Yo, what's up people? I'm your host Jay Will and I would like to welcome you to inspire guys people where we balance faith and business To guide you to your purpose. This is episode 201. Why would anybody want to be famous?
That's right. I'm gonna do you five pros and five cons to fame like, you know Why would somebody want to be famous? We don't ask that we don't try to look at it as objectively as possible Although, you know, I'm gonna strongly make my case in my point and give my perspective about fame And you know I'm saying maybe even some alternatives to fame and what else we got? I'm gonna tell y'all where I've been at it's been three weeks since we did a podcast I've been doing a lot of traveling over the last 13 weeks has been pretty crazy I think I had six weeks in a row of traveling So we're gonna talk about that a little bit before we jump into all of this talk and idea around fame I did also do a social media poll Artificial intelligence that I might look at that I did on Facebook Maybe we'll talk a little bit about a I before we get out of here and what else we got, you know, we got the intro Let's do that people I can see beyond the tears you cry and I saw every year you have to climb Just a make it hear when you say you ain't afraid to die Yo, we are back.
This is episode two oh one Why would anybody want to be famous where I'm gonna give you five pros and five cons to fame had a Facebook post that I made today And I told people how I feel look you got to understand my this whole idea and it's thought with fame with me goes back quite a bit I think in 2017 ish. I did a song called run from fame We actually got a video for that so just search on YouTube J will music run from fame and you can check out the song But yeah, the whole idea of the song was like fame is something that we should actually be running from and I want to explore The ideas of why people want to be famous and all fairness You know I'm saying cuz there are some legitimate reasons as to why people chase fame Like I actually understand the thinking behind it But to me fame is a monster that we really should be running from so I'm gonna make my case on that while at the same time Trying to be fair and share some of the reasons why people actually do want to be famous But before we get into that look, let me tell y'all where I've been it's been three weeks since we did a show You know I'm saying so hopefully y'all happy to see me and hear me and if not, um, why are you know, I'm joking I'm happy to see you here you even I can't see we're here you look man It's been a busy few months. I've been traveling six weeks straight I think it was seven out of the last nine weeks nine out of the last 13 weeks dating back to I think that's February Seven business trips two personal trips slash vacations in the midst of that and some more trips coming up But I got like two to three weeks off before I think I got four weeks off actually before I have to go somewhere again Unless something comes up. So first things first, let me say this.
Um, I miss y'all You know I'm saying I miss y'all miss doing the podcast But I'm not gonna lie like when you're busy doing business and then it's important to get some vacations in there It's just it was kind of hard to find the time, you know, I'm saying and I had to prioritize based on the business that I had going on I'm getting out into some meetings with some clients and really trying to impact the business that I'm running You know if you listen to this podcast, you know, I work in corporate America I manage a very large account, you know about a hundred million dollar portfolio that I'm managing and there's a lot of you know Layers to managing that a lot of um stress that comes with that every day. Um, every day is not a great day There's a lot of ups and downs, but I challenged myself this year like I mean we grew to business last year But my goal this year is far too far exceed the plan that the organization has and like to give my best So with that, I knew that I was gonna have a good 13 weeks ride to just kind of be like, you know a soldier and do some traveling And let me tell you this about business travel I'll probably do a video about business travel so I'm not gonna go deeply into it But I always tell people that you're getting into business and sales in particular because there are a lot of perks that come with sales And maybe this is a good way Maybe I will talk about this right now because of this whole idea of chasing fame I think one of the first aspects of fame is that a lot of people chase fame Especially people from poverty or inner city because if we want to be real a lot of times those are the only opportunities that we see Before us so we see rappers we see athletes and a lot of people you have heard say this like their first Kind of aspiration to one things was looking at the neighborhood don't man You know I'm saying because that was the person that had the cars and the watches and the clothes and I've experienced that like You know I'm saying like in my neighborhood growing up in Detroit Like I knew who to do is where that would adult man They had like all the new cars when they first come out like a first Ford excursion I ever saw ever was you know I'm saying was a local drug dealer. You know I'm saying allegedly Allegedly we ain't incriminate nobody on this podcast But my point is like a lot of times people want fame because of what they was printed presented before them And I think there's not enough people who are looking at business as a way out of the hood as a way to provide for your family And I'm not just talking about entrepreneurship entrepreneurship is very trendy You know I'm saying as it should be amazing dope But I think not enough people on from inner cities and stuff are looking at you know corporate businesses and becoming sales people As a way to get out as a way to get perks You know I'm saying a lot of perks come with that and business travel is one of those things that you can kind of consider a perk And kind of consider work and I only say it's a part because you know you're traveling on business. I'm typically I can talk I couldn't even get it out fam.
