billionaire status. But you don't want to work on it every day and only have two years off. In 27 years.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Wow. Two weeks.
Nicky Saunders:
Two weeks...whatever, you know. Yeah. Like you don't want to do that. But you want that you want the Dre status. You want to get a, you know, bought out by Apple, you know? But how if you don't have that work ethic we we
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yep that's real. continuously see the same themes with certain celebrities, certain legends, and it s definitely the work ethic. Y u don't really see them sto . Ever, ever, ever. That's what I need the the Dre one, "eve ever" the Outkast joint. Need t at.I need that for sure. But, um we, we sit here, and we try t study the greats, but we don' really put the action an execute like the greats. That' why we can look at Dre and b like, we can't wait til something comes out. Because w know how much you work. We kno how much music you put out Where is it? And it makes th value go up. Not because h works a few and he never puts i out. He works every single day And you still don't hear it Like Yo, I would love to hea this beat by this and what yo did with L what you he ha hundreds of unreleased Emine songs. What? Securing two l gacies. They're good.
Nicky Saunders:
What are we doing every single day to make sure our legacy is great that our brand is good that our business is going to last way longer after we die maybe nine times. Ya mean? I feel like we all live nine times. Ya mean? I'm just saying.
Mostafa Ghonim:
I love it. That's good Nicks. That's fire. I love it. That's so real. Let me say this man, first of, shout out to the flight assessment. Shout out to the flight assessment y'all. Let me tell you why this is so important. Right? That's alright. That's alright. We're gonna do it right now. We're gonna do it right now. You gone see we about that life. You gone see we about that life let me tell you. Let me tell you. Let me give you a quick rundown, right? For those who don't know if this is your first time listening, if you've been living under a rock, man the flight assessment, it's, it's it's embedded into every single part of this and not because we're trying to sell it, believe me. It's because it's really the way that allows you to personalize what we're what we're talking about here for you. Right? So you could take Dr. Dre's blueprint and make it yours and figure out how to do that. Or is it good for you or not? Right, because I think a big part of success is also knowing what mistakes to avoid or what things not to do, right just as much as it is doing things it's also doing not doing certain concepts of. So simply put, let me just put it this way, a quick review, which we would normally do in the beginning, but you get it a couple minutes into the episode based off of the four dominant personality types that we know exist in the world. But really, it's measuring four main concepts. And I'll put it this way, right. Just to give it a nice little spin. It's measuring how you go about making decisions, how you interact with people, the speed that you like to work at, and how much structure of rules you like within your environment. So that's why we say that each one of these represents the one of the flight characters or the airport characters, because at the height of that level, you'll start to see Oh, that's the pilot. That's very determined, very decisive, and those who score high in that category, that's what we see of them, you get the idea, right? It's that concept of each one of these exists in the world. When you know which one of these you are, you can work the way you need to work, to duplicate a success of a Dre, to duplicate a success of a Inky, or a E.T., or the many different greats that we've honored and highlighted on this show. It's that concept of understanding who you are first, so you can duplicate the success that you're seeing or that you idolize. That's for the flight assessment piece. Let me add the second part for everyone listening, listening because I love the challenge that you put out there Nicks. And I'm gonna turn what you said even into a challenge a little bit for everyone listening like Yo, are you working every day? And I'm not saying work 8, 10, 12 hours a day. I'm not saying that because I don't do that anymore. Right at least not every day. But there are certain pockets every single day there is work being done to perfect and master the craft every single day religiously seven days a week something is happening, where that concept of progressing toward becoming better in the lane is happening. What I'm going to challenge you guys to do on top of that is to really reflect and say, yo, are my goals really mine? Are my goals really mine? Or are they borrowed based on what's popular out on the internet? Or what someone planted into my, you know, subconscious or unconscious mind? Because that's a big part of the challenge Nicky, when you see someone like Dre, and sometimes even for some of us, it may be difficult to understand like, yo, why are you holding back all this great music, and all this information or all these things, you know, from the world where people can enjoy? Because his mind is like, well, it only makes sense to me. And it only needs to make sense to me. So I'm not even going to bother explaining it. So if someone were to go out and say, Oh, I'm doing this, because it's what Dre did. But that's not how it makes sense in your world, you're borrowing the goal from somebody else, you're gonna copy and not create the same results. So that's why I'm saying in addition to this, of like, absolutely do the work, but also really challenge yourself like, yo, what's the what's the science? What's the method behind all of this? Is this goal really yours?
