#AskGaryVee Episode 212: Wyclef, Dealing with Rejection & How to Make it in the Music Industry

“part of the music industry. “For somebody who is
starting out, where do I start?” – Oh man that’s
a good question. I think it’s a little more
easier for you, Omar, than it was for me.
– 100%. There’s a thing called
the fucking internet. – Yeah. The internet is key. Really for me we had to sit the
Fugees literally had to sit through 7,000 A/Rs. Saying this shit
ain’t gonna work. Like rappers playing guitars
and women singing and rapping? No, no, no that’s too much. So with the internet you can
actually build your own audience. – And you were going through
that process, I’m trying to think back what that was
happening ’91, two and three before four and five?
93, 94 when it happened? – Man, it was
going like ’93, ’94. Do you know how weird it is
1993 a group shows up with an acoustic guitar and we
tell them that we hip hop. We from the ‘hood. And then you have one girl and
Clef grabs his and another kids a rocker and I start playing
guitar and Lauren starts to sing John Lennon “Imagine”
then I going to a freestyle. Can you imagine somebody
who is A&Ring that time? – They didn’t know.
– Do you know what I mean? The beautiful thing about the
internet right here is that you get to create your world. And if your music or
whatever you’re doing is really original, it’s going to find its key
audience because through the internet we’ve learned
it’s a big universe, right? You got your crowd. – I completely agree with him
and I say this all the time. The best way to sell is
for people to come to you. The fact that there are things
now like Musically and Snapchat and Instagram and all the other
platforms we know, the fact you can actually produce music,
put it on Soundcloud and actually serendipitously walk
into shit because somebody heard it or shared it and
changed your world. And that’s just incredible. People didn’t have
that opportunity. There are so many, how many Fugees,
how many this is, I’m dying to ask
you this question: How many very
talented musicians do you think did not get
discovered in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s because there was
just only some many A/R people, they maybe live in Memphis,
they maybe lived in Haiti, they lived in Belarus? In your opinion do you believe
that if you were great it would have just happened or do you
think in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s a generation that we
don’t grow up any more there were actually real big-time
talents that never got their opportunity ’cause they just
didn’t have the being in the right place at the right time? – Yeah but you know what’s
funny about what you said, right, is you see
the music of the 50s, the 40s, the 60s, the 70s was a different thing because people wasn’t worried
about show business. – Right. People was more
worried about– – The music.
– the music. – You see so this is how we
know of the Loneliest Monk. This is how we could go
back to Muddy Waters. – Mhmmm. (Wyclef singing) – It wasn’t really about,
because think about it now. Whenever we, this generation,
want inspiration as a producer and we go out, I’m in the
studio with Avicci. – Okay.
– Right. And were sitting in
winter in Stockholm. It’s dark, right? – Yep. – We’re sitting there and
we’re talking about chords and progressions. What’s the reference? We go back to freaking
Ray Charles “Georgia.” – Mhmmm. – At the end of the day, I just
think that we have to understand that the idea of the Fugees was musicality. It wasn’t like oh man we about
to do something to get put on so people know who we were.
– Right. – Man, if you listen to the
first Fugees album it’s called “Blunted on Reality”. The whole album starts out with
a poem where the Ku Klux Klan is trying to come and invade this
generation and we talk about we are not going for that.
– Allow that. – Yeah. If you trying to be in the music
business this is not the first message that you
want to put out. I think that the key to
everything whether if it’s art, whether if it’s think of like a Picasso when you
look at that piece. Or of think of Basquiat when
you look at a piece or just the Miles Davis “Bitches Brew” no
one thinking about so the idea is we have to think
1,000 years from now. Is this conversation
going to be relevant? And I really think that’s
my key with this generation. And that’s the only thing
that I tell them. I’m like, “Yo, you’re spitting out hits. Every second.” Every second on Musically my
daughter is singing a new song. Right?
– Yep. – And the new one is
(signing in broken Japanese) and then she puts me on Musically and
she like, “Come on, Dad.” (laughter) “No Dad. You’re doing it
wrong, come back again.” – Yep. Third take. – Third take and what
I notice is like 70 songs, songs are playing and I say,
“Angelina, who’s this artists?” – She’s like, “I don’t know.” – She don’t know but
she knows the song. I think if we can push more
musicality to your point because there are a lot of bad
ass artists out there. They’re on the internet,
you know what I mean? We just got a
focus on musicality. – Don’t you think these platforms give musicality
a better chance? Because back to your point you
brought musicality and the human being that was thinking business
is like, “Who wants this black guy playing and the girl sings?” Right.