I can talk people Typically when you're traveling on business those expenses are gonna be paid You know I'm saying I know for me like a lot of times when I've done business travel across the country That might be my first time in the city or state and that was one of business when I can go and explore a city Maybe that night after work after meetings whatever it is But I've had a lot of nights like that where it's like yo, oh, I went to the city for work And then I go back to that city later So there is a lot of pathways to success But I do want to talk more about business travel in another video So we'll put that to the side right now But that's what I've been doing and then I have to sneak in some vacations You know I'm saying we have a good time where I go with Orlando a couple weeks ago universal studios That's one of my favorite places and then we went to the Bahamas that was back in February That was like one of our first trips this year hit the Bahamas for my birthday That was amazing always love to get in that Caribbean Sea You know I'm saying it's just it's just feel different life is different when you out there and um We also last week was crazy because I went to Atlanta last week and let me tell you something Man was a dog on the plane now. Don't look look work with me I know it's always dogs on the plane you feel me But this was like a police dog on the plane you feel what I'm saying and and I wasn't sure if the owner was the police or not And that's what was throwing me off my man had a muzzle on had the vest on it Say do not pet I'm like look bro If you gonna have a police dog in the dog ain't undercover you can't be undercover cuz he had no daddy I don't see shirt and hat and I'm like is this man the police or have you all let him sneak a canine? You know unit dog in here. Yes or no my problem was two things It was the muzzle I got to be real the muzzle to me off I see service dogs on the plane all the time small dogs whatever They never got no muzzle make me feel like all the dog must not bite the fact that home He had the muzzle on was making me feel weird like and the thing was he was in the hallway You know saying so you had to go to the restroom or when the um the flight attendants was walking through whatever that dog was just looking at you I'm like is this dog gonna eat through this muzzle and bite my leg off That's what it felt like felt like the dog was gonna bite my leg off But nevertheless we survived so we survived dogs on the plane, you know I'm saying it wasn't my favorite dog to be having on the plane I just feel like the best to say do not pet and you gonna see it homie in the highway What if I make a mistake and pet them?
You know I'm saying like what if my like what if I trip like what if anything happened? I make a mistake and pet this dog You know I'm saying that sitting in the highway on the plane how you gonna promise me? You know I'm saying that this dog ain't gonna chew through this muzzle and bite my leg off So that was a dog on the plane we did a lot of travel a lot of fun a lot of business a lot of long nights a lot of good hotels Couple battles like that's just what it's all about but at the end of the day You know I'm saying I'm happy to be back on the podcast and today We gonna answer a simple question or at least give a perspective on the question of why would anybody want to be famous? So let's get into it.
I'm gonna give you five pros and I'm gonna give you five cons now We gonna start with the pros, you know I'm saying cuz I want to start with the good news And I want to be nice and I want to make you feel like you know this fame thing Maybe has some upside to it and maybe you should want to be famous Maybe this is something you know that that is appealing to you a lot of people want to be famous, right? So here's the first reason that somebody would want to be famous leverage in business opportunities You know you see it all the time with social media someone becomes an influencer You know you were following them because they was an influencer travel bloggers or something like that the next thing you know You looking up and it's a royal Caribbean cruise commercial or carnival cruise and this couple that was once bloggers is now in the commercial and Like must be good, you know what I'm saying? You see it all the time Obviously with athletes where they're able to leverage their fame and get endorsement deals to sell you shoes clothes, you know fast food Whatever it may be so one of the reasons that people might want to be famous is that that is one of the pathways to have legitimate business opportunities I rock with that. I understand that you know I'm saying and I don't think it's anything wrong with leveraging You know your influence or whatever it may be for partnerships We're not gonna dive deep into that because I do think you got to be careful about the type of partnerships and sometimes that's not well Like we don't deal with that part where it's like not every partnership is a good partnership You know I'm saying not every TV deal that you get is a good TV deal and one of the things where fame is kind of a struggle for people Is that once you chase that fame like that?