Nicky Saunders:
That's good. Just gonna go to the next clip, that was good.
Interviewer:
Let's talk about some of the big hits your favorite?
Dr. Dre:
I can't you know why? I get asked that question all the time. And all my answer is always the next one. You know,
Interviewer:
The next one?
Dr. Dre:
Yeah, whatever I'm doing next. That's my favorite. Whatever I'm working on right now, whatever I'm going to do next. That's my favorite. Because like I said earlier in this, I don't listen to my music. Once it comes out, I never listen to it again, nobody, nobody is allowed to play it around me in my house, which is a little bit of a problem. But when it comes out it's business.
Nicky Saunders:
First off, that's crazy that he doesn't listen to anything he's ever done. That's bananas, anything. But at the same time. That is probably the reason he works every day. Because you're not caught up in your old achievements. You're not caught up in the last hit. You know what everybody was ranting and raving about? You don't even know what the big deal is about? Because you're already on to the next one. Like I heard that and I was like, do we get too caught up of what worked in the past? Or how great this was, we're still on are. in third grade, I went first class. And it's like, like what? Like I was I was the 1994 Olympian. But what were you in 2020? Like, what about that? So and like, I wanted you to go first, but I wanted to adress it because I'm just like, yo, it makes so much sense of why he has the work ethic he does because he doesn't look back. So it's always a brand new day, it's always like, Yo, I never did this before I never created a hit. So I still have that hunger to create the hit because I never created a hit. I never created anything that worked before. So today, I will boom, there it is, right. And then also understanding of living in the moment, like certain things are going to inspire you. And you don't necessarily have that pressure to do it again, because it's a new day, then you don't remember it from before. Because I know a lot of people will have the expectations or the responsibilities of beating your last achievement, your last goal your last hit or whatever it is you feel that pressure. And the way he thinks is almost as if you know what, I don't particularly care. Like, I was in this state of mind, I was doing this did this result great. I'm out to do another result. I'm out to impact somebody else and do this and collaborate with other people and have a new sense of of, you know, clarity and direction with something else. So it's, um, it's refreshing to be like, almost like a, a Groundhog's Day, kind of like brand new day every single day. Like oh, wait, hold on. Like, I'm not looking at the past? Okay, we'll just do this again. Oh, no. Oh, we'll do this again. Okay. And it's not chasing a hit no more. It keeps you in that creative vibe. You stay creative, because you don't know what worked before. I think that's amazing. Yeah. Once again, thank you. Because of you now, like, I'm not gonna look at nothing I did before. Bump that. I don't care.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, no, I mean, it's um, you know, and thanks to you too, honestly for making this what it is and but but it's really dope because, you know, I, I think it's a true winner's mentality. Right? I think he was also, and you'll start to see some patterns among some of the more successful people like Tom Brady also answered that same question the next way. He was like Yo, you won multiple Super Bowls, which is your favorite? He said, the next one. Like, that's the same exact mentality, right? It's like, oh, not none of what I did in the past, qualifies me to, or excuses me from succeeding again, in the future, or today. Right. So I love that mentality of like, Alright, continue to really maximize what you've been created to do, as opposed to hanging on what you've done in the past, and allowing that to be the thing that gives you the past or the right off to say, Well, I did it, you know, like you said, 5, 10 years ago, like, I'm good on that. Right? I don't got to do it today. And it's that mentality of Nope, keep building, keep building, keep building, and, and the body of work that you have to show. You know, it's always something that it's really just, it's, it's, there's no debate, right, like, and that that's one of the things about some of the people who are really at the top of the class, you can't even debate like, it's hard to say, Oh, well, you know, Dre got lucky. Right? Really? Really? How did he get lucky with, you know, 1000s of songs produced, you know, hundreds of millions of albums sold worldwide. So I think it gives you a fresh perspective of like man. Again, one of those patterns, or one of those things that you'll see in Everyone is that, that work ethic in some shape, or form. It works for them.
Nicky Saunders:
Right and so here's my question to you, right? Why do you think people hold the past? Like, why do you think people stay so close to what they accomplished before? Is it that they're scared that they can't do it again?
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah. But I was gonna say, it's the fear of change. It's the fear of change of feeling like, man, well, I have to reinvent myself, to go out and redo what I did in the past, where I can just stay the same, and hang on to this accomplishment in the past, because it allows me to continue being me. Right? So I think there's a part of, of it, where people begin to feel like, Oh, well, this is gonna require me to do something I haven't done before, or walk into unmarked territory. And that's not something I want to explore, or build on. So that piece of it, I believe, is one of the contributing reasons, you know, for keeping people stuck or continuing to hang on to the past a lot.
