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BIGGER THAN ME PODCAST
Get inspired by people who make a difference bigger than themselves with host Aaron Pete. From overcoming obstacles to finding motivation, these guests will inspire you to dream bigger and strive for greatness!
Popular guests include Premier David Eby, Vassy Kapelos, Brent Butt, Ariel Helwani, Rav Arora, Tara Henley and the Millennial Therapist.
BIGGER THAN ME PODCAST
167. Vin Jay: The Shocking Problem with Our Culture
Join Aaron and Vin Jay as they discuss the problem with mainstream music, trauma, marriage and the therapeutic journey behind his lyrics.
Vin Jay is a dynamic rapper, musician, and philosopher, recognized for his powerful music that combines deep, introspective themes with high-octane energy, designed to inspire and motivate listeners to overcome challenges.
Welcome back to another episode of the Bigger Than Me podcast. Here is your host, aaron. I believe great music can add fuel to your fire. It's a place you can go to be understood and inspired by others' journeys. I'm speaking with someone who has an incredible philosophy and he's dropping fantastic music that will make you run faster and work harder. My guest today is Vin J. You've been on the podcast three times now. I don't think you need an introduction at this point in time, but just for those people who might just be getting introduced, let's do it one more time for them.
Vin Jay:For sure, we could do a compilation of intros at this point. My name is Vin Jay. I'm a rapper, a musician, fitness enthusiast not professionally, but yeah, I make music and I try to spread a positive message of uh motivation and let everyone know that you can get through dark times no matter what.
Aaron Pete:We got to say philosopher or something right.
Vin Jay:For sure. I just need a more impressive resume for an introduction. Let's go philosopher, fitness enthusiast, professional beer drinker and rapper. Okay, perfect, We'll go with that.
Aaron Pete:There's been a lot going on and I'm a huge follower of your career, but let's start. You got married. Congratulations, I'm so happy for you. Tell me all about it.
Vin Jay:I'm so happy for you. Tell me all about it. Yeah, so I got married in May. I flew my family out and my lady's family out to an island called St Lucia.
Aaron Pete:Really intimate wedding, small, probably under 50 people, but yeah, flew them out and then had the wedding and had like a week-long all-inclusive vacation with him so turned it from just one expensive ass night of a show for everybody else into an incredible experience that we'll all remember forever. Okay, mr philosopher man, one of the things I feel like you're you're very thoughtful about is who you led into that inner circle of yours and I feel like a wedding. I'm might be popping the question sometime soon, so one of my questions is how do you go about thinking who's going to be invited to that event? You want those people who are going to bring positive energy, who want the best for you, who understand the importance of that moment. How did you go about thinking about that?
Vin Jay:I think I just have a good gauge for it right Over time I've learned the difference between family and friends and then acquaintances, whether it's through businesses or just more casual relationships, and I think that a wedding is something that is so spiritual and intimate that you only want people that you're positive, have the purest intentions for you and want the best for you. And I really was adamant about that. I actually rescheduled my wedding twice. It was supposed to be here in Arizona and then I realized we sent invites out and everything and I was like I invited way too many people. I don't want half these people here. So I was like let's do it in Jamaica instead, because then I'll only invite the family. Like let's do it in Jamaica instead, because then I'll only invite the family. A few months before the wedding a travel warning gets issued to Jamaica and saying, like yo, the travel advisory is really high, now you shouldn't really be traveling here. So then I switched it again and we ended up going to St Lucia. But everything worked out for the best.
Aaron Pete:There's been a lot of conversations I think from conservatives about what does it actually mean to get married Like? What is that symbolically? How do you think about that?
Vin Jay:I think it is. Without at the risk of sounding corny, I think it is quite literally the unity of two souls and your life becomes more than just about yourself and it alters your actions and your empathy and just the way you interact with the world, so to speak. I think it's a really spiritual, religious thing that should change the way you act. I think a lot of the reason marriages fail a lot of the time is because they're not taking that vow as seriously as it should be. They treat it as the contract that it partially is, but they leave out the most important part, which is like the union of the souls and how you guys should treat each other going forward.
Aaron Pete:Could you talk to us about that? How did you go about confirming that that was the right unity for you? What were you looking for, what was she looking for, and how did you go about confirming that that was the right unity for you? What were you looking for, what was she looking for, and how did you make sure that that made sense?
Vin Jay:So for me, I would say it boils down to two things. If I had to boil it down, it is values of the other person, the moral ground that they stand on I guess that was a weird way to put it but their, their values or principles, how they carry themselves, what yes, that was a weird way to put it but their values, their principles, how they carry themselves, what they deem important, and also how, how they, how they treat you, right, and vice versa. Because, like in my lower moments, right, she could easily stoop down to whatever vibration I'm on, but as opposed to doing that, she stays very loving and tries to on. But, as opposed to doing that, she stays very loving and tries to uplift me, as opposed to just butting heads that's fantastic.
Aaron Pete:I'm so happy for that. Could you talk to us? Obviously many people, when I say I love rap, they think I don't know why this is, but they think of the lowest common denominator of some song with a bunch of swear words, that's insulting people and women and being derogatory. That's not what I listen to. I listen to your music and NK's and these people who really have, I think, good philosophies, but there does seem to be this contrast. Do you ever think about that? That they're like the mainstream or what people think of when they think of rap is maybe not what you're talking about in your music yeah, but I don't think that's exclusive to rap.
Vin Jay:I think that goes across all genres, right? I think the reason mainstream rap, pop, country, all are so base, level and generic is because it's easily digestible by the masses. I don't think advanced, um, uh, advanced topics that are deep into psychology or even looking peering into yourself, right, is very digestible for everybody, because it takes a pretty serious amount of self-work to even get there personally. So if you want I think the labels have figured out if you want a song to resonate at the highest level and make the most money, you need to kind of keep it surface level and generic so it can do that. So I think these genres get the rep that they do because the most popular versions of them need to be that way interesting.