It's hard to turn things down because that was your whole goal that was your whole perspective or perception of success Was like yo this fame is gonna equal these business opportunities So when those business opportunities come sometimes people can't turn it down you feel what I'm saying? And so What's another pro we gonna start with the pros another reason why people would want to be famous is To be the best now what I mean by that is sometimes fame is the default of becoming the best So if you think about Tom Brady right Tom Brady I don't know Tom Brady I don't know if he ever wanted to be famous or not he was a six round draft pick his goal might have just been I just want to make it to the NFL right but I want to be the best so maybe his drive towards being the best You know there was no way that he was gonna be the best quarterback in the NFL and not be famous Like there are some jobs occupations with industries whatever it may be if you become the best Like if your goal is to be a news anchorman and you become the top news anchor person in the country like it's close to impossible Not to be famous in that job. So that's a reason that people might want to be famous is maybe it's not a fame that's driving them Maybe maybe maybe they just want to be the best you see what I'm saying you see how I'm like I'm with you You know I'm saying a lot of people I'm gonna say a lot of people there are people I've got messages in the past before of my position on fame does bother some people It does make some people upset and angry, you know I'm saying so I'm trying to be all the favor right now I'm trying to start with the good stuff start with the ice start with the ice and then you're gonna realize it's unsweetened cornbread under this ice I'm joking. I'm joking people.
So that's the number two reason why some why people may want to be famous You know I'm saying let's go to number three. We got five of these number three what I got Oh special treatment, baby You know how it is when you famous and you get special treatment one of the craziest things in the world to me is that if a broke Hungry homeless person go to a restaurant and they stink and don't dress well or whatever You know I'm saying like they might get kicked out They definitely not getting the best service, but if a rich wealthy famous person that doesn't need a handout at all comes in there People might be offering her here. You are mr. Jordan.
Take this here mr. James here You can have this and it's like wow isn't that interesting like Rich or famous people get perks and special treatment just for being rich and famous We treat them like they not even human beings they get away a lot of times with way more trouble than normal people do You feel what I'm saying because they famous so for some people they want to be famous for that special treatment Or maybe you want to be an artist and you want to be on stage singing your song and then look at somebody and be like I love you too. I love you. It's hilarious to me first of all I'm an artist do stuff like that like tell the person they love them the crazy thing is they don't know you But you actually love them like it's celebrity and fame presents a lot of weird dynamics to me But some people want that special treatment, you know, let's be real some people just like attention right there Like what you really think about what fame is fame is like the ultimate attention seeking like yo I need or want attention like my life is built around attention I went to the Met Gala look what I have on I went to the Lakers game look at my outfit Look at me fame a lot of times is a look at me contest You know I'm saying who can get on the coverage EQ who can get on the cover of this magazine?
Look at me who can get this interview on this TV channel look at me a lot of times like famous just really about attention But let's keep it moving number four. Oh, this is the one right here Fame a lot of people want to be famous because they want to be rich like let's just call it It is I know we started off and we talked about the idea leverage and business opportunities and partnerships That's different that's incremental money that usually you get secondarily to be in famous But there really is a lot of people want to be famous because they equate fame with riches Like we the lifestyles of the rich and famous a lot of times That's how we view like we view like yo the most known person got the most money You feel what I'm saying? Like that's just how it goes special treatment where we say business opportunities the desire to be the best and to be rich That was the last reason that I'm gonna give positively about fame. Why would somebody why would anybody want to be famous?
Ooh to be recognized and to have fans so it's one thing to get special treatment, right? That's like the reward that comes from being recognized But if we're being real some people just want people to worship them like people want you to be like oh my god Like and I think like if I'm being real it might be some relation to self-worth look I'm not a doctor I'm not a therapist. I'm not here to make a diagnosis. I'm not a psychologist But I am here to just tell you what I've observed in life also real and it's like some people just are people pleasers If you will and I think sometimes people look at fame as validation when you're a people pleaser Like yo the more people that like that agree with me because to be a fan of somebody is really to be in agreement with them Like whether even if you were a fan of a particular thing like yo I'm a fan of Serena Williams as she plays tennis.