Nicky Saunders:
Yeah, that, I just find that, like, how amazing it is for some, to not look at it, and for others to hold it so close. So what is...and you answered it, but just like, why, like, why one can be like, and I think of it, you know, of course, for me, I always think of it from a content standpoint, like some people, like focus on maybe the content that they just put out the product that they put out, and they hold on to it for so long, that they didn't create anything afterwards. Right. And so when that finally dies, it dies. And then there's other people that create and create and create and create and finally something hits that maybe have work that they did five months ago. So when people are checking it, now they have five months worth of new stuff. Yeah. So now new stuff are still getting more love because they're being you know, like, Oh, snap, like they have this body of work, you know, so it's almost better to let it go and go with something new each and every single solitary time. Because you're building out your body of work, you're building out your legacy and what people know of you, instead of just like, I work so hard on this, and I'm just gonna hold on to it for the whole time. So, yeah, I thought that was dope.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, for sure.
Nicky Saunders:
But, um, let's get into what critics say.
Dr. Dre:
Nah I don't ever feel the responsibility to impress people with my music, I do feel like I gotta get in and do do my music to the best of my ability. You know, and I feel like, I'm my worst critic, you know? If, if I'm not digging it, it ain't the **** you know? So the critics out there can basically like kiss my *** straight up.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, I thought I thought that that one is a is really well suited for you Nicks. I think you need to lead with this.
Nicky Saunders:
So
Mostafa Ghonim:
Kiss my ace like CJ would say. Kiss my ace.
Nicky Saunders:
So, um, this the thing, uh, it's been going on with the theme what we've been saying that Dre has no pressure or responsibility to anybody. Right? And so he creates for himself and not necessarily for the world. Now, what he puts out to the world, if it's, if it fits Cool, right, if it makes sense, cool. But he really creates on a regular basis for himself because of the love of what he does. So he believes, like, until you're in my shoes until you've created as much as I have, until you've done the accomplishments, or even just walk the path that I have, you really can't say anything at all. And I look at that, because we deal with a day and age of people who are trolls, and people who are just in other people's comments, saying whatever they want, but what is your credibility? What is your stats? What have you done that is almost even similar to what I do, if not sit down. I'm not gonna say what he said. But I'm going to say Sit down. Right and, but it is a real life thing in this day and age that people are scared of what others may think. But if you're doing it, because you love to do it, if you're doing it because it makes you happy. And it's a passion, and you're doing it that this passion happens to make you money. Maybe these people who are saying it or broke, maybe these other people are saying just are board, are have their own insecurities, have their own fears that they know they can't do it, but you're doing it and they just don't understand because they don't see it within their own life. Critics are always going to say whatever it is, if you lead with doing it because you want to, not because you're responsible to not because you have to. But because you want to whatever anybody else says it doesn't matter because it shouldn't steer you left and right from what you want to do. So. And as you get higher in your status, whether you make millions of dollars in your business, or whether you get millions of followers, right? You're going to get people who don't like you, you're going to get people who wish they were in your shoes doing the things that you do. Right, you have to remember it's not about them. It's really about why you started. And for him, he started because he loved the art. He loved creating. He didn't do it for money. He didn't do it for a for anything else. What was great from one of the interviews, and I was gonna put it but I didn't, I didn't. But in one of the interviews, I think in the LL interview, he was talking about the beginning of his career. And when he learned how to become a DJ. And the reason why he is in the industry he is in because he loved the control that it had on people like music allows, like will shift your whole mood, like you could be sad and all of a sudden you hear a song and you feel happy. You know, you can slow down the beat and all of a sudden you're in deep thought and he loved the control that it had. And that's why he started with a as a DJ to become a producer. Right? But it's all because of what he loved about that particular industry. Not because of what people were saying about it not because of how much money would make. So you will have to remember when people are talking like unless they do what you do, unless they've achieved what you've achieved, even done the sacrifices, the risks, the dares and everything like that unless they do that they can sit down. Period.
