Travis Scott's TOP 10 Rules for Success | Discover Your Power

Not being accepted is like my whole driver.

Artists need to stop trying to compete with each other. Link up and gain the power. I'm not the artist to just like rap in front of a fucking mic with a DJ behind me and just like try to bore you with my songs.

What's up, Believe Nation? It's Evan. My one word is believe, and I believe in you, and I want to see that great thing that you have inside of you come out so you can help change the world. So to help you on your journey today, we're going to learn from rapper and record producer Travis Scott and my take on his top 10 rules for success. Rule number 8 is my personal favorite, and I'd love to know which one you guys like the best. And as always, guys, as you're watching, if you hear something that really resonates with you, please leave it down in the comments below and put quotes around it so other people can be inspired. And when you write it down, it's much more likely to stick with yourself as well. Enjoy.

If you ever felt like there were times where you wanted to quit or that music wasn't necessarily for you, like you didn't have faith in what you were doing.

Yeah. Hell no.

That's good.

Hell no. Because quitting is never an option.

But have there been times where you've maybe felt like— you talked about being misunderstood before— have there been times where you've maybe felt like people weren't understanding it and then that frustration leads you to maybe not want to continue on that path?

That's the shit that get me going. That type of shit right there. Not being accepted is like my whole driver. Like, people not fucking with me, I just want to prove a point that I'm not as bad as— I just want to know what you don't fuck with, you know, and that's always helpful information. And I get that advice to everybody. Like, if someone— if you feel like quitting is the thing, just channel the quitting to like that extra pump, the second wind.

Jay-Z told me, man, he was like, man, he has a power, you know, and artists need to stop trying to compete with each other. Okay, link up and gain the power, man. He told me something that changed my life. He said we can all obtain money, right, but gaining the power It's some whole another level.

How did he define power versus money?

He said money is something that you can get off the streets, you can get it from corporations. Power is something that no one can take from you. Interesting. He was saying like— Only you can give it away, or only you can lose it. He gave it the perfect example. He was like, I can stand right here and nobody can move me. If I don't want to do this, no one can tell me I can't. If I don't want to have to do a record deal, I ain't got you.

That's true.

You know?

I'm Jay-Z, I hold the power. Kanye West holds the power. Rihanna, she hold the power. He's like, if we just build a chain instead of just trying to compete, we can all have power. If you had to compare yourself, if you could compare yourself to anybody, who would you compare yourself to? Or would you— who would you say the sound that you kind of follow or that you listen to? Um, I listen to like mad like Björk or like, um, MGMT type of music. Uh, you know Comparison, I really, I say back in the day I used to like compare myself to like the likes of like an M.I.A. or like a Kid Cudi or like a Kanye. But now it's kind of like I took, I like created my own sound and like wave and you know cult following and shit. So like, you know, I don't really compare myself to anybody now.

Where did you start though? Where did it all start for you?

You know, I'm from Houston, Texas. So, you know, most city Texas, like to be like a little bit more exact, you know, it kind of just started there. And like, you know, whether it's like me and my DJ Chase, like, you know, we doing house parties, or like we doing like random stuff in the city, or like whatever the fuck we doing in the city, you know, to like keep shit popping.

Yeah.

You know, my whole thing was always creating a vibe or like curating like a vibe for my culture, for like kids like me. So I always wanted to put people in an environment, you know, with venues and like sometimes when you try to go into someone's establishment.

Yeah.

You know, it kind of like, oh, it's always a conflict because you want to rage and then they want to like confine you to this like box and shit.

Yeah.

So like, that was always my thing and shit. So like, fuck it, we gonna take over this person's house and shit. Use they backyard.

Uh-huh.

Yo, Chase, bring the KRKs. I'm gonna bring my home theater system.

Right, right.

And like, we gonna just rock this shit. So it was kinda like that, you know, in Mo City. And then, you know, kinda like branched out to Houston a little bit. But then, you know, just growing up in Houston, Texas alone, it just doesn't have like a real industry.

Yeah.