I'm an agreement with the way she plays tennis She the best maybe I'm not a fan of the way she dress or anything else about her You know I'm saying as an example But at the end of the day if you're a fan of something you're in agreement with them think about fans of politicians You have people who are fans of the Obamas like these people love them people who are fans of the Trump Trump not even the Trump's just Trump They love him and when you allow yourself to become a fan of somebody then you're really in agreement And I think one of the weird things about fame is that we treat fame like this totality of a person Like there's no way for me to actually know Denzel Washington just from watching him in movies Like he may be the dopest actor ever he may I do think he's one of the best actors ever and but at the end of the day That only a good father And I think sometimes we like it's you know We make it about like we take this one thing and we allow ourselves to become too much of a fan of somebody as if they could do No wrong and then you will have think about this you will have people who know each other Arguing with each other about people they don't know about the lose they met you know I'm saying and that's a weird thing. It's kind of like the LeBron MJ debate. I'm a LeBron fan So I'll get an arguments with Michael Jordan fans and then sometimes I'm stepping back and I'm like wait a minute Brian don't know me MJ definitely don't know you you know I'm gonna say that because I think it's a greater chance and I might know Michael LeBron James in the Michael Jordan people that I'm arguing with Mike no Mike first of all Mike's name to itself Mike don't wanna do what you're on here You know social media and nothing like that You know I'm saying at the very least my last name is James So I do actually believe LeBron is my cousin he is from Ohio. I'm from Michigan We kind of right in the same little pocket right there I'm sure his family is from down south like my James James family is from Down south in Alabama's I believe so you know I'm saying to Alabama's like I said it like it was the Carolinas the Alabama's You know I'm saying what up a lawyer too pragmatic for this world.
Hey listen, bro. That might really be the case, bro Alright, so let's jump into we talked about you know Why would anybody want to be famous? No, I posted something on Facebook I think it was today actually and I said that I don't trust anyone who wants to be famous Now that's something I've been saying for years is something that I genuinely believe and now let me explain to you Why it is because when I look at people who have the desire to be you know Have you know have this special treatment? Attention like again.
Yeah, maybe it's the money But the money like the good things about fame don't require fame to get them like if your desire is to be rich Wealthy whatever it is you don't actually need to be famous to be wealthy you like genuinely don't now again I do think like the one example is like the athlete if you want to be the best basketball player ever by default You're probably gonna get become famous But I struggle to trust people who want fame because I believe that fame puts you at in a position to compromise Hey, miss bridge. How you doing good to see you on here? Matt my brother would up bro, but I feel like fame puts you in a position to compromise here Here's what I mean, you know because so if you desire if you're an artist a Christian artist Let's use that I'm using something because I've been a Christian artist before and so to some small extent I've been around some Christian artists, you know I'm saying it's not like I was a major artist or something like that But I knew some people who are out there who are more major I've been in studio sessions or done songs with people or been around people in personal settings And I'm gonna tell you some of the things that I know about being like specifically a Christian artist a Christian artist who is desiring fame I believe not intentionally maybe even not knowingly are putting themselves in a position to compromise the gospel before they even start Why because the idea of being an artist is about industry. It is about the art that means it is about your image It's about how you dress marketing getting fans luring fans into like you in order to listen to your music Like this is an industry that is really conducive to a lifestyle That is not like God if we just want to be real like the artists who sell the most records people worship them the most be on say Michael Jackson Prince Whitney Houston, you know saying like these type of artists like people worship their art in the crazy thing about it As we start transitioning to the reason the kinds of fame or why I wouldn't want to be famous personally And why I don't think we should be out here actively chasing fame is because when you think about it It's almost like people are raping you of your gift.
They like you Whitney Houston passed away God rest our soul, you know being on drugs and stuff and As long as she's seeing it people was happy, you know I remember at one point her and Bobby Brown had a whole reality show and stuff and it was I don't watch reality shows. I just I vaguely remember the scene some commercials of some glitz But it's like, you know We know people were on drugs Do you really care or do you just care about raping that person of their gift? You know I'm saying and taking that gift away from them as long as they singing and dancing for you like it like they In a circus, you know You don't really care about the person that they are as long as they're giving you your fix as long as you can go to They concert and do whatever now I want to get the name and a lot of names But start thinking about artists start thinking about famous people in the struggles they have but as we make my point about Christian artists in particular is Very hard to maintain a guy. I'm not so much a lifestyle.
I'm not saying you live in a scene I'm saying it's tough to maintain a godly perspective not saying it impossible I'm just talking about people who want to be famous who are seeking and chasing fame I think it's a little counterproductive, but let me get into some specifics. What first of all, let's just keep it super practical lack of privacy Now, I don't know why in the world we have the value privacy in this world as if privacy is not a hugely important factor in life You know what I'm saying? Like like we treat privacy now I think because of social media and the internet like it's not like it's nothing and so think about this You know, there are people all the time we walk around with these phones and one of the things people do is you see somebody does Dress funny, maybe they got plumbers crack or something You know I'm saying like that like whatever it is You don't like they choose how many times you scroll the old timeline and you see a picture of somebody or video of somebody that did not know They were being recorded to take a picture of one thing that I never do is take pictures of people in public who don't know I'm taking pictures of Why especially if it's done in the rocker the rocket stories from a derogatory standpoint like oh something is funny about them Are they looking crazy is because you know how you're going publicly do that to somebody? That's like you're invading their privacy but the thing is when you become famous privacy becomes more valuable than it is to normal people because normal people want to be known and famous people want to be anonymous Like I heard I was listening to Paul George basketball player in the NBA talk on the podcast today and he was talking about it He was saying like look man like I'm not a person and like a whole lot of attention So when fans come running up on me, it's uncomfortable It's weird like I really just want to chill and be low-key and do whatever I don't want all this extra energy from strangers all the time But what some of us think is we think we want to be known because we think being known it equals happiness We think fame equal happiness.
