Mastery, Health, and Success | Randy Jackson and Lewis Howes

We're all busy. There's a thousand things. I mean, one of the downsides of social media, I think it's a double-edged sword, is there's way too much noise going on. There was too much noise going on before. Now with all that, there's way too much noise. So how do you get somebody to pay attention? You got to grab them by the collar and pull them close to listen and force them to hear you out. So hopefully they get it.

I'm curious, if Bieber was on American Idol and you saw him there, would he have made it through to the final round? Just like seeing him sing a song or was there some. There had to be something Bieber.

Would have been there, he would have definitely made it through. He might have even won because what I think people mistake about him, he's actually really talented. He's really talented. People saw how he started, you know, social media, YouTube, all of that, but he's really talented.

He's got a gift.

He's really got a gift, man. He's better, I think he's better than most people even think.

Do you think he would have made it as big as he is now without Usher and kind of Timberlake fighting over it without Scooter pushing as hard as he did?

I think all of that-- Social media. Usher having to have a deal with LA Reid, Usher having to be in a studio with Jermaine Dupri, so was Justin Timberlake. I think all of those parts played such a pivotal, perfect storm role that, I mean, you know, Scooter with his assertiveness and him being smart, I mean, I think the whole thing, I mean, you know, LA signed it, I mean, I think the whole thing was a perfect storm.

Perfect storm.

Because you can't look at success that huge without saying that person must really be talented.

Yeah.

And the team around them must be really smart and talented.

Yeah.

So you got that many smart, talented people that are all hugely successful for a long time. Oh my God, that's a perfect storm.

It's gonna work.

Yeah.

You played with, you produced, you were, you know, manager with so many big artists. But it seems like a lot of big artists have some type of downfall. They have some type of like, it's too much to handle, it's too much success at that early of an age. Like you see, even Bieber had a number of years where he went through a lot of stuff. Whitney Houston, like all these people that kind of have this, like a dark, I don't know if it's a dark side or if it's just a success.

That'S too big for them. I think, you know, we often say in the industry and this is really true, artists are their own worst enemies, right? So, I always say it's not who you think you are, it's not who you think you want to be, it's who you actually are that's gonna lead you out of the darkness into the forever light, right? So part of the issue to me is that you see all the Disney kids growing up. So when you're a young kid, be it whomever it is, thrust into an adult world, that's an adult business world, and you're making those kind of numbers, that kind of money in the business world, they're all clamoring for you, but you're a kid, you have no idea how to assess, how to deal with, how to like, what is this? Who are these people? What does this mean? I guess that's why the team, once again, is so important. Do they have my back? Do they get me? Are they holding me down 100? Knowing that I don't understand, but being a visionary saying, But in the future, five months from now, a year from now, five years from now, this is what this is gonna mean to us moving forward. So it takes an army, dude. It takes a village. Literally for everything. Takes a Village.

Something I love that you did the most is America's Best Dance Crew. For whatever reason. For whatever reason.

Louis, good looking now, brother.

I don't know why that show's not on air anymore. It was the greatest show. I remember a moment in the show, it must've been after season two, maybe three, it was like one of the finales. You said, you came out on stage, I can't remember this vividly, for whatever reason this memory, it's like a circular stage, you're coming out there and you say, this is the hottest show on TV. I don't know if you remember saying this. You were like, Right now we are the hottest show on TV. And it was like, maybe it was the finale or something. And I just remember, I was like, that show brought so much joy and inspiration to so many people. Myself included. And I remember it was like a darker time for me. When did it come out? What was the first season? What year was that?

I think the first season was 2007?

Yeah, that was 2006. The year I got injured playing arena football was 2007. And I remember watching this show late at night on MTV and it brought me a lot of joy and inspiration just to see people going for their dreams.