– That’s right. – That’s what stopped musicality
and now the open platforms I actually think give
musicality a real opportunity. – Yeah, sexy black guy. – Respect.
– Yeah. – Respect. Alright, India,
let’s move this. – [India] Next one’s
from Alexander.

“to do and to avoid when it
comes to personal branding?” – From my standpoint
the thing it’s so funny. I make my parallels, I know you
probably don’t know about this backstory but I was in the wine
business and I came out and made YouTube videos when YouTube
first came out and I talked to people in
Springfield, New Jersey. Not far from East Orange.
– That’s right. – In Springfield, New Jersey
in my office I made videos just like this and I talked
to people about wine. I told people wine tasted like
Whatchamacallit bars or when you open a racquetball case. Stuff that nobody
had ever done before. There was no Wine Spectator or
Food Network that was gonna put on this guy that compared wine the Iron Sheik giving
somebody a Camel Clutch. Nobody was going to put me on. The internet put me on and I think the
personal brand thing is really no different
than musicality a.k.a. real originality a.k.a. actually having
the chops. I think so many of you and it’s
funny, you guys know, my crew knows, I compare
entrepreneurship right now to rap and hip-hop because it’s a genre that is
getting looked upon and all of a sudden its fame and
it all the stuff and you see a lot of
fake entrepreneurs. That’s the same thing as one
hit wonders just following the melodies or the hooks that
work and there’s nothing there. I think the number one thing
to building a brand, a personal brand, the number one to do is to be you 24/7/365 forever never waver regardless. You know, money and
fame doesn’t change you. It exposes you. It’s binary one and zero, be
yourself 24/7/365 and the thing not to do is alter that
in any shape or form? My man? – Facts. Facts, man. In hip hop we call that
you just spit some bars. (laughter) – I’ll take it.
– Bars. – Now I’m good.
I’m good. – Bars. – I’ll take that put
that quote card everywhere. – Bars.
– Alright, let’s move it.

(lively guitar music) – Hey GaryVee, hey Wyclef,
how are you guys doing? Thank you very much
for taking my question. My name is Brian Ripps. I’m a musician and
entertainer from New York City. For the last 10 years I’ve been
making my living writing songs and traveling the country
playing for the people. One of the biggest lessons I’ve
learned is how to take no for an answer and press on. I’m curious to hear from both
of you what some of the biggest no’s that you been encountereed
in your career are and how you overcame them and
moved on to conquer them? – Great question.
– Oh that’s good. – It’s very nice.
That was well done. – Great guitar player, too. – You know how happy
that guy is right now? – [India] So happy.
(laughter) – You killing that guitar.
He’s in New York? – [India] I’m not sure.
– Yeah, I think he said. Yeah. – Yo, do me a favor
right now man– – This is big. – hit me at okay we’re
gonna do, let’s make this big. (laughter) – Now you gotta deal with this. They have to deal with
this with me all the time. I love it. Do it, do it big. – Let’s do this.
– Go ahead. – When you come see me–
– In Jersey. – We come chill, don’t worry
I’mma have grass and everything. – No worries.
– You bring the wine. – I’m bringing the wine. – So listen, why don’t
we bring the homey in? – Done.
– Let’s bring him in. Let’s when Brian in and we
could do a little jam session. Okay, that’d be cool.
So this is what I’m thinking– – Dreams are made on
The #AskGaryVee Show. – To his question I would say the no factor is a
motivation factor. And the thing about it it’s
goes back to what you said. Every day you constantly
have to prove yourself. – [Gary] Only as good
as your last at-bat. – You’re proving
yourself to yourself. Always remember that because
the day that you wake up and you say, “Man, I’m
already good on piano. “I’m already good on guitar. “I done wrote 50 songs. “I don’t need
to write anymore.” That’s the day you’re finished.