That's a lot of the problem It's like you think that the more people know you then it's gonna feel some boy in your life where the reality of it is It's sometimes I've heard a lot of famous people say they just want peace when they go out last week when I was in Atlanta I was a Kurt Russell mr. Nobody from Fast and Furious. I know from big trouble in little China is a movie I watch I think I was back in the 90s But my point is Kurt Russell was just walking around in his market in Atlanta and I could say like I'm not a kind of person I don't really bother celebrities or famous people I know he's not like some a list celebrity right now, but he's a well-known person even in a lot of movies Like I could just tell he want to be bothered and nobody was bothering right But when you become famous what happens is you can't go to a restaurant with your wife or your kids And so that lack of privacy becomes your family has to share you with the world now I know we think we think money it just satisfies everything Oh, you got money though like yeah But money does not solve every problem in your life because your kids may just want to know you as daddy right now Your kids may just want to know you as mommy right now But when you go in public you can't go nowhere because it's like oh man Somebody don't recognize me and it's gonna be a whole thing or when I go to the mall I gotta shut them all down and maybe that sounds cool when you're rapping it in the song But most of us want to go to the mall and actually just be shopping in public like a regular person So fame causes you to lose that privacy as one of those things The second kind of famous we explored this idea of why would anybody want to be famous Is this identity and relevancy? You know when you become famous your entire identity becomes wrapped up in the fact of whether or not you are relevant And then you got to do things to remain relevant You know how they say like you know no news is bad news or whatever So even when some controversial story comes out about a celebrity sometimes they look at it as a good thing because why because people are talking about Them outlets are tweeting about them or whatever it may be and that attention is something that you could typically transfer into dollars and opportunity So a lot of times, you know, I've heard famous people really be happy as long as they're relevant But think about that when your identity when being you just ain't enough and when I talk about why would anybody want to be famous?
These are the things we're chasing when like I said earlier in order to get the positive things of fame It doesn't require fame It just doesn't maybe in some regards But to make money doesn't require fame to be the best doesn't always require The absolute fame like there are ways to be successful without being famous and that's part of the point that I'm making here Is that we should not just be automatically chasing fame as if it's gonna solve life problems because fame comes with a lot of issues that We see every day they write in our face. We read the stories. We watch the news We watch the podcast and listen to people I don't know if we actually hearing them when they talk about their problems When your idea when your identity is wrapped up and being relevant you can lose who you are I can tell you like this How many celebrities have you seen come in looking one way and then they got to get this plastic surgery done They got to get this done to themselves They got to start dressing like this or acting like that and so many people like they're Unrecognizable because they've been chasing this drug of fame trying to be relevant to a bunch of people who don't even care about them That's a tough way to live Especially when you were fearfully and wonderfully made an image of God Especially when there is hope in Christ to feel the void where you can have peace and content and who you are and who he made you Does it that sound like something that should be chased over fame? Doesn't it sound like a better idea to chase contentment and true happiness in peace with yourself as you are then to try Or have to become some version of yourself to please the masses of people in the world where you end up having you know More people that know you but less deeply And so that's ultimately the number one issue I have with fame is that it's so surface level it requires all of these behaviors in order to get get something out of the situation that really another kind of fame is fake fans and Fake friends.
