Everybody has a calling. If you open your eyes, there’s a maker instinct in you. For Sir Mix-A-Lot, creativity manifested in the form of rabid love for music in general and for hip-hop in particular. Cobbling together an immortal career first out of cast-off electronics and then out of platinum records, Mix was never concerned with success when he started out. He simply kept doing what he felt called to do – make music that gets people dancing – until he found himself in the midst of a profitable business.
In our talk we discuss:
- the early days
- How to stay hungry over a long career
- Necessity breeds creativity
- He’s a self-described tinkerer. And I mean, reading schematics, writing the code, and get out the soldering iron tinkerer.
I guarantee, this is a side of Sir Mix A Lot you won’t see in the music videos.
If you become comfortable with your own success, you won’t have it very long.
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Some Questions I Ask:
- It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. What does this mean? [2:12]
- Where did the drive to make things come from for you, is it part of your DNA? [3:32]
- Did you start tinkering before playing music? [6:10]
- Did you think that you’d make a life out of building instruments for other people? [8:59]
- What was it like growing up in the Seattle projects? [10:37]
- You consider yourself an introvert? [14:34]
- How do you go from selling tapes out of the projects to getting a break? [17:38]
- Did you start doing your own vocals out of necessity, even though it was uncomfortable, or did you do it because it was a skill you wanted to learn? [20:56]
- How did you develop your sound? [24:01]
- Did you ever feel like you “made it”? [30:57]
- How did Posse on Broadway drop? [36:14]
- How much time between seeing your music video on MTV and registering that you are realizing your dream? [39:24]
- How do you stay humble? [52:22]
- What does it look like to get to the top and then come home? [54:20]
- What kinds of interests do you have outside of your hit songs? [57:44]
- Tell us about your tech company. [1:00:41]
- Do you miss the old days of music contracts? [1:04:18]
- Who is important to you these days? [1:08:36]
- What advice do you have to upcoming artists with momentum around money? [1:10:34]
- What’s your key to happiness? [1:11:52]
- How do you approach lifelong learning? [1:18:29]
- What are your thoughts on race relations in this country right now? [1:22:22]
- What am I not asking you that I should? [1:29:54]
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- Mix’s first introduction to making, fixing, and literally creating his own power. [4:15]
- The inspiration that connected Sir Mix’s love for electronics to music. [6:30]
- The process of turning a passion into a profession. [7:12]
- Sir Mix’s first entrepreneurial endeavor. [9:20]
- How Sir Mix A Lot got his moniker. [13:45]
- Who Mix’s boss is and how he believes his boss should be treated. [16:30]
- “Hard work is merely preparation for a lucky day.” [17:57]
- How having all the tools at Mix’s fingertips made his music suffer. You can’t throw money into making good art. [22:29]
- How Mix learned from his peers to craft hits. [29:50]
- The journey is what you need, because once you make it, you’re looking for something else to make it at. [32:15]
- Why it’s important to stay humble and Mix’s advice for getting dirty. [35:09]
- How Mix found his first mentor in Rick Rubin. [41:00]
- Sir Mix A Lot reached his monetary pinnacle and creative rock bottom simultaneously. [48:10]
- How one comment was all Mix needed to realize he had lost touch with his fans and his creative self. [48:20]
- What some of today’s artists are doing to lead other young musicians. [1:07:16]
- Life lessons that Sir Mix A Lot’s mom taught him from an early age that have shaped the man, musician and business man he is today. [1:09:00]
- “If you become comfortable with your success, you won’t have it very long. Stay hungry. [1:11:18]
- Exploring opportunities presented to you is all the big break you need, even though 9/10 opportunities presented to you are bullshit. [1:13:24]
- Why startups celebrating getting funding doesn’t make sense. [1:20:00]
- Why we should be having the hard conversation about race. [1:24:50]
- Sir Mix’s background and stem of his passion for politics. [1:27:37]
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