– [Gary] Finished. – Because the thing that keeps us as human beings going is creativity. The day that we lose that we
completely lose ourselves. So to your point is it’s just
about each one, teach one and constantly being inspired and
whenever somebody told me no it was always a motivation for yes. – I couldn’t agree more. Again, so many of
you watch my content. Only as good as
your last at-bat. Chip on the shoulder. I would say that I’m wired, I’m
curious, I’m surprised how much I do want, I like
sticking it to the market. I’m very competitive. Do you find
yourself competitive? – You have to be.
Naturally. – To me I’ve talked a lot
about loving to lose. I do. For some reason, Staphon,
you know this when we play basketball in the morning,
when I lose I’m like weird. I like it. There’s a feeling
that I want. It motivates me so much. I truly believe that the thing
that separates so many people is people are scared of
the no and the loss. They think it’s a scarlet letter and what that does
it makes them not go. I love the way
that he said, “When I get no’s I
push through.” For me, my early childhood to
answer you directly because two guys that like to philosophize. I’ll go right into it, my
early childhood was probably my biggest adversity. I didn’t have the same adversity
of being a minority or gender or things of that nature. I didn’t have a whole lot of
money but the big thing that I had I was getting Ds and Fs. So I was making $3,000 a weekend
selling baseball cards in the malls of New Jersey but I was
getting D’s and F’s is a 13, 14-year-old and
everybody thought I was a loser. My teachers, my friends’
parents because that’s when school was the game.
– Mhmmm. – And so for me the market, the
world was telling me I wasn’t good and everything inside of me
told me I was going to be good. I don’t think you can be when
unless you love yourself first. I think you’re right about it
being a one-on-one game inside your own dome. So for me my adversity was
early on because once I hit the market, once my entrepreneurial
flair came out my first year running my dad’s
business I grew substantially. It was over before it started. Adversity, I think the thing
that is most interesting to me if this company doesn’t do
well next year, if my next five investments don’t do well,
if my next prediction is that Blah-Blah-Blah’s going to be
huge and it isn’t when then I’m not as good anymore. I’m fascinated by
the music industry. Three, four good albums
in a row, iconic stuff, one bad album.
It’s amazing. You’re just as good
as your last at-bat. – That’s right.
Think about it. In our business
we say 10 million is a championship ring, right?
– [Gary] Okay. – So to be able to
sell 10 million a few times and to do it for different people, right?
– [Gary] Yes. – Not yourself.
– [Gary] Yes. – Because this is another thing. Okay, cool, you can
make money but can you make
other people money? Because the key is if you can
make other people money, you create social entrepreneurship.
– [Gary] That’s right. Scale. – That’s right. So for me that’s
definitely part of, so for me and my business I remember I did the, when we
did “The Score” I got scared after we sold 10 million.
– It’s crazy, right? – ‘Cause I said, no
disrespect to Menudo. But I’m not dissing you. I love Menudo and
New Kids on the Block. I love them
’cause they watching. I love them. But I was like, “Holy shit,
we’re a pop group now.” – Yep. – I disappeared man. Got an apartment on
66th street and third and I was in a small room. And I was like, “I have this
thing called ‘The Carnival,'” and I was like, “I have
to do this thing.” – Now.
– And I was like, “It’s artsy, it’s artsy.
I have to do this thing,” and from there that landed me Destiny Child,
Beyoncé and them. Right? Somebody was like,
“Yo, we love ‘The Carnival’. “There’s these four girls in the
hotel room and we need you to “just go see them.” And then I went to this hotel. – Let me ask you a
question about the hotel room? Was that a moment where you just
understand immediately, did you under immediately understand
Beyoncé had real big-time talent or did that develop? Just for you one-man,
I’m just curious. Storytime. – I think for me I have a knack. Like Lauren as a kid 14, 15. – She’s from Maplewood? – Yeah,
Maplewood, New Jersey. – Right there.
– Columbia. Right. So I get this gift
from the church though. It’s purely and the church
called me the choir director. I can find a singer
in two minutes. I’m like, “Well, this is the
singer that’s gonna sing lead.” So definitely when I first
saw Beyoncé I was like wow. Right?
– Mhmmm. – What do I remember
about Beyoncé the most? I’ll tell you. And she’s watching, she know. – Thanks for watching, B. – Yeah. Every, every and
this is taking me back, right? Destiny’s Child was
opening up for me. – Is that right?