I can talk and fake family where you have all these people around you in this world around you And you don't know what's reality and what's just for the cameras or what's just for the opportunities or the business that you can bring Once you become a business Then you get treated like a business and you now have struggles being treated like a person See a lot of people always talk about the you know positive side of branding and all of that stuff But it's like yo once you become a brand you lose your humanity because you are the brand now you feel me? Mea what up sister? It's like a drug and so then now once you become addicted to The validation of people or addicted to being relevant now you have to constantly do things Simply so that people can like you man when I tell you that seems like a horrible way to live for me I'm saying even if I made a mistake and became famous I'm grieving over the idea that my life would become you know a lack of privacy and attract more fake people and then one of the other Cons let you know let's go to number four I think there's number four is you know you have you know stalkers and safety issues, you know Famous people can't really just walk around normal. You got to walk around with security So now you're in a situation where there's all like you talk about the lack of privacy now You always have to have somebody watching you right you always have to have someone there to protect you and because now you're a target Now there's all these crazy people in the world I mean people crazy regardless you know I'm saying but you got all these people out here in the world who now are watching you And you don't know how many stands are out there how many weird crazy people that's watching every move so at the end of the day That's something else that's like I'm gonna just pause right there and ask the question why would anybody want to be famous?
I think so many people want to be famous because we literally only stop to think about the good things of fame now again I'm not here to judge you if you still want to be famous like you know I'm saying I'm just making my case at least laying out something to make you think about the other dynamics and the other side of it Fame comes with a lot of scrutiny right and scrutiny is not really a reason to not want to do something for me personally But it is something to be aware of that once you no longer have privacy and you're a public figure People are going to talk about you in a way that most of us as human beings are not used to or maybe not even comfortable with people doing Because once you become famous you get treated in a way as if you're not a human being You are just something that people can take advantage of use up You know for their own entertainment and satisfaction and they don't really care about the human the human in you It's all about you know what you bring to the table and we give you an example like You see artists you see people like Kanye West right? I did a whole podcast about Kanye West I think it was in 2021 two years ago, and it was called I'm not mad at Kanye I advise you to go on Apple podcast or Spotify where all your podcasts are that one is before the YouTube days And check out this episode. I'm not mad at Kanye We did a whole episode because around this time when Kanye was doing a Sunday. What is it?
Sunday service stuff. I saw a lot of Christians right no offense if it was you it's all good It's all love but I saw a lot of Christians flop to that And I remember asking people like are you flocking to that because you're flocking to God or you're flocking to that because it is a celebrity In its Kanye West and I'm a paraphrase that whole episode in my thinking during the time of the Sunday service Which was just not something that I rock with personally, you know I'm saying it wasn't it wasn't my cup of tea It wasn't it was there were things to me that were out about it starting with the way people were dressing like I'm just legit not like that Just be feeling real culture to me when a group of people got to come together and it's like they got you got to dress this Certain way we in the woods. It was a little weird to me with no judgment like again There may be some good that came out of it I was cautious cautious about it because of the fact that one of the things that I saw in the whole Sunday service thing is that it was Allway Kanye was in the center and I'm not mad at Kanye. This is what y'all don't understand like this is why I want you to listen to the episode I don't use the show to bash people.
I wasn't mad at Kanye But what the real disturbance to me was Christians is that celebrity is so blinding and we covet celebrity so much We want to be around a celebrity so much that even when they're not making the best decision for themselves We take advantage of them and again, you write people for their talent like, you know figuratively speaking not literal Like you're taking their talent from them and leaving them just with in the pieces of who they are But what I saw was like I remember I saw Kanye at this church and he had on sunglasses on the inside He was doing a freestyle and I remember thinking like yo like Maybe he's really a Christian But there becomes a process of assimilation into Christianity where someone needs to now teach you how to walk it out You need to have mentors just like if I wanted to become a famous rapper in the hip-hop industry I'm gonna go there and they're gonna be mentors and people around me to tell me how to be a hip-hop artist How do you move in this circle? How do you move in this industry? If I come into a new industry if you come into a business industry and you came to my job and you know You got hired in and we went to a conference together There's gonna be a dress code There's gonna be a way that we have to carry ourselves or some some etiquette that we have to have in the business world in order to Do our jobs and so my concern was that we allow Kanye to come into churches as Kanye as yay not Kanye actually we allow him to come in as an artist and His fame was so lucrative and the potential of his fame was so lucrative to people that the potential partnerships and business opportunities All those reasons why people want to be famous actually outweighed his soul Remember we care about the art of famous people we care about what they can bring us But but do we truly care about their souls and if we care about their souls, maybe we would have pulled Kanye aside like hey I see you with the sunglasses on I see you being yay in here in here. We worship Christ So let me let me mentor you bro Let me tell you how this go before we put you on a stage before we make the event about you before you drop the album Before you do all these things that you have to do because you're famous in order to remain relevant If it is truly about your soul, let us first guide you in that and I know that I've heard there were people want That walk with him I'm not here to criticize any of that but I'm just here to tell you that When I see somebody with sunglasses on in the middle of a service being the artist That attracts the the worship of fans that that that read attracts like the worship of man Like not of Christ and when I when I saw that it just concerned me and I don't think I don't want to say enough Christians weren't concerned About his soul, you know I'm saying but I'm just saying that's what I was looking at during that situation was like Oh, who people really care about Kanye or are we happy that a famous person is a is claiming Christianity for a quick minute enough to bring us some attention?