Mostafa Ghonim:
I love that. I love that. Because you think you think about what a critic does to your life. You know, it really robs you of being yourself. And it allows it takes away the meaning and the flavor of why you do what you do. But truth be told, I think, without that mindset, Dr. Dre doesn't start Beats, you know? He doesn't even get to that opportunity. You know, maybe we can touch on it really quickly here. But, you know, the whole concept, again, behind beats, as we talked about, from a business standpoint was to give the adapt to the marketplace or how changes are happening and to how consumers are behaving in the marketplace, with the with the growth of the iPad, right, that was, excuse me, say the iPod, right? It was like, you know, music is now being streamed, it's all digital, it was no longer being consumed where people would normally and how they would normally consume it. But at the time, the headphones that came with every electronic was just the cheap ones. It was like monster and just whatever ones that came with, you know, the Apple products at the time, and it was almost a status symbol to have the white headphones that represented oh you have an Apple product, hey, but the quality was terrible. So his critics at the time Next, we're all saying, this is a terrible idea. Don't start this, you shouldn't start Beats by Dre. Right? It doesn't make sense. They're overpriced, no one is gonna want them. You're banking on, you know, the the culture, the sneaker industry to kind of help you build this brand, and it's not gonna work. And thankfully, he continued to do so again, we talked about his collaboraship, or his collaboraship, his partnership with a...
Nicky Saunders:
I was like that's a new one. That's good.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Collaborate in partnership, you bring them together collaboraship. You know?
Nicky Saunders:
That's what we got with E collaboraship.
Mostafa Ghonim:
We got a collaboraship that's it. I love it. So you know, he goes on to partner with...
Nicky Saunders:
I put it on a shirt. Somebody trademark that for us real quick, I'm just saying, You heard it from us first.
Mostafa Ghonim:
I love it. But he goes on to form this partnership. And they go on and continue to do it. We talked about and I love that this was so dope just from from a production standpoint, when we do the research, it reiterated and brought up a story that we talked about in the LeBron James episode, when they talked about one of the concepts that really helped the beats brand, elevate and go to new heights was when LeBron gifted a pair of headphones to all of the basketball... I think it was the the Olympic team at the time going to Beijing for the Olympics. And and everyone seeing them walk in with those headphones. That was an automatic starpower that was like, Whoa, you know, people now started wanting those headphones, it became a cultural symbol. So again, you go back to the start of that, if he entertains what and the crazy thing is critics sometimes even often appear as people who are just giving you sound advice. Like, hey, don't do that, like played safe. Like that's not a good move. I don't think it's gonna work. And it may even appear as as sound advice. But in reality, it's, it's, it's a critic, right? It's someone who's pulling you away from what you could possibly achieve. So yeah, I just wanted to throw that in there that without that type of mentality. Beats by Dre doesn't exist today.
Nicky Saunders:
Sheesh! Final clip.
Dr. Dre:
Man, there's something in me that needs to get out creatively. And it's crazy. You know, I drive my wife crazy with this ****, man. It's just like something is... I know, the best thing that I've ever done is in me, and I'm having trouble finding it. I don't know where to go to get the inspiration. You know, I don't know. I know. I've done a lot of great things. But I feel like I haven't done the best thing yet.
LL Cool J:
Yeah, I actually feel like that too.
Dr. Dre:
I don't know if it's something that keeps me going. Or if it's something that I can actually make a reality. I'm not sure.
Nicky Saunders:
Can we talk about how every great says they don't feel like they've reached their potential. Like the fact that LL Cool. J and Dr. Dre. were in that interview. Like LL was interviewing Dre and he was like, Yeah, me too. I know
Mostafa Ghonim:
Both agreeing on the same thing. exactly what you mean.
Nicky Saunders:
Like, yo, do you know what you've accomplished? And you still feel like I feel that way. But I feel that way because I haven't accomplished nothing near compared to those two. Right. So my question to you is, is there will they ever feel complete with maybe what They think their mission is?
Mostafa Ghonim:
No. No. I don't think so. Yeah. And it's, it's, it's just a common theme of all greats. Because and it's really a human trait as well. It's just our ability to often underestimate what we're truly capable of. So you, you conceptualize a dream, you pursue it, you accomplish it, and you get there. And you probably don't take into account the experience to know how and the practice how that made you better during that time. So you get to your destination, you look around, like, Okay, this is good, it's great. I think I could do better, like I want, I want the next challenge. And that pursuit, right is it's refreshing, it's refueling, but you, you actually see what you're truly capable of. And I think one of the things you always hear people say is, man, if I knew then what I know now, right? Right. And that's part of that process. It's like, you get to a new goal or a new part of your life, and you're like, man, but look at all the stuff I've accumulated now, just in my understanding of people and, and communication and this and that, and the skill itself, or the art itself, I can do better. So I don't think greats ever really feel fully accomplished.