Well, you know, it's a funny thing about that show. You know, I had an idea of trying to create something that was different and unique. So my agent at the time, at WME, Lance and Sean Perry said, Hey, you should go and check out this dance competition, you know, Howard and Karen, who have Hip Hop International, had a dance competition down in Torrance. So going down there, I'm looking at it and I'm thinking, Wow, now, so this is interesting, Cruise. I grew up with dance crews all around me, because I grew up in the hood in Louisiana, and you know, all around me. So, friends of mine were all in Cruise, and they were doing it for like a lifestyle of living, whether they were making money or not, they were getting together, you know, b-boys, b-girls, and were like popping, whatever it was, just that camaraderie. And I thought, if I could take this and turn it into a competitive TV show, The world hasn't seen anything like this. You grew up in the hood. Any hood, the Black hood, the Chinese, the Mexican, the white hood. You've seen something like this. You know, it's like almost having like, you know, pool players team or Bowlers League or whatever. And dude, we scrub it up and it just, we first sold it to NBC and then the president got blown out and we sent it over to MTV and, you know, the guys over there that were running it at the time, Tony and Liz, you know, graced us with the show, you know, and it just, you know, it just became that thing, man. I mean, I was one of my proudest shows because it was first doing something no one else had done. The same thing can be said though. for American Idol. We were first before the Voice, before any of that. The first one, I'm hearing the lyric of a song, first cut is the deepest. But you know what I'm saying? So when you're first and you got it dialed in and it's hot and it's happening, dude, everyone's paying attention. Everyone's paying attention and you get a chance to win.

Yeah.

You get a chance to win.

How many seasons did that go for?

Dance Crew won for seven seasons at MTV.

That's pretty big, right?

No, it was a great run, man. It was a great run. And it was so unassuming because I don't think people understood at first what it was, but I'm telling you what I loved the most and one of the things that we created, I wanted to have it feel like you played sports, you played bowl. I played bowl. I wanted to have it feel like you were in at a pep rally in high school.

Yeah.

In the gymnasium with the bleachers and everybody going crazy, picking this team, yeah, go, Rah, Rah.

You know what I'm saying?

I really wanted it to have that, like, WWE, like, you know. It was amazing. It was electric.

Dude, in the place where we shot.

It at Warner's, dude, it was rocking in there, dude. It was just rocking. Electric, just loud, just screaming.

Wasn't that some college pep rally?

Dude, I loved, and that was my, that was my, That was, man, I love that atmosphere because it really fueled the performers too. Wow.

When they have that whole audience and the cameras are on and screaming, you're going, oh, you're popping the lock and hard, right? Dude, you're jumping backflips.

Great DJs, people dancing in the stands. It was just like a good old-fashioned party. So you go to this show and people will just be lined up around the block 'cause they know they're gonna have a good time. So it was really created for that. You know, we're working on something else like that now. That hopefully we'll get on this this this year 2020, but I just love that kind of electric energy, you know?

It was amazing, man. Now, why does a show like that have a big run and then why does it end? I felt like it was still great. Why do shows stop when they're still...

You know, when you first started, it's brand new. Nobody knew. Only a couple of us thought that it was gonna work and Surprise, surprise, you work big. So once you, what did they say? Failures have no fathers or sisters or brothers or cousins. Success, all of a sudden there's a million. All of a sudden everybody's telling, I knew it was going to work. I'm the one that told them to have the rail cam around the round stage, have the mirrors, ceilings, lights. I'm the one that said do this and do that. So I think it just started kind of wearing. Everyone had a different idea. And when you get too many cooks and ideas in the kitchen, it not only spoils the soup, the soup is a wrap.

Yeah.

So, and I think most ideas, simple ideas work best, right? We know this in life. Keep it simple. There's a thing over every studio in Motown back in the day in the history of Motown records, that had, I think, 150 number one records in the history of Motown. Over every studio there was K-I-S-S. Keep it stupid, simple, or simple, stupid, whichever you like.

Uh-huh. Keep it simple, stupid, or keep it stupid, simple.

When it gets too complex, all bets are off. That's when people lose.

Yeah.

Everyone's a genius. That means no one's a genius.

It's too hard to think that much. If it's too creative, it's too much thinking.

Too much thinking. We've overthought the thing.

That's why great songs follow a simple pattern, right?

A simple- Dude, you speak it, listen, I manage a lot of writer producers, I'm one myself. I say this every week at our writer song meetings. Got to be simple. Simple ideas, the Beatles was simple, Motown was simple, stop in the name of the, well, I don't have to think, I don't have to think where's the chorus, I'd have to think like, Let It Be, one of the greatest songs ever written in life. They say, Let It Be seven times in the chorus. Oh my God.

Over and over again.

Over and over again.

I mean, what about Frozen? Let It Go, Let It Go. It's just like saying, Let It Go over and over.

Well, there's a lot of great writers, Max Martin being one of the greatest of our time the last 30 years.

He was my neighbor over on Doheny.

Yes, I know where you are.

The studio is right next to my building.

Yeah, I know right where you are.

My neighbor in my building, CJ Barron, it works with Max and does a lot of songs with him. So he's always over there, come back and tell me what they're working on. It's all about the simplification which makes something really pop. Whether it's a TV show, a book, a song.

Idol was a simple idea. Dance crew was a simple idea. You know, Biggest Loser was a simple idea, Dancing with the Stars, simple idea. I mean, you know, any things that you find, especially in the reality world that are simple ideas, you could probably make float because I think the public has to digest them. Every game show that you like. It's a simple idea.

Roll a dice.

Password. Jeopardy. It's a simple idea.

Exactly.

You know, the execution has to be done, you know, cleverly, but it's a simple idea.

Yeah.

Now, you're a All-State football and track, and you played at LSU football on track, which is. Pretty big. They just won the award.

In the bad days.

The bad days. You're still playing division one, you're playing against Alabama, you're playing against the top schools in the country. Now, were you a better athlete or a better musician?

I was a better musician, obviously. You know what I say to people every time I meet them? I meet a lot of people, I see a lot of prospective artists, clients, whatever. We're developing a lot of TV, and I say to people this. They go, I'm an actor, dancer, singer, model, producer, TV host, writer, TV host, dog parent, mom, dad, okay, fine. I go, you can use this too, Louis. Where have you made your most money? And they'll answer one or the other, and I'll go, I guess that's what you should do. That's what you are. So this is where the public is seeing and said, I'm gonna give you money for this.

So the rest of the stuff is a hobby. You love these hobbies.

You love these things, but these are not your life's calling, per se. Because to find out what your life's calling means that you could be good at a bunch of things. What are you great and best at? So, and how does the public view you without you having to tell them? They see you and they go blah. So, I mean, you know music's always been in my heart. It was never top of heart because you know like yourself when you play in sports since you're like elementary school, junior high, high school, whatever, you're just, that's your focus. Because it takes all your time, all your training, all your thoughts, everything. But I'll never forget in high school I started playing gigs and bars like after games. you know, sneaking out, my parents didn't know. I always thought I was at McDonald's with the rest of the people, so I was playing in some bar, you know, like. So I guess thinking back on it, it's been a bigger part of my life than I ever even realized.

What got you into it in the first place?

My brother was a drummer. There was music all around my neighborhood, music all around my house. As I say, my brother was a very successful jazz drummer. He's a teacher at Southern University now in Louisiana. I mean, it just, you know, it's one of those things that when you're around it, you kind of absorb it. And I think it's almost like taking a kid, showing a kid 10 things and see what they gravitate towards. Oh, you really like that, right?

You can go do more of it.

Do more of that. What about that? Because I think It's exposing the kids to different things so they can see what they like.

Yeah. And were you always playing bass or were you playing multiple instruments?

I started playing drums because my brother was a drummer. I started playing guitar, I played saxophone, and I played piano. Then bass was really, bass and saxophone were the last two. Really?

Yeah.

That's the one that you stuck with, right?

Yeah.

It just, you know, it spoke to me, you know what I mean? Like, you know, I hear bass lines in my head. I can be in a noisy restaurant right now and hear just a glimpse of the baseline and go.

Right, right.

That's so and so song, that's Joni Mitchell or that's Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney, Funkadelic or that's Tribe Called Quest or... Just by hearing the baseline. Just by hearing the baseline. Or that's the Revolution Shall Not Be.

Televised from Columbus, Ohio. There you go. I like that.

Yeah.

That's great, man. Yeah.

Did you grow up learning jazz? as the fundamentals or learning blues, rock, R&B, all of that. Because, you know, the great thing about growing up in the South in Louisiana is you have its own forms of music being Dixieland and Zydeco, its own natural things. And it was a lot of Indian and French.