So that we could be there in a line like so we can have new opportunities And so that we can attach on to this person for their fame And if you know if that wasn't the case then it's like well How come people don't get pat get behind Christian rap like with like an actual person that was already a Christian We don't get behind Christian rap the way we get behind You know secular rappers who claim to be Christians and these are all dynamics of fame that cause people to do weird things To be close to the person that's famous and if you look at it from the perspective of the famous person You are now one of the fake people around him because you're not really around him if they lost it all are you there? You know what I'm saying? If they didn't want to do music anymore and there was no business opportunities and no fame for you Or they didn't want you to take a picture of them to put on social media to validate your own status and credibility Like would you actually still be there? And I'm not saying that you wouldn't but I'm telling you like before you chase fame These are the things that we should be thinking about because fame is a monster One of the things that I've watched fame do is it seems to ruin my families This seems to be a monster now again.
I watch you know you ever seen a movie like Anaconda So you see a movie with a monster It's three of four people to live at the end of the movie typically typically three of four You know I'm saying like but but that monster didn't kill a lot of people in that movie fam Like everybody didn't make it to the end of the movie and as a matter of fact Most people don't make it to the end of the movie the monster begin people So what's my point famous that monster that kills most families kills most relationships like I've watched literally watch famous people Go from married to boyfriend to married to girlfriend to marry the boyfriend girlfriend again, and it's like y'all I'm like Answer me this question for the people like like what I want to be famous How is it that the most beautiful rich people that have all the money and all the business partnerships? They own commercials like why why he can't keep a woman why she can't keep them in do we I'm not saying it to criticize him I'm legitimately Legitimately asking the question if like if we want fame so bad right like you want to be famous This is all you want I want to be famous are you looking at the risk now? Maybe you know saying maybe John King what's up fam? Are we looking at the risk of fame like are we even looking at can we handle it because let's be real some of us We all can handle different levels of different things.
I'm telling you right now. I love pastries and cakes and donuts You put a living cake in front of me right now. I can't handle that. I am not gonna be able to do it I gotta have a piece of that you throw that living cake in front of me right now I gotta get a piece of that cake fam.
So what am I saying some of us we struggle with these things internally already So I do an example if you know you already struggle with feeling validated and meeting people to validate you the last thing you need to be praying for was fame like just like just legitimately because that's gonna put you in the most heightened situation Of needing validation that you can ever think of and like fame is gonna be the highest form of validation the highest form is people worshiping You like let's say you struggle with arrogance right or you struggle with pride We want to make you famous now You want God to make you famous and you a person you can't handle having three Kit Kats like some people I've seen people give $50 and lose a man like bro. You can you lose your integrity with 50 bucks like you can't handle 50 million You can't handle 50 million No, no, no, no Ethan what up Ethan says we wouldn't even probably last God knows right And Jay said it in the last day how hard it was to be him just for a day That's a great point Ethan and we don't listen to celebrities a lot of times like honestly I really built this my whole position am I feeling about fame by listening to famous people to your point? MJ talked about how hard it is to be him just for a day How he would just stay in the room because when he went out into the world You got to always turn it on, you know people again people expect you to be a certain way you can't just be eating with your family Y'all know good and well if you went to Chick-fil-A right now sitting there saw Michael Jordan Michael Jordan Now imagine Michael's having just the worst day ever and he was just on some chills stuff and you in there My God and you look I'm just be real. We all know we have days, right?
You all know y'all got days when you acting funny You don't even speak to your kids when you walk in the house man And you think you're about to be able to be famous and be sitting out in the restaurant Come on man famous challenging look my whole position here is to give you the perspective that I don't think we should just be blindly chasing Fame here Here's the last one I have one of the last kind of then I got I'm gonna talk about three myths of fame and then we don't get out of here The last one is cancel culture Why would you seek that in a world where people just want to cancel you now as a believer? This is the other challenging thing, right? As a believer You know already if you super famous is some stuff you can't say about Christ You just came I see it in movies all the time They pray but they don't say in Jesus name They just say amen like you got to be we live in such a hypersensitive society Why would I chase a lifestyle where my whole reality now depends on whether people decide to cancel me? Fame is weird, bro.
I'll just be real even if you famous you probably agree with this This is not to like cast ons as somebody who's famous or anything This is to warn people about the desire to be famous and then give you some alternatives And maybe like you know I'm saying like the bunk submits about it, but cancel culture that ain't nothing to seek I don't seem like the people who famous even enjoy that like even famous people complain about that because they're living at lifestyle And I think at the very least if you're a person that's still want to chase fame I think at the very least you should look at the risk of fame and then look at the risk reward What's the reward for you know what you're risking? And if that's something you still want to go after cool But we should come up the cost we should know the enemy that we're up against the monster that we're up against You know I'm saying like before we go do anything We should know the challenge and understand the challenge so that's the perspective like all right a couple myths Let's debunk a couple myths and then we gonna get up out of here first one The most fame means the most money. Nope. Nope.
No the most fame does not mean the most money And I think a lot of us are chasing fame because we don't have money And the first thing I want to tell you is that there are a hundred thousand ways to make money You don't have to be limited to fame to make money I'll give you an example just think about most of the products in the world think about airplanes that fly in the sky Or even like you know we have these computers and things and cameras Sony cameras I don't know who the CEO of Sony is right now. I don't know who the lead engineer of Sony is right now I don't know who the writer for the last Netflix movie is or whatever like there are a bunch of ways to be in the industry to grow To be successful and not have to necessarily chase fame I don't know who the top-neck doctor in the US is sure they got a lot of money Like there's a I don't even know who makes straws you ever thought about who makes straws like who's the CEO Of straws like who's that guy you feel what I'm saying like there's a lot of people out here All you got to do is go to any wealthy neighborhood You know go to a super affluent wealthy neighborhood drive around and look at the hundred houses the size of a shopping mall and ask yourself All right I know maybe three of these people probably famous But who are the other 97 people and what do they do because those are 97 ways that you can become rich without being famous? All right second myth I wanted to bunk about fame is that fame equals happiness I think a lot of us are you know We want to be famous because we think we're gonna feel these boys And we're gonna get some happiness that we don't have now only to look at famous people who right before the public eye seem to be dealing with the stress and Mental issues and all type of hurt and pain in their lives that the hundred million dollar Contracts didn't seem to solve the magazine covers didn't seem to solve and unfortunately we've seen so many celebrities take their own lives You know I'm saying and so I just I think we should be careful of like why we're chasing fame because if you're chasing fame for happiness You may get the fame and never meet the happiness And then you're gonna realize that the fame isn't necessarily worth it and unfortunately I think that's what a lot of people realize but you should never you know I'm saying Consider you know the end results of you not being worth it because at the end of day your life is always worth it You're always worth it You're you know if you find yourself seeing this and you were famous or something like this is not the discourage you or to tell you you were less than or Something but maybe you will agree that that that didn't solve the issue and that you aren't even bigger than your fame And that's why some people walk away and we think people are crazy like oh, how could she walk away? How could he walk away from that record deal or that opportunity?
Maybe his or her humanity became worth more than their fame at that moment in their life And maybe that was the best decision they ever made But because we're so blinded by fame and we think fame equals happiness and we think fame equals success that we don't even know how to Compartmentalize that someone can want the other things without the fame Alright last last one I got here You don't have to be famous to be successful Which is similar to the idea that you don't have to be famous to be rich But to be successful there are many levels of success Your purpose, you know, even if you have like one of those purpose that is like my purpose is to make music and you think like well The only way you can really make money in music is to you know be famous or to be the top musician And I don't know like you know who's the top music teacher in the world or like they're just all these other layers or who teaches kids how to do music or Whatever whatever I just believe that there are levels to success. It's not always about well It's not always about riches and fame and I think we need to broaden our perspectives in life and even look at the Bible Like the fact that Jesus would perform miracles until people not to tell them who did it Like I don't see even in a Bible where Jesus was seeking fame And so look if God called you to be famous and all this like that's another thing that's weird to me because I'm just being real I don't think like there's this like call to be famous necessarily It's like might have called you to do something and then in turn you become famous But like you're not going to go save Hollywood Like I think there's this lie that we tell ourselves and I've seen a lot of Christians do this Actually entertainment in the industries where they like almost like anoint themselves as like the Savior of like hey me J Will I'm the Christian rapper. I'm super Christian rapper man I'm gonