BREAKING Secrets to MUSICAL Domination | Post Malone's Rise

If you're looking for ways to find your passion, push yourself, and prove people wrong, then this video is for you.

You think that, that you're a one-hit wonder or whatever, and just take that and, you know, just make something that can prove people wrong.

I picked up Guitar Hero and I was shredding on that expert mode. I had like the elbow when you hit the thing with your elbow, and I felt super cool. So I told my mom, give me a guitar. And that's, you know, from then that's where I really wanted to make music.

Who's to say that I can't make a hip-hop project and make a guitar song at the same time? Who's to say that? Everybody's so closed-minded.

Need motivation? Watch a top 10 with Believe Nation. What's up? It's Evan. My one word is believe, and I believe in you. I believe you have an amazing gift inside you that I want to see explode out into the world. So let's get your motivation to a 10 and get you believing in you. Grab a snack and chew on today's lessons from a man who went from learning how to play guitar by playing the video game Guitar Hero hero to landing a major record deal and getting number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with his song Rockstar. He's Post Malone, and here's my take on his top 10 rules of success. Enjoy. Rule number 1: Just go for it.

So White Iverson was actually pretty early on, but nobody wanted me to put out White Iverson. They just said, "Wait, wait, like, wait." And I said, "I don't have fucking time to wait. I don't have any money. I don't have anything. Like, what am I gonna lose?" You know? And then I made the album art, the original album art with the 3 and Iverson was in the background, and I put it out the next day, and then it just went bananas. I put the song out, butterflies in my stomach, went to bed, woke up, Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, crazy plays, everything like that. I sat there, I was freaking out, like I was going crazy. I sat there next to the computer and refreshed and refreshed just to see all the fucking views and shit and Google my name and shit and see what's happening. And it was literally like the cheesy, like montage movie come-up scene. I got lucky as fuck, you know? And I love SoundCloud. I think it's such a dope medium for new artists who maybe don't have the experience or any management or any team just to, you know, put something up and see what happens.

I knew it was gonna be big.

I didn't know this big.

Rule number 2: Make it happen.

I just graduated high school, and then I did like half a semester of TCC, and I didn't like it, so I just left and went to LA, you know, with nothing. I moved into a house with my friend from Texas, and, you know, he was doing well, and, you know, I kind of like freeloaded for a while. You know, I'm not proud of that, but, you know, they gave me a room and everything because I was working and they really believed in what I was doing, so I had a room, but everybody wanted the room to be the studio. I left my room and then we built the studio in there. I moved into the closet upstairs. I had an air mattress and a mini fridge and a little clothesline thing. I was folding my jeans on the floor and shirts on the rack.

Rule number 3: Keep pushing yourself. Do you ever get a fear of, I don't have enough ideas?

Do you ever think to yourself, like, what's the next one?

Right.

[Speaker:EVAN_CARMICHAEL] I mean, I thought that way for a long time, and so did everybody else. It was like, oh, one-hit wonder, whatever. And then we put out the new album, and shout out to Quavo and Metro, and we made "Congratulations." And that's bigger than White Iverson has been. And I guess you just got to keep on pushing yourself to make— think that— You're a one-hit wonder or whatever, and just take that and, you know, just make something that can prove people wrong.

Rule number 4, just be yourself.

I always dressed funky. I always loved, like, penny loafers and shit and ripped pants. And in high school, I fucking had my pants all the way fucking down here, and I'd get in trouble all the time. And, you know, I won best dressed in high school and most likely to be famous in high school. Kids at school made fun of me, but I'm all good, Now I'm fucking in GQ and shit.

It was you walking out my door.

At one point I was just like, fuck it. I'm just gonna rock what I like and if people don't like it, fuck them.

So tell me why, girl. Come on.

Yeah, there's new shit. What'd you get here? It's a cow skull with two eagles, but I was too pussy to finish the sides 'cause it hurt like a motherfucker.

Rule number 5, find your passion.

I just love music, you know, and I've always had an appreciation and a love for music, but I didn't know that I wanted to do music until Guitar Hero. I picked up Guitar Hero and I was shredding on that expert mode. I had like the elbow when you hit the thing with your elbow. And I felt super cool, so I told my mom, "Give me a guitar." And from then, that's where I really wanted to make music and keep writing my own songs and express myself. <LYRICS>I'm ballin', I'm ballin', I have the song on you.</LYRICS> I made all my own beats, recorded it on Audacity, the free recording program. I did it all myself. I did it. And Jason, be quiet. I'm trying to record. People in my school loved it, you know, because, you know, I was really just trying to do what I wanted to do, and they was all really supportive of that. So I was like, you know, everybody's telling me to do this, being supportive, so I just want to take it to the next level.

Rule number 6: Figure things out for yourself.

I've never been a confident singer. So have you ever had any singing classes or anything like that? Has anyone ever tried to nudge you? Yeah, they tried to make me do it, but I said, no, I'm gonna sing how I sing. I don't like the way she sings. No, but you pull it off though. There's a style to it. You know, I think, I think that's why you don't want to go to— and I'm not discouraging anybody from learning more and taking classes or anything, but the reason why I never wanted to take a class or take a guitar lesson is because I really wanted to figure it out myself and figure out how I like to do it and what sounds good to me. Because as much as people that— people People will say, why don't you take a class? And you know, I don't want to sound like her. I want to sound like me. I want to be unique. And they'll be like, well, she's not going to tell you to sing like her. She's just going to help you get the best out of your voice. But you know what, if it sounds good to you, then, you know, well, who will— nobody can tell you nothing.

Rule number 7, be happy.

From the beginning of my career and then to where I am right now, it's just growing and getting bigger and better. And I'm getting better and smarter. Learning, but you have to continue. And that's what makes you— I think that's what makes you self-made is because at the end of the day, it's not gonna be about anybody else. It's gonna be about yourself. So if you're happy with what you've done, then you can die happy, you know what I mean?

Rule number 8: Prove people wrong.

Who's to say that I can't make a hip-hop project and, and make a guitar song at the same time? Who's to say that? Everybody's so close-minded. Amongst all this success, there's always gonna be shit. You know, it's definitely different coming into the game as, you know, a white guy. Then everybody's like, "Who the fuck is this dude?" Charlamagne picked on me and shit, and, you know, it's whatever. He don't like me. If you don't like it, don't fucking listen to it.

I want to make great music.

I want to prove people wrong. I want to turn up. I want to show everybody what I'm about. People think I'm just taking advantage of everything, but— I love this shit. Like, this is the shit that I love. This is what I want to do. I love the music. I love making music. I love the people that I'm around. I love my friends and my family and all the people that really stood by me whenever I took the leap to do what I wanted to do. And, you know, no one can really say shit.

Rule number 9: Get a good team. Advice for new artists.

What kind of business advice can you give to new artists? I mean, business-wise, get a good team. Get a team that's not gonna fuck around and make trouble. Get a team that's gonna look out for you, you know, that'll take care of you. Because I think I'm the smartest person alive. I'm the smartest person that I've ever met. But sometimes my decisions aren't very smart. So business-wise, just pick a good team, a good manager, a good engineer. Get everything good and get your sound right and just keep on track. Rock and rolling.

Rule number 10: Have fun.

Hey, Molly, since a baby, there's been sin in my heart. My mama calls me you on TV, says it's a good change. Every scene you were in, so not driven at all. Ever since I was young, they said I won't be nothing. Now they all been saying congratulations. Work so hard, you're off to vacation. They never had the dedication.

People So what I really liked about him was he's always himself, whether it's from his voice to the way he wears his hair to his clothes to his songs. He's himself. You take it or leave it, and he goes all in on that. And I think entrepreneurs in general could use a lot more of that self-belief. There's the one word: self-belief in yourself to go off and and do the thing you wanna do. And not everybody's gonna like it, and that's okay. In terms of the rules, I'm gonna go with rule number 2 as my personal favorite, the make it happen, where he was living in somebody's house and they wanted to turn that into a studio and he said, "Yeah, let's do it." And so he moved into the closet. I think people tend to think they don't have the resources. They don't have the studio, they don't have the money, they don't have the equipment, they don't have the gear, they don't have the team, they don't have the XYZ to be able to go off and do it. Well, here, this guy didn't even have a home and he lost the only room he had So he can get his recording studio up and get his dream off the ground. So he would live in a closet to make that happen. And so what are you willing to sacrifice to go off and get your dream? The ultimate resource is gonna be your resourcefulness. It's never about how many resources you have, it's about how resourceful you will be to make your dreams a reality. And so rule number 2 is my personal favorite. I'd love to know from you guys, do you agree with me? Was rule number 2 the best one, or is there one that you like more? Leave it down in the comments below. I'm really excited to see what you have to say. Now, I made this video because Felipe Ortega asked me to. If there's a famous entrepreneur that you want me to profile next, check out the link in the description and you can go and cast your vote on the request line. I also want to give a quick shout out to David from Soup TV. David, thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word, and posting about it on Twitter. I really appreciate it, man, and I'm so glad you enjoyed the book. So thank you guys again for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever Your one word is much love. I'll see you soon.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Everybody still thinks I'm an industry plant because I just happened so fast. Like, where the hell did he come from? What happened? And, you know, everybody thinks that you got to sell your soul or do some mysterious act or something for it to happen. I'm just a normal— I'm just a normal dude. That just happened. Every label, like, came at me, you know? And I just felt like you have to wait and hold out to see what you really want and what really works for you. And if the vibe is right and the people are right, I think you know automatically. And, you know, when Republic came at me and I met Tyler and everybody over there, I think I just knew automatically. So that's where I wanted to go.

People don't want you to succeed. Do you feel that?

Yeah, everywhere. It's everywhere in every aspect.

Do you get motivated by that?

Yeah.

No, if you don't like me, that's cool. I got hella people that do, and they love me, and I love them, and they're gonna take me, and then we're gonna just fuck on you. So let me give you the one word secret to happiness. One word.

This is all you need to be happy. The most important word ever. If you had to think of Do you have one word that's most important to you or that sums you up or that would be kind of like a little beacon?

Hey Believe Nation, if you want to know what the most important one word is for Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk, Oprah Winfrey, will.i.am, and Howard Schultz, I have a very special secret video for you. Check the description for details.