Nicky Saunders:
That's, that's crazy, though. And, like, once again, I pray I have these problems, you know, or pray I have these problems, like, oh, I've made millions and, you know, done so many accolades, that I just, I feel like, I haven't even gotten close to what I'm supposed to do. Right? Like, what? You're 50 something years old.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Been in the industry since 15. That the stuff that drives me bonkers. People started so early man.
Nicky Saunders:
Like you, you worked with the best. You've seen them come and go. You did an interview. Right? Um, that literally says, yo, we're trying to at least be number two to Apple. Right? Just number two, two Apple products. And they got bought out by Apple. Like, the fact that that was documented is super dope, by the way. But what more did you want? Now? Clearly, Dr. Dre? Listen, I know you don't do many interviews? Actually, none. But if you ever feel like you want to just answer that one question, you don't have to do a whole interview. But just that one question of what is left for you, please come to Nicky and Moose. Please come to Nicky and Moose because I would love to know that for your brand for your legacy. What else is there for you? Because you're known as like the top two? What? That's crazy to me.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Let me let me ask you a question. I'm curious to get your thought on this. There was a clip with, you know, his partner in
Nicky Saunders:
What's up? the business. That he said, I'm leaving the company because I got it as far as it can go. But it still has room to grow. Right? Do you think that you'd ever? Or do you think that's the right decision? Or would you do something similar, where it's like, Man, I've gotten the company or the brand to as big as I can possibly make it, I'm gonna walk away and give it to someone else. Now, here's the two sides of it, I want you to consider from one side of it, you could be like, well, this person may be more experienced and may be more talented, they may be better equipped for where the markets going. Cool. That makes sense. But from another part of it, it's like, but I don't know that they're gonna have the same heart that you have for your brand, like your baby in a sense, right? What what's your approach with something like that when when considering growth and feelin like you haven't done much Would you continue the journey Or would you give it to someon else in hopes of know they'r better equipped to make i happen for me I mean, so, I'm gonna I'm gonna answer it from a standpoint of myself. And then kind of the mindsets that I've seen people in right so for myself, I don't I don't know if I can let go of something that I feel is going to work. You know, I will do all that I can in position. People where I need them to be to make sure it works, get maybe some extra help, and advise me and become a student more than a leader at that point. But I don't know if I can let it go per se. Right, the but from other things like, depending on where you learn business from people are taught, you build a business to sell it, you build the business to let it go and to create something else. Right? So from that standpoint, here, go take it, I gotta go do this, right. For me, personally, I don't put myself into something I don't think is not going to work. I don't fail forward. That's not my thing. Never do that. Right. Shout out to those who do this. Now, no shade or anything. I personally make strategic moves to avoid that. So I'm going to go with it till the wheels fall off. And that may be not the greatest thing. But I have that much belief that I have to make this work period. So I won't let it go and give that position to somebody else. But I will surround myself with everybody that's needed to build me up for it to be successful and to build them up. So their departments could kill it. So that's just me though. What about you?
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, no, that's good. That's a great question. I am asking him because I honestly don't know like, you know, to listen to, to him say that. It's like, man, can you love with things so much that you let it go? It sounds like a relationship. I know. It sounds like a, like The Notebook? I don't know. It sounds like a crazy love story in a sense. Like man, I love I love this company so much that I feel like I can no longer help it grow. So I'm the best thing to do is walk away. I was like, man, I don't know. I don't know, that's a tough decision. Because you're talking about walking away from something that you built. Right, with the hopes that somebody else will care for it as much as you do. Like, you know, it's so but I love how you put that because it's true. Like business people are taught to Yo, you build something to sell it. That's that's a that's a great way to look at it.
Nicky Saunders:
Crazy. I don't know. Can't be me, but you know, hey I'm just saying. But, um, real quick announcement. Real quick announcement. Uh follow us on social media. Okay, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Nicky and Moose everywhere. Okay, go follow us and on I was about to say Fridays. I don't know why.
Tuesdays at 7:
30pm. Eastern 6:30pm. Central, sometime in West Coast because I could always forget it. Right. But y'all know where my heart is. We go live on Facebook every Tuesday. Go check that out.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Dope conversation too.
Nicky Saunders:
But anyways, yeah, dope conversations dope and funny and silly. But anyways, um, thank you Moose for this episode. Because, to be honest, we were struggling this week. We were struggling. We were like, Yo, what are we going to do? Oh, my goodness, this man doesn't have a lot of interviews. How are we going to do this? And to be honest, it worked out very well. Like I learned, like, the biggest thing was to work every day. Every day, work every day every day like I'm doing something wrong have I put that much work in if I want to be on that status, you know? I do believe in recharge and all that great stuff. But at the same time, like do I deserve it at this moment? Like have I reached certain levels like I respect that because I honestly love what I do. So it's not really work I don't necessarily need a super like oh my God, I need like nine week vacation and I need this that and the third and lay on the beach and catch COVID and everything like that. You know, I need all that. Which I'm still mad at somebody said Yo, you haven't caught COVID yet? No, no, no, I haven't heard. No, but but that alone is just like, I can understand why Tupac is Tupac. I can understand why Dre is Dre I can understand why some of the greats. You know, Jordan was Jordan and Kobe was Kobe because they did it every day because they loved it you know, so I can't sit here and say I love what I do, but not do it every day. Yeah, like not, you know, but that's just me. What about you?
Mostafa Ghonim:
That's true. I like that. No, I agree, I kind of liked this maybe an introduction to a new segment. It's like biggest takeaway, you know, from the episode. Man, I've been so big on this. This year, there's a few themes that are growing on me, but I think from this episode specifically is like, you know, it can be the art for you above the money, but whichever it is for you just just live true to that, stop changing it, you know, and I love it was the very first clip, like our you know, he loves art enjoys that above the money. And it allows you to know that there is more than one way to a similar destination, I won't say the same destination, but a similar destination. But the idea of consistently, really comes from you staying true to what your values are. So the fact that he values the art, and you see that the value is it shows up in his work ethic, and both of those show up in the quality and the stuff that he puts out. And that has created, you know, the the success and the financial success, and all of that comes from it. It's like, he's sticking true to what works for his formula. So it's like, continue to figure out what's our formula, you know, enhance and improve that and make that a bigger thing? What are you? What are you thinking about his his score? What do you think he is most of? You know, from a flight assessment standpoint? Would you say pilot? Grounds crew, you know, the whole? Yeah, what are you thinking on that?
Nicky Saunders:
So I'm not gonna do the whole battle thing that we always do. I'm just gonna go straight to it. I think and we have this conversation. I think he's a low key, not a low key, but air traffic controller. I really think that I get more that with grounds crew kind of vibes just because and maybe, like, very little, but the collaboration vibe gives me like, a flight attendant, but I don't know. But he loves to collaborate, like loves to collaborate. Like it only makes sense to work with other people. Right. But clearly, his his work ethic and strategically, making albums and strategic his whole thing is perfection. Like, we're still waiting on Detox, because it's not perfect, because he doesn't feel right about it. You know that screams to me like okay, yeah, my guy, you're a whole air traffic controller like, but when I heard, but there's still things that like, with the control thing, like I love music, because it controls the people...i was like hold on. I know that word. I know, I know what that means. But, I mean, in totality, I would say, air traffic controller. What you think?
Mostafa Ghonim:
100%, definitely a primary air traffic control, just because of the process, the way he works, how he positions himself as it relates to, you know, not being so much out there in front of people. But also, for those who are very familiar with the, with the concept, I would say he's possibly a flight attendant as well, right? Because you see that, in some areas, he can kind of get really comfortable and really put himself out there. But But we know that those two are two traits that when they show up simultaneously, they can almost create conflict with one another. Because it's like you're fighting yourself. So you see, like, in some cases, yes. He understands the need for collaboration. But he's also, you know, overly analytical in terms of wanting things to be absolutely perfect. I understand that I have to put out music, but I love the art. So it's like you're going with this back and forth. So I see some of that, you know, in his personality or how he carries himself. But for sure, that air traffic control i would i would bet that it's that it's up there.
Nicky Saunders:
Fuego!. So firs off, I should have said thi earlier, but shout out to ou YouTube viewers. Shout out t our podcast listeners. Thank yo very much. Thank you fo subscribing or just listening t this first episode. Go back t the other ones. But Moose, fi al wor
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah. Make sure that your goals aren't borrowed. Man. I think if there's anything that you're going to take away from this journey, as you look over and review Dre's life is that he's staying true to himself, because his goals are truly hits. He's doing what matters to him. And it's not a copy or a mirror duplicatin somebody else's idea of what it means to be successful It's figuring out what matte s to him the most So, to you I' l say, make sure your goals are yours and not borrowed.
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