Aaron Pete:You're also now hooked up with nk. It sounds like you guys are hanging out regularly. What the heck is going on?
Vin Jay:yeah, unfortunately, man dude will not leave me alone. Um, yeah, he moved out to az a few months ago. Um, we've kicked it a few times before then, but he, he got bit by the same bug I did when he came out here and he's just like man, the community, the vibes of arizona, just everything is so beautiful. So he moved out here a few months ago and we became really close friends since then. And, yeah, man, it's just. It boils back to the first question you asked. Like when you meet someone good, you know they're good and you just want to hang around them because it's rare do you find that that sparks different types of creativity within you when you're linked up with someone?
Aaron Pete:he obviously from my, like the songs I love from him are like heavy dark the things he's going through. I think he's very relatable on that, like I'm struggling but I'm like persevering, like I only have 42 cents in my bank account but I'm gonna keep getting after it and keep trying to prove to the world that I can do something great and that's you're very uplifting and like I'm figuring it out, I'm after it like I'm taking over the world. Is it interesting to like have again those different vibrations?
Vin Jay:I guess yeah, anytime you're collabing with an artist who isn't exactly like you, the the fun part is finding out where you overlap, because now you're creating this new type of song that maybe either of you as individuals wouldn't have made right, because it's like I'm gonna live in your world a little bit and you're gonna live in my world a little bit, which creates this new thing, and me and him. He'll come over right here, he'll be sitting on this couch right and, uh, right in his bars we play a beat that we both like and then we like co-write this song together and it becomes this cohesive piece of art. And the hook wouldn't have sounded like it did if he didn't have a hand in it, and nor would it the second half, sound like it if I didn't have a hand in it. And the lyrics? We bounce the lyrics off of each other.
Vin Jay:We know generally what we wanted to say, but there's really poetic ways to say certain things. So we're like oh, that's what we want to say, but it's not resonating like it could, right? So I think it's that. I think when art is collaborative, it's intoxicating man. I love creating by myself and that's its own thing, but when you collaborate with someone. It's just, it's two creative minds coming together to make something out of thin air, and that's its own beautiful experience.
Aaron Pete:I couldn't agree more. It's so interesting when you start talking about it, because it's a world that's hard to understand, because there's a process that goes into it that listeners very rarely get to see behind the curtain on Another piece, just because we're talking about Arizona is you're obviously linked in with Futuristic as well, and he recently dropped an album, and one of the main pieces of that that I found interesting was that he talked about how he really inspired people to come to Arizona and he kind of helped create that space, and I'm wondering if you could just talk about that impact.
Vin Jay:Yeah, so Futuristic is a businessman, bro.
Vin Jay:He's an incredible artist, but he's also a businessman and he's always got something new going on, some new endeavor, and he was signing people in 2019 and, uh, flying them out here to do like a three-song deal where you shoot some pranks and it drops on big dawes's channel as your music video drops to get it a little more buzz.
Vin Jay:And I came out here and just to shoot those videos and just seeing the way he operated was so inspiring because it's like it was more than just I'm in my bedroom, I make a song and I upload it to the Internet and I make some money, right, that's cool and that's a lot of people's like dream job, but there is a lack of fulfillment in that, although it's an incredible job job.
Vin Jay:So when I came out here and just saw like the fire that he was moving with and the optimism and opportunity he saw in all these different situations, all I what I felt mainly was like I've, in my hometown, never hung around someone that really made me want to do better like that, and I think that was a defining moment for me, cause I was like it showed me how important it was to not be, um like the biggest fish in the pond, right, you should be surrounding yourself with people who you perceive to be doing better than you and not get um feel diminished by that, but inspired. So that inspiration was new for me, cause in my hometown I was the one who was doing that right. So coming out here I was like there's so many people striving for exactly what I'm striving for.
Aaron Pete:And that really made me come out here.
Aaron Pete:Yeah, because Joe Rogan's talked about this with the comedy scene as well that it used to be super competitive.
Aaron Pete:People were fighting for those late night spots where they're hosting a show, and so there was this idea that you're all competing against each other rather than creating like a community and an environment where somebody else's success doesn't actually take away from you, it inspires you, is this, is there's this american dream and it seems like overall, at scale, it's easier for americans to appreciate somebody else's success without thinking that it takes away from them. And we have this idea within canada, and I think the uk and I've heard australia has it where there's this poppy flower mentality, where if you grow too high, people want to tear you down because we're all kind of in the same boat and the second you're above, it takes away from them or it says they didn't follow their dreams and now you're a representation of all of the dreams and the ambitions and the goals they didn't actually chase after, and now they can't look at you or they don't want to look at you, or they want to tear you down because now you're representing the things they didn't end up becoming.
Vin Jay:They want to tear you down because now you're representing the things they didn't end up becoming. Yeah, I think it's an ego thing, dude. I'm not even sure if it's specific to to location, like that. I think I've met artists who are super into collaborating and just want OK, crypt is a good example. Right, he got a serious buzz and immediately he starts hosting cyphers with underground artists and things of that nature. But then I know other artists who are they're happy, they have their success, but now they act like they have that success and they don't need to really fuck with anybody because, because they don't need to right, they got it by themselves and whatever. So I think, um, it's just a person to person thing and it they say right, like money and success, or money specifically, is an amplifier, right, it's just whoever you, whatever type of person you are, is going to make you more of that. And I see when great people get success, they want to spread it, and when some people get success, it turns them into an egomaniac.
Aaron Pete:How do you balance that? Because, of course, lots of people are going to reach out to you, they're going to want to work with you and you have to be selective enough where you know that it makes sense for you, but you also don't want to like discourage people from from putting their hand on, saying, hey, would you mind, is there an opportunity here? And like you don't. You don't want to be hard on people, but you also you can't say yes to everything. How do you process that?
Vin Jay:Yeah. So I'm generally really good at that. It's I don't care if you have one fan or a million fans. If you send me a song and it's really good, I'm going to get on it, because if I can uplift your life just by putting a song, a verse on your song, and it's already really good, why wouldn't I do that? That's fulfilling for me. That's not me like giving a handout. That sounds way better, that uh to me than just sitting in here and making my own song.
Vin Jay:Now, on the flip side, when there's people who want me to get on their song because they're a fan and their music is just not up to par yet they haven't put in the hours right or maybe it's just not for them, telling them that is a little tougher. But I'll usually just say something along the lines of like this one isn't for me. You feel me? Because even with big artists, artists have sent me songs that are good and I'm just like this isn't the one for me, because it's a vibe thing, right? Sometimes I'm just not resonating with the song and I could force lyrics on it for you, but that's not going to do anything for the song.
Aaron Pete:What do you think the biggest mistake artists make is yeah, not finding their own voice.
Vin Jay:I think we all get inspired by a lot of artists coming up and we initially sound like them, but I think to stick with a sound that is just derivative of another artist is the biggest mistake you could make, because everyone can make music now, so you need to stand out with something. I don't think there's any shame in sounding like your inspirations in the beginning, but somewhere along your journey you need to stand out with something. I don't think there's any shame in sounding like your inspirations in the beginning, but somewhere along your journey you need to find your own voice.
Aaron Pete:You went on tour. What was that like?
Vin Jay:It was equally incredible and draining. I um, I've my entire life I've had social anxiety and my biggest fear was public speaking. Forever up until the moment I went on tour. And uh, but that's the reason I went on tour. I said, you know, I this is my biggest fear in the world and I I refuse to let this be my ceiling, like this one little thing is going to dictate how far I go for the rest of my life. I'm going to look back on my deathbed and say, imagine if I did that, what doors would that have opened? And I'd rather face a little bit of potential embarrassment than feel that regret. It's like if you think the price of failing is high, the price of fucking doing nothing is way higher. So it was.
Vin Jay:It was on some personal development. Shit is why I went on tour. I said this will be good for me, I'll be a better person because of it. And and it shook a lot of the public speaking anxiety for me I just did a show with Massaman in Rhode Island a few days ago and the lack of nerves I had before that show was like new for me. But I think it's just, if you're willing to fail publicly, you can push through anything. Now, how was tour though? It was a month-long bender is what it was month-long bender is what it was okay.
Aaron Pete:So I want to get to your journey to rhode island.
Aaron Pete:But first, one of the things you had talked about when we last spoke was about how you were prepping and you were putting in the work in the hours so that it would all flow so naturally going into it.
Aaron Pete:And I just watched joe rogan's uh recent comedy special and he actually in an interview talks about how he was just prepping and he was listening to it and he was just getting because he did it live on Netflix, like there was no second takes on that. So he was really trying to prepare and I find that so admirable. But I do feel like that's often where people miss out on that spark, that opportunity, where you kind of see like, hey, this might be my moment or this might open doors, and then they don't grind and they don't put in the work. How rewarding was it to be able to see that all of that effort, all of that time really helped you go out there and you knew what you were going to do and you were able to deliver, because I think that's such an important message for people to take in, which is put in the time and the work and then you're able to go on stage or you're able to deliver on your craft.
Vin Jay:Yeah, luck is when preparation meets opportunity. That's all it is. So you know, stay ready. You don't got to get ready. If you are prepared for the life you're asking for, the opportunity is going to present itself. But you can't say I want this, I want this, and not work for it, because the second it comes, what are you going to do? You're not even ready for it. You can't even capitalize on the moment you're asking for. So I think people need to get really specific in their brains about what they want, so they can start taking the actions that will allow them to be ready for when that opportunity comes.
Vin Jay:Is that manifesting? Yeah, yeah, for sure. A manifesting gets a bad rep, right? Because it's like, oh, if you just think what you want, it's going to come to you. It's way more than that. It's like find out what you want, be specific and then if we could simplify it right find out who you want to be and then start being that fucking person every day, because then you're going to turn into that person. I want to be rich and I want to have a six pack, right? Okay, what would a rich person with a six pack do? Every fucking day? Do that, starting now, every day. Eventually, you're going to be that person.
Aaron Pete:Exactly Rhode Island, the prep, the video that you guys put together I'm going to be dorky here for a second, but it reminded me so much of when you watch, like Avengers, infinity war or end game, where, like, the team comes together and all these cool people that you listen to that have featured on each other's songs are all coming together. Can you talk about doing that Rhode Island trip and having all these great independent artists putting in the work come together and do a song together and do a show together?
Vin Jay:Yeah, so I was friends with a few of them before the show had happened, and who didn't, I know, at the show. I didn't know Casey personally. I never met Massetti, a few people I didn't know Right. So you never know, with that large of a group of people, what the energy is going to be like. But when I tell you, everyone there was such, it was such a humble group and everyone just had the same intention. It was like we're all here together, we all came to have a good time and we're gonna put on a hell of a show. So we had, uh, this airbnb that we stayed at during the day and then a few of us kind of parted ways.
Vin Jay:But it was just nice to uh, to be around a group of artists that are that down to earth because, like I said, said before, some people think they're they're bigger than they are, so to speak. So, yeah, bunch of humble dudes. We all showed up for Massaman, cause at the end of the day he put the show on and we all just wanted to show out for him, cause he's such a solid dude, and everyone did their thing. Man, I think everyone had fun, including the people in the crowd. We had family. My family came out from Long Island. Nico Massaman's family is in RI, so they were there. It just felt like such a loving collective energy that was in that room, from the artists to the crowd.
Aaron Pete:Can you tell us about the song Look at Me Now, because you did that with Massaman and gone.
Vin Jay:Yeah, so that's one that he reached out to me, for Nico knows, when he makes a certain type of song, he's like this is I want Vinjay on this, because he knows my style. It's like aggressive and fast and all that shit. So he reached out to me, I laid the verse for him and there's one thing that Nico does when I say Nico, it's Massive man, by the way, these nico does. When I say nico, it's massive man, by the way. These are my friends, so it's weird to call them by their rapper names yeah, um, and every time I uh do a song with him, he does, he goes all out for music videos.
Vin Jay:My guy shoots movies for music videos, so I love featuring with him because I'm like this is, the videos are always so fun, um, so, yeah, we flew out there, shot a music video and, uh, it was good, but in terms of the song, it's just, it's that bossed up energy man. I used to think that there was no meaning behind songs that just maybe hype you up, right, but we've spoke about this previously. It's like that's important, dude. Some people need motivation. Some people feel stuck on their couch or in their position in life, and if I could just get their blood pumping, to make them fucking get up and walk, or inspire them to take one action because they're motivated. Boom, that's a superpower, baby.
Aaron Pete:I couldn't agree more and just to build on that, I think one of the challenges for people like myself is I don't necessarily have a peer who's doing more than me. Like I am on council for my First Nation community, I have a full-time job, I'm hosting this podcast, I've started a consultancy company. Like I'm doing a lot and like I'm happy to be doing that, but I need to find people who are doing just as much or who can add fuel to the fire that can keep me going. Now, of course, my partner does that, but, like a lot of my friends, when I'm just chatting with them, they're like, yeah, it's been a long day, and I'm like, oh, what did you do? I just worked my job and it's like, okay, that's not a bad thing.
Aaron Pete:But like you're not going to convince me I need to work harder because you're not working as hard as me. So add that fuel of like hey, you got to keep going, you can't slow down and it's so easy to start to skip out on taking care of yourself physically when you're doing all of the other things. And so individuals like yourself who add that fuel, who are like I'm still getting after it. It's 7 pm, I should be going to bed or I should be relaxing. Now I I'm going to keep going. Those are the type of voices you need when you're a person trying to set an example or trying to lead the way for your kind of community of friends and family.
Vin Jay:I 100% agree, bro. It sounds like you need to move out to Arizona. That's what I'm saying. Join the crew, bro.
Vin Jay:But yeah, I agree, man, if you have those big ambitions right, it's. It's like a requirement to make sure that what you're intaking is always fueling that vibration of ambition, because it's so we're asking for top tier stuff here. And to always be driven enough to act in a way that will get you what you want is difficult, bro. It's like almost inhuman. To be that driven all the time. We have highs and lows and ebbs and flows and to, I guess, for lack of a better word ignore those moments where we want to just relax is difficult.
Vin Jay:But I always say to all my friends who tell me they want more but don't act as such, I tell them you don't want it as bad as you think you want it. You say you want it, but it requires sacrifice, sacrifice and and man, I heard a quote about it the other day it's like they think the sacrifice you have to make for a life like that is like too much, right, but the sacrifice for not chasing anything is is that, is that life is a better life? You think that you're not making a sacrifice by staying stagnant, right? Well, if I just don't do that, then I don't need to make a sacrifice. The sacrifice you're making is a better life, and I think a lot of people mistake that, that they think there's stagnancy in this world. There's no such thing as stagnancy. You are growing or you are decaying, and I think once you could land on that, you move a little differently. I couldn't agree more, and I think once you could land on that, you move a little differently.
Aaron Pete:I couldn't agree more. And I think the best example of that is our economies right now, because inflation is taking place, which means if you're staying at the same job that same stable job you recognize maybe you're making 25 bucks an hour. The value of what you're making is deteriorating. So you need to have a plan.
Aaron Pete:So that idea that, like I'm just going to stay at this job, that's making me less and less money because inflation is taking place, well, that's just not an option, because you're actually losing money every single day. You're staying in that job because your buying power is reducing every day you go, you drive by oh, they up that 20 cents. Oh, they'd up that a dollar. Oh, now my Big Mac is more expensive than it used to be. Like everything is working against you. So you need to be figuring out how you're going to get out of that. And I find so many people are sitting there going like, well, if I just stay here, like this is what I know, but it's like, well, actually your value is going down and you need to be doing something, or you're going to end up in a circumstance in 10 years where you've only been at this dead end job for too long, you have no opportunities and you're just hoping that staying stagnant would be okay. But it's just not, particularly in this economy.
Vin Jay:Yeah, first of all, you are talking my language right now. You have no. If I had to list my top three passions, it's music, finance and fitness, in that order. So the economy, bro. It is mathematically rigged. Fiat currency is mathematically rigged. They need to print more forever to finance the government's debt. They're never going to stop printing. It's either keep printing or break the economy, and they're not going to break the economy. We're never defaulting on this debt. So they print into infinity. Things get more expensive for infinity. You need to buy hard assets. You want to invest in stocks cool. Uh, real estate cool. But bitcoin's the answer. And that's a.
Aaron Pete:That's a four-hour podcast, right there okay, let's not dive too deep into the rabbit hole, but I listen to robert breed love, who are some of your voices that you listen to.
Vin Jay:For finance, yeah uh, let's see, because I'm a big a bitcoin guy and bitcoin encompasses the entire entirety of macroics, because to understand it, you need to understand what money is, why it's messed up, so on and so forth. Michael Saylor is the CEO of MicroStrategy. I listen to him a lot. He's a big Bitcoin advocate. Anthony Pompliano I listen to a little bit. What's his name? The CEO of strike jack mallers. I think he's incredible. Yeah, a few of them interesting.
Aaron Pete:Yeah, I recommend robert breedlove. He did a four and a half hour episode with lex friedman and they go through what is money? Where does it come from, how do we think about it? And, like, I go back and listen to it, probably once a year, because you just you don't like, even if you remove bitcoin, you just like you don't understand money and you don't understand the process of purchasing something.
Aaron Pete:And I often say, like, everybody talks about how, like, people don't always vote or or only 40 of the population actually vote, so like, is that really a democracy if not everybody's giving their voice, but people do vote every, every single time they purchase something, because you're basically voting up or down, voting everything that you interact with every single day, and you're saying ikea is good or you're saying walmart is good, and and we have these processes of kind of figuring it out and that's our economy, that's how we all operate, but we kind of divorce ourselves from that and feel like we're being controlled by the companies, when really I think we need to own the fact we have control over them, because if we do boycott a company Budweiser being kind of the big one, that kind of people still probably remember it has a huge impact and it will change the decisions they make, because your vote through how you purchase, really matters.
Vin Jay:Oh yeah, vote with your dollar, bro. If you think they are just, it's like an algorithm on social media. They are just following our lead with what we're paying for and then they say we're just going to do more of this and they like this. This helped the business, whatever. If you start voting with your dollars, watch how quickly you shift what's going on, and there's definitely power in voting for who you want in politics and things of that nature. But if everyone started using their dollars for the sake of changing the way the world operates, it would be way quicker than voting in a politician A or b, because money runs the fucking world. Their campaigns are run by dollars. You want to vote vote with your dollars anything you don't like or what it's associated with then don't shop there. But that requires education on one, the financial system, the economy and then also what these large corporations have their hand in. And is that causing something that you don't like that's happening in the world? That is how you vote with your dollars and make your voice heard.
Aaron Pete:And then you also vote when you play music. Right, when you hit a song, you're choosing to upvote that because then it's going to be put out to more and more people and more and more people are going to be able to hear it. You did your song with Gone and Mercules and it was God damn.
Vin Jay:Would you mind telling me about how that song came about? Yeah, I think we spoke about that one on the last podcast, but we could touch on it. It's it was a quick one. Gone hit me up. He wanted me on the song because it was a fast rap record and and yeah, and we did a trade Gone gives me. I love featuring with Gone because it's easy, breezy. I give him a verse for free, he gives me a verse for free and then we're out here am I slipping?
Aaron Pete:did we talk about that one before?
Vin Jay:we did on the last podcast I might be slipping a little bit.
Aaron Pete:The other one that I want to be able to talk about is the. It came out right after we did our interview and I was like, oh, this would have been fantastic a conversation with my younger self. Could you talk about that song?
Vin Jay:Yes. So when I was younger is when most of my life-shaping trauma happened. Right, and I've made a song about it to an extent. In Breakdown, that's the song I touched on it most. But when I heard the beat for Conversation With my Younger Self, it just felt like a storytelling record and yeah, and then I guess the idea just came to me.
Vin Jay:I was like, well, instead of just focusing on that dark time, what would I say to that person now? Right, cause, it's like. It's like I'm who right now. I am the person I needed back then. That's who I needed was me right now. So I was like, look, I wanted to tell my younger self that, even though things seem really dark right now, all the things you're asking for in this life, these experiences, are what is going to shape you into the person you're asking to become, and you would not have enough substance as a human being or a weathered soul to even speak on if I gave you that position that you're asking for. So all this shit you're going through right now, not only is it necessary, I'm going to make you more empathetic and all of these things and a more humble person, but you want to be a rapper, a musician. You need this as ammo to be able to resonate with other people who hurt. If you want this superpower you're asking for, I got to put you through the fire a little bit.
Aaron Pete:What was it like to kind of put those thoughts together, because rarely do people slow down to look at the trauma they went through as a young person and try and kind of untangle it so they can actually process it and figure out how it might add value or where they can put the load down and put that cross down and carry on.
Vin Jay:What was that like Well, I've been aware I guess we're all subconsciously aware of our traumas from the past.
Vin Jay:But when you start to dive deeper into it, especially for the sake of making a song that can resonate with others, you kind of start to uncover things that you knew probably had a hand in your trauma, probably had a hand in your trauma, but you don't realize how large of a hand they had in the whole spider web of things until you start writing them down and connecting your life in a linear fashion from a bird's eye view. So I think it's similar to journaling where it's like wow, I knew I was sad when that happened, but I didn't realize the effects it had that connected to so many other things and caused so many other actions that then led to further action and so on and so forth. So it's very healing and eye-opening and I think when you are that vulnerable with yourself, it inspires others to look deep into themselves as well and potentially heal their own trauma and not be afraid to stare it in the face, because they know it will take the weight off their shoulders if they do.
Aaron Pete:If somebody said like I'd like to do this for myself, I'd like to look in words and start to figure this out, how would you recommend they go about it? Because it sounds so therapeutic to kind of sit down, maybe write down the things that you've been through and kind of figure out what you take away from them, or those things that stand out as kind of clear memories. But what would your advice be for somebody who's like I want to do this for myself?
Vin Jay:Right, so I will start here Full disclosure. This is not how I did it, but the way I did it. I don't recommend to everybody, and we can get into that later. I think you already know how I did it, but to start, I think we avoid our traumas and bury them so much, especially our past traumas, the ones that are 10, 20 years ago. I think we bury them and they just turn into bitterness or fear and they manifest negatively and something that nobody does, and I think you should, because it will open your eyes. I've done this once.
Vin Jay:As you get a piece of paper and you write down the things that hurt you, that cut the deepest to you, that hurt the most, the actions of yours that you regret the most, I want you to stare your demons in their face, because when you see all of the things that have hurt you and, uh, you regret, on one piece of paper staring you in your face, it all becomes a lot clearer and smaller, because it's this thing you can. Visualize is not the word I'm looking for. Conceptualize it's like, wow, this is all of it, as opposed to this storm in my mind of them dancing all together and I can't even find out why or where they're connecting. So, all of a sudden, all of your negative internal emotions turn into a few words on a piece of paper. And now you just turn this giant, larger than life anxiety into something you can hold in your hand. And then you can also go a step further and break them down and see, maybe look for the silver lining in them.
Vin Jay:Well, this was horribly negative because of this, but there's two sides to every coin. How did that shape me and were there benefits of the way it shaped me right? Did it make me wiser in scenarios like this? So I would say start with writing down all that stuff. And the real conclusion of this is stop burying and running from all the stuff that is hindering you. Look it in the face. It's not going to hurt you more than it already is. Look at it and get to the root of it. You're going to feel a weight off your chest.
Aaron Pete:I like that. I do think one of the challenges I guess I have personally is that I'll use it for fuel at certain moments, but I don't really want to confront it that badly. Like I'll think about maybe, like oh, teachers didn't think I I was gonna graduate high school and now I have a law degree. I kind of just go, haha, like I did it and I don't really like process what that meant for that person at that time or how that shaped this feeling of needing to keep going and keep moving forward. I just kind of go like well, like I got through it more. Okay, so let's just like keep going, rather than kind of sitting with it and figuring out like what does that mean and maybe what were the negative impacts of it.
Vin Jay:Yeah, I think something you said resonated with me. So one of my uh, uh, uh I won't call it a fear, but sure A bigger fear of mine is like, well, it's this struggle all the time of like I want to feel inner peace, cause I never feel like I'm doing enough. But then the other side of it is like but if I start to feel inner peace, will my ambition be gone? Right, and that is a that is a hard thing to carry, but I had a moment in my life where I was the happiest I'd ever been, and I think it is a shitty mindset to say, well, that is the driver, and if I lose that, I will not be driven anymore.
Vin Jay:Who says pure bliss and happiness can't be your motivator to do things that are inspiring. So why not let go of the trauma? Right, and why does the trauma need to be the motivator? Sadhguru said it. He says some lady in the audience says you know, you say competition isn't like a great motivator, but I have a friend who graduated from blah, blah, blah and it inspired me so much to do better and I actually did make myself better because of that competition.
Vin Jay:Well, so what do you say to that? And he said there's this uh uh celebration, this festival that we used to have in India, right, and what they would do is like tie a firework to a donkey's tail Right, and they would set it off. And he's like, and the donkey would run faster than a horse, right the stallion, this thing would go off. He's like is that a proper way to inspire and motivate life? He's like there are other ways to do so. And that's all I'm saying. I'm not neglecting or debating the fact that there's a value in maybe negative emotion, negative emotions driving you to become successful, but I'm saying it's not the only answer and it just so happens that that is the driving force for a lot of people.
Aaron Pete:I couldn't agree more. One of my favorite songs. You came on and you were like I've got some big things coming. I've been cooking and then you drop chop, which I really, really love. I think like it's becoming more clear to me what I like, because it's that back and forth between you, like I think that that's so cool because it's again it's it's having a narrative, but you're passing it back and forth and it's staying on point, but you're sharing it and you're both keeping the flow going and I just find that so inspiring and motivating and, like whatever that is, there's a fuel to it that I really really appreciate. Could you talk about this and the EP coming soon?
Vin Jay:Yeah, so this actually ties into what we were speaking about earlier. I went on tour to ease my anxiety, right. But something else that pushed me was like if I learned anything from moving my life across the country is that if you go into completely new environments, completely new doors open and new things happen. So I said, if nothing else, if I get nothing else out of this tour, even if I hate it, it's going to open doors. Okay, and I got a collab EP with Chris Calico. If nothing else, I got a collab EP with Chris Calico and became good friends with him as well. So it's like, dude, new doors open from new stuff.
Vin Jay:So went on the tour with chris, we became really good friends and we started talking. I was like, bro, we should, you know, do a collab ep if you're trying to really get after it. He was down. We get back to uh, you know our states and all that fun stuff. And we had one, one song finished one. And he hits me up, bro, and he's like so I'm trying to fly out like the 27th and we could shoot the videos for this. I'm like, dude, that's 11 days from now. You want to make an entire EP in 11 days. He's like I'm down if you are. And I was like, all right, I guess we're doing this.
Vin Jay:So for the next 11 days I lived in this studio, bro, 15 hour days just sending shit back and forth with Chris, and we crafted the whole EP in 11 days. And right before it was done, we had everything but the song Chop. And I said to him bro, this EP is called Chop, our fans want us to attack a beat together. That's what they want from us. So we got to do it. I said back and forth, chopper, we'll start with four bars of pop and then it'll get smaller, smaller, smaller and it'll just ramp up the entire time. And he's like run it.
Vin Jay:So I found a sample that I liked, put some drums behind it, sent it off to a real producer and said make this sound good, right? And yeah and uh, yeah, wrote all my parts, sent it off to him and I said fill in the blanks. And boom, fucking chop. And we've only dropped two songs so far. But chop went crazy, especially compared to the second song. So it's like I know what the fans want. You feel me, I was, because the thing I was like this is what we're missing. I drop it 100k in freaking 10 days.
Aaron Pete:That's wild. I really enjoy that. Bde is fantastic. Can you tell us what songs are going to be on there?
Vin Jay:Yeah, yeah, I can. I don't know how much it's going to mean to you because they're just names, but I could describe them a bit for you.
Aaron Pete:You're pretty good at naming things. I'll say Thank you.
Vin Jay:So it's Chop BDE, and this is in no particular order. Chop is first, though. Chop BDE. We have a song called Ball Out that is dropping a week from today. It's a very hype record. We did a music video where it's a comedic music video, where we're dressed like basketball players from the 70s Short, short sweatbands and goggles. It's hysterical. I'm battling him, I'm battling him and battling him. I'm playing him and I don't know how to play basketball at all in the video and so I'm doing like crazy shots and like traveling and walking with the ball in between my legs and stuff. That's going to be super funny. And we got another song called Champ, which is kind of like a drill record Sliding 808s really nice vibe. Sonically it sounds great. Uh, we have a sorry, what's?
Aaron Pete:what's a drill record?
Vin Jay:oh drill is a style of rap. Are you familiar with pop smoke?
Aaron Pete:no, I clearly have no idea what's going on wow.
Vin Jay:Well, okay, after this podcast, look up the song. Uh, dior by pop smoke. Okay, and the beat is what I'm talking about when I say drill, not necessarily the context of the record. So, yeah, that's a vibey drill record. We have a song called Bussin' which is just talking about like this shit is bussin', meaning like this shit's going crazy. That's just a little more trappy, smooth style. What else? That's Chop BDE, champ Bussin'. We have a song called Famous which says I don't want to be famous. And yeah, that's a cool one. We both chop on the verses on that. That's a little more uppity energy. It's from the same producer who made Sedona, so it's got the vocals in there. And if I, we got one more Chop BDE, champ Bussin, famous Dude, I should know this.
Aaron Pete:Let me see, I'll just get, I'll just pull this up.
Vin Jay:Yeah, hold on, I got it right here, chop, that's crazy that I don't know child famous. No, putting so much music together, man it's hard to keep up, you know maybe, oh, maybe it is just five. I lied chop bde ball out, famous boston. I guess it's five.
Aaron Pete:Could have sworn what what stands out to you about chris, like what? What do you enjoy about his music or his style?
Vin Jay:he's so versatile dude. He can rap his ass off with the best of them and he can sing. He can really sing. He's got a range in singing like I've never heard. He can like sing all the way down here and then hit high notes like freaking Mariah Carey. It's the craziest thing I've ever heard.
Aaron Pete:That's what I noticed about BDE. Some of his rhyming schemes were also like, so unique, like words that you wouldn't think somebody would try and rhyme. And that somewhat reminds me of Eminem, of like taking a word that's like unreasonable to try and rhyme, and then trying to do it seven times and find different ways to fit the word in, like that's very impressive.
Vin Jay:Yeah, he's talented man. He's been doing this forever at the highest level. You know he's got. He's on a song with several songs with Tech. He's on songs with Tech, has a song with Lil Wayne, t-pain Eminem like. Name him, bro. He's a legend. And what else is coming soon After the EP. I'm starting and I haven't announced this yet. Actually, on socials I may have in captions and stuff, but I'm starting to roll out my album.
Aaron Pete:I have a long We've been waiting so long.
Vin Jay:I know, bro, I've turned into quite the perfectionist in my later years. So for me to call something an album, I need to be so proud of it. I can't just put average songs on a CD and call it an album, because I need to look back at it and be like this shit was a piece of art. So I've been hoarding all my good music for the past two years and they're saved for the album. So let's see how long the album is, man. It is. As of right now, it's 18 songs. Granted, there are some songs on it that have been released already because they needed a home. Like King of the Jungle no Excuses, sedona, you feel me. There's home. Like king of the jungle, no excuses. Uh, sedona, you feel me. There's some ones on here that have been out, but they need to be on this project, right so I think there's probably like if it's 18 songs, probably like 14 of them are unreleased I'm so excited I've been waiting so long.
Aaron Pete:I think you're probably one of my favorite independent artists who's really like the human experience, like that's timeless to me. Like I can't see how that, like in 20 years I can go back there because it's the story, it's the way that it was organized, it was very just, it was very thoughtful and really speaks to like some of the interactions and challenges you'll have with your family, with growing, with developing. Like I think a big thing so many people are starting to realize is like some people that you invite over to your house or you have Christmas dinner with, they're not on your team, they want you to stay mediocre or they hate and this goes back to the other discussion like they hate the thing that's making you successful. Like it's been so interesting to see.
Aaron Pete:I have moments where it's like every a certain group of people will see my success or see something. They're like, wow, that is actually good. And some people just they get resentful about it, they get upset, and it's just like that's so sad for you that you see this that way and like I have to disconnect from you for my own self-interest, because, like I can't have you just tearing me down or being upset because I'm on the right track. So I thought that was so beautifully put together. What would you say the theme of this upcoming album is?
Vin Jay:so it's hard. It's hard to give it a theme, right, but but they all. When I listen back to my albums it really captures as opposed to theme, more so like a moment in time in my life and I never realized how much these moments vary from each other until years pass and I have sat with them and I'm like, wow, prophecy sounds so different from human experience and I remember vividly what my mind state was like during both. And then karma is so dark and it sounds so different from both of those other two. That was when I was really like facing my demons and putting them on the records and on top of that I was signed to a label for that EP. So I'm trying to show out for the label and just the different motivators that were there for everything.
Vin Jay:Prophecy I just got on. I just got on. It was my first album and Human Experience. I had just changed my whole life with a damn mushroom trip and now my music's starting to change and it's the first album I made in Arizona. It's crazy. Karma's the first one I made in my new house, my first house. This one is like man. This one is the highest of highs and the lowest of lows Like it has, like running is on there, so it's really got his dark moments. But then it also has me crawling out of hell on some of these songs where it talks about those moments but also is like fuck that. So I think it is my most experienced sounding music.
Aaron Pete:I am so excited. There is not a better trailer for an album than that. I was climbing out of hell is a hell of a way to put it.
Vin Jay:Hell yeah, hell yeah. It's just I want. I can't tell you the name of the album yet, but the first song on the album is called Glory. It's out of control.
Aaron Pete:Oh, do we have a date?
Vin Jay:is called glory, it's, it's out of control. Oh, do we have a date? Ah, so for the album? Yes, we do not, not yet, but I do have a date for the first single which is with me and gone, and that is track number two on the album. And you know what track number two sound like? Those things go fucking nuts, um, and it's called goat and it is out of control dude, one of like so good, and we have a date for that? I think so. Yeah, so if the ep drops the 6th of september, this drops a week later, so the 13th oh, so you're just going on a run oh yeah, I don't give a shit, dude, I'm fucking releasing music until this year is over every two weeks.
Vin Jay:I don't give a shit, okay.
Aaron Pete:Just out of curiosity, is there any strategy to when you you particularly release music? Because, like I'll be honest, the dark and moody Music dropping in fall just makes sense. But some people they be dropping in June, a really dark, moody song and it's like, hey, it's sunny outside, like this is not the vibe that I'll be getting down to it. This seems like the perfect time to be dropping, in june, a really dark, moody song and it's like, hey, it's sunny outside, like this is not the vibe that I'll be getting down to and this seems like the perfect time to be dropping this music yeah.
Vin Jay:So now you're getting into psychology and marketing, which is very smart and all artists should do, but we're also artists and emotional creatures, but we just like creating things and throwing it at the world, right, um, with this album, I know I marketing is very smart and you should do it like that for me. I get so much fulfillment out of this shit and albums are so few and far between for me that I am just so excited to have this amount of art that I'm proud of and I want to share with the world. And they say you shouldn't drop around holiday time. Like big artists do not drop around holidays because it just doesn't perform as well no one does. From drake to joe schmoe in his bedroom. Everyone's streaming goes down during holidays. But dude, I'm just ready.
Vin Jay:Like nothing sounded more exciting to me than after the me dropping what I consider like my average songs for so long. Nothing sounded more exciting to me than I'm going to drop a song every two weeks with Chris Calico, hit them with an EP and then, immediately after, hit them with an album for the first time in fucking. What is it? March 2023? Year and a half, two years, right. Two years right. And on top of that, the music that it is on the album is so top tier like like hey, I know I've been gone, I know I've been dropping little average bedroom tracks, but watch this I'm I'm unrelenting for the next however many months I'm so excited.
Aaron Pete:I feel the exact same way. I'm sitting on a few interviews that I'm getting ready to drop. I have a videographer cleaning up the intros and outros, like Like I'm really trying to figure out how to grow this thing and how to get excited about it. But keeping it a secret like not posting about it, not talking about it can be such a challenge. But it feels at times like you're on a roller coaster and you're on that like uphill and then you get ready to drop and it's like it's an exciting experience because you get to see the world's reaction. How are you feeling about all of this?
Vin Jay:I think having something to look forward to is 90% of being happy. So I'm very, very excited about all this. I'm finally. I'm in the phases now. I have a toxic trait of having 10 songs unfinished and then going to make a new one. So it's nice to be wrapping all of these up and getting the mixes done, and once all these are done, once the album is finished being mixed, then I can start creating new things, feeling on um, what's the word like? Not hindered by the weight of the fact that I've unfinished work. So yeah, wrapping up the album and then I get to create in my leisure, because not only is that finished, but the amount of time it's going to take for all of it to release gives me no pressure in what I'm currently creating, as opposed to I need to get a song done. I haven't dropped in a month. I have nothing ready to drop. It's like, bro, I got four months of music ready to drop and I can just take my time to make dope shit now.
Aaron Pete:I can't wait, vin. It's always a pleasure to sit down with you because even in the conversation you're adding fuel. You're getting me all excited. You're like I need to start stepping up my game, I need to get to work. I'm super excited, I'm so happy for you. You sound like you're in such a good place right now and I just I want to commend you for that, because you've been putting in such good work. It's such an example for other creators.
Aaron Pete:But you have a methodical way of going about things. You're very philosophical in what you're trying to bring to people and I think that's the secret sauce to so much of this is it needs to be coming from a real place, and you're always doing that, and so I appreciate you always being willing to take the time. I send you a message hey, do you want to hop back on? And you're like, of course, it's so nice to be able to have those people to catch up with and have a friendly conversation where I'm not just kind of doing question and answer, question and answer. We kind of get into a flow going here and I just really appreciate that.
Vin Jay:Oh yeah, I appreciate this every time, bro. I have a lot of fun every single time. I think the next one we got to do it in person, Whether I have to or you're coming here. We got to figure it out. We'll fly tim out here let's do it.
Aaron Pete:I couldn't agree more. We have to do the next one in person again, I appreciate it. How can people follow your music?
Vin Jay:uh, real vin j on instagram, on all streaming platforms, first and foremost, it's just vin j v-i-n space j-a-y. Instagram's real vin j. Facebook is vin j. Tiktok is real vin j music. It's like my third tiktok, I don't even know anymore. But yeah, just search Vinjay, you'll find me.
Aaron Pete:He's the king of the jungle. I appreciate you sitting down today. I really recommend people go check out your music because it's so inspiring. It gets me going when I'm going for a run, but it also encourages me when I've got a bunch of paperwork or documents to write up, and I appreciate all the ideas you put forward and the passion you give to people, so I can't wait to chat again.
Vin Jay:Likewise.
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