– Right? Watch this. But every time Destiny’s Child
got off the stage and I went on Beyoncé was
always on the side– – Watching.
– studying the show. People be like, “Man why
is she so invincible?” She’s so invincible because she’s a student of the game. – She put in the work.
– Right? This is another thing
when we talk about, right? So for me when I show up
it’s not about what I’m doing. I want to know
what you doing. Right? – It’s actually, what I do
for living is actually only predicated on watching what
other people are doing to figure out what they’re
going to do next. You know, I’m going to stick
here and be selfish for a second because it’s the
thing I like the most. Just binary, who, one man’s
opinion, you’re just one man– – Yeah. – Who was the most talented
person you came across and who was the hardest working
person you’ve come across? Right now, so far, in your
journeys, in your industry, in your industry.
– So far, right? – Yeah, just so far.
I’m just real curious. And I know like I’m sure is not
what you think about everyday and it might not come that easy. As you debate it for me– – For me it’s a
set up question– – Okay. – Because I know Carlos
Santana watching this right now. – Of course.
Carlos, thank you. (laughter) – We have a lot of
people to tweet. – You’re setting
me up right now. But I could, you know,
it’s just like Santana’s like,
“You better say me.” (laughter) You put me on the spot. – I know I’m putting
you on the spot. – It’s cool, it’s cool.
But it’s a good spot. – But I’m curious.
You don’t have to answer but I’m really curious and I actually I really want to know
hard work, I want the hard work one to be honest with you. – Everyone’s gonna
respect this answer. – Okay. Go ahead. – For me, the hardest working person that I’ve came across in my entire life so far will have to be
Michael Jackson. – Hmmm. – Because and this is
why tell you, right? So when you’re hard working
your like moving at the speed of light but somehow you’re aware
of everything going on with the culture and everything. You know everything
at real-time. ‘Cause you Michael, man. You’re like in Asia somewhere
so why are you calling me. And then you’re like, “Yo,
I was just watching this TV.” He’s like, “Who’s this guy?
Gone to November.” I think I am being pranked
and I hang up the phone. The first time.
Michael calls back. I’m like, “Holy shit, this
fucking Michael Jackson.” This guy is scheduled literally
shows every, every day somehow finds time to
land at Sony studio, come up the elevator, come see me sit down and
that whole day changed my life. Ever since that I just see
music totally different on the perception because I’m like,
“Yo, this Michael Jackson and he’s sitting there normally,”
and he’s giving me the rhythms. While he’s sitting there and I
know the dude is coming from, the flight has to be super long. And he’s in there and he’s like, “No, this is how I’m
hearing the bass. “This is how I’m
hearing the drums.” I’m hearing his whole body. And I’m like, “Yo.
That’s freaking Michael.” (laughter) – Dude when I’m telling you
I’m tripping, I’m tripping. So for me, I would say the
coolest, the coolest thing about Michael, man so then we in the
room with two of us and he’s like, “Man, you know your style reminds me
of when we were younger they took us to Jamaica there
was a guy he used to smoke a lot of weed.” (laughter) “Bob Marley?”
He was like, “No, no, no.” I said “Oh, Peter Tosh,”
and he’s like, “Yeah.” (laughter) – That’s unbelievable. – So for me that to me– – Was huge.
– It was huge. And then I was amazed by the
short time that I spent with Whitney Houston.
– Yes. – She was insanely incredible.
Jersey. – Yep.
– Jersey crew. And, man, Whitney’s
work ethics was crazy. I guess I was lucky because when
Clive Davis calls you and he’s like, “Yo, man, I need a
song for Whitney Houston.” – Yeah. – You start trembling, right? And then Whitney shows up. I’m like I know Whitney. I know your schedule and
what you’re going through. Show up on 24/7. – Ready to work?
– Insane. Like it’s the first record
they’re being recorded. And then you pinching
yourself you like, “No, no. That’s really Whitney.
‘The Bodyguard’,” and then she showing
up as if this is the first record she’s
about to record. – Because money and success
doesn’t change you, it exposes you.
– Facts. – It’s just so real. India?
– Bars. – [India] The last question was,
“Who do you think the greatest