I'm not saying like I'm an industry person, but it's just like to get like an outlet. You know, the radio was kind of like one-sided, you know, the scene is kind of one-sided too. So like I had to like really leave to break the barrier to try to like give more kids like me, you know, a sonic, like a sonic hearing. I'm not the artist to just like rap in front of a fucking mic with a DJ behind me and just like, like try to bore you with my songs. Like that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to put on a show. Like, I don't make music to just like, for a DJ to be behind me with his weak little like tarmac with his like DJ face on it. Like, I'm not about that. You know, we create this music, man, with like light shows, man. The people, it's like an experience. Like those sounds like are supposed to like control the atmosphere, AKA the lights, the smoke, the strobes, all that.

I know this shit sound crazy as fuck, but the realest shit that nigga Jay-Z said on that new album was, signing and shit, and it's just all cool. But if you can do it by yourself, oh my God, do it by yourself. So much is way iller. And self, self-team shit is like the illest, fastest shit. Um, home studios is the most litest shit of all time, dude.

Trust me, I'm doing albums in my crib.

Nah, like, just like you can do your album in your crib, do my album in my You don't need all that crazy shit, man. Just go crazy, learn how to mix, and then boom, dude. SoundCloud and like, shit, you can get your music on fast.

YouTube.

Let's go.

We created all the joints from like scratch. Like, no, we did no beats over email. I did like no beats over email.

None of that, yeah.

Just like worked, worked hands-on. That's awesome, man. You know, um, you know, and people think like sometimes like I'd be like using like other producers and uh But it's just like, when I'm like working on music, we like just collab on ideas. Like somebody might have a beat and I might feel like we need to like change it just so it can like fit. 'Cause I'm not like the regular artist. I'm not here to make the hit. I'm just here to make the song that applies to me. And like to the people that like feel, you know, how I feel.

When did the relationship with Kanye, how did that happen?

You know, my manager Anthony Kilhofer, he's been like mixing and producing for him for like a mad long time. You know, when Kanye like first started, like at Record Planet and shit, wherever he was at. And so, you know, I was always, I'm a fan of the music and I'm a fan of the credits and I'm a fan of people that like actually do stuff. So, you know, I seen this name.

That actually create. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

So like, you know, when I was looking at the credits on Ye album, like, man, you know, like Mike Dean, Kilhofer, these guys are like on here all the time. So I always hit up Mike Dean, man. I used to stalk that nigga all the time, man. You know what I'm saying? Like, yo, man, I fuck with you. You know, he used to like hit me up, you know? So I used to hit Q-Off on the email like, yo, man, you know, I got these beats, I got these songs, you know, I'm a rapper, I make beats, you know, fuck with me. So he used to hit me back here and there, la la la. So I took like a, I remember he hit me one day, this is like during Watch the Throne era, right? He was like, yo, can you come meet me in LA? And I lived in Houston. I was like, yeah. Like he thought I lived in LA, so I bought this ticket. I met him like right across the street from Ambeata Music, that record shop.

Yeah.

It was like a 15-minute meeting. And I was like, I brought my laptop, had all this shit. I came straight from the airport to the meeting 'cause the meeting was at like 10:30. And like, I was like, "We about to go to the studio?" He was like, "Nah, I gotta go on the Washington tour." I was like, "What the fuck?" Damn!

I bought this ticket, man.

Come on!

So like, so I went back home and like, you know, Later on, when I started, I put out my first video and shit, you know, he kind of like, I was working at Atlantic Studio with Mike Karen and shit. Oh my God, man. And he like came back from Watch the Throne tour. He was at this coffee shop around the corner and he was like, he called me like, "Yo, where you at?" I was like, "I'm in Atlantic Rec. I'm in this like studio, man." Like, I was like, I wasn't crying, but I was just like going crazy. I felt trapped, low key. And so, you know, he was like, "Come meet me at this coffee shop." So I left and he was like, "Yo." He was like, "Man, I wanna manage you." But like, we both was trying, I was trying to ask him to manage me and he was trying to ask me. So we both kind of said it at the same time. And I was like, "Yes." You know what I'm saying? And so he came back with me to the studio and I made this one beat. I had this one beat on my big computer. He was like, "Yo, this shit is crazy." And he like took it with him. He was like, "All right." He was going to go meet Kanye the next day. So around this time, people were trying to sign me and shit. But I didn't know what I wanted to do. But people wanted my publishing before, you know what I'm saying? They wanted to sign me a record deal. They wanted both at the same time. I was like, man, fuck that shit. Word.

That's smart, 'cause that's how you gonna make your bread and butter, right?

Exactly. And so the next, like 3 days later, I was at this hotel. I was about to sign to Warner Brothers, like all this shit, blah, blah, blah. And Kanye, Q of the Karma was like, yo, man, Kanye fucked with that beat. It was like crazy 'cause he had a song that was already using that same sample.

Sample.

Just somehow I like made the beat, or like had the beat.

Kanye, what was the song that he had?

It just never came out. I don't want to talk about it.

Okay.

All right.

All right. Okay.

But, uh, you know, it's this song. I think he probably talked about it a little bit, but, uh, yeah. So I flew out to New York that next, that same day, and like we kicked it. No, we didn't kick it. I ain't meet that nigga for the first week, man.

Yeah. And you were in New York a whole week?

Yeah. So this is how, like, and this is around the time when I met T.I., so like I was around Kanye. I never met him. I was at the studio around the corner from Jungle City and So I went to Atlanta, you know, that's when like T.I. wanted to sign me. So I ended up like, we ended up doing a deal with T.I. and it was like the same kind of time as like the Kanye shit. It wasn't like all the way finalized, but it was like almost done and shit. So Kanye brought me back to New York 'cause like, I like was like working on Murda Scenes. Like some of the shit I did was like dope and shit. So I came back to New York and like, you know, we did more music and that's when we had a meeting finally after like 2 days later. Then I played him like my original album Al Farrow before the album album I put out.

Yeah.

He was like, yo man, this is like the craziest shit, man. And he's like, from there we clicked. And then that's when I was like scoring the Cruel Summer movie.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm. And then like I ended up, we like, he put me on the album and I did a couple joints on the album and I was in Hawaii and then me and him just built a relationship. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. And it was like from there on he just became like a big brother to me, man. Like for real, like, like one of my biggest mentors, man. Like it's crazy. Like the relationship, like this nigga's like kind of like a like a dad, lowkey. I can kind of like call him for like anything. Usually sometimes we don't even talk about music all the time. It just be just about life.

I guess because there's like a long history of like, you know, like beat culture or whatever, of people using different substances to enhance their creativity.

I think that's a myth. I think that's like weak people, like need all that weird shit just to like get all like tapped into their fucking brain. Like, I think knowledge is power. Drugs is just like, you know, a mental cooldown. It just put me at ease. I don't tap into drugs to like say what's on my mind. I can do that shit sober. I am a drug sober. You know what I'm saying? I'm the most mental, I'm the most highest potent drug sober ever. Since I was 6, I wanted to be a fucking wrestler. The Hardy Boys was fucking amazing. X-Pac was like my idol. So performances, I always wanted to make it feel like it was the WWF or some shit. You know, raging and, you know, having fun and expressing good feelings is something I plan on just like doing and spreading across the globe. I just need air and a mic. Yeah, I don't need a stage to perform, no. We just need something to stand on. It can be somebody. I just need a platform. We don't like these, we don't like people that just stand. You know, whether you're black, white, brown, green, purple, yellow, blue, we don't want you standing around. Like, this is a no-stand zone. When you with Travis, or if you're Rae Jee, let's say if you're not with me, okay, I feel like delete the Uber app. Okay, just for this night. You can get it back in the morning, 'cause I love Uber, but tonight you're spending the night Whoever you with, people need to start bringing back camping. Like, you know, when people go out, there is no going home, man. It's like, we're gonna spend the night and we're gonna party all the way till the sun goes up, right? You put your cell phone in your pocket because there's no snap. You can get— I'll allow you one picture. I'll give you one pic. You need one memory because at the end of the night you should have been throwing up.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Kojo Minta asked me to. If there's a famous entrepreneur that you would like me to profile next, check out the link in the description and go and cast your vote. I'd also love to know what did you learn from this video that had the biggest impact on you? What lesson are you going to take and immediately apply it somehow in your life or in your business? Leave it in the comments below. I'm really curious to find out. I also want to give a quick shout out to Rashad Legs. Rashad, thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word, taking that picture, posting to Instagram as well. I really, really appreciate the support and I hope you enjoyed the read. 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.

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 one word that's most important to you, or that sums you up, or that would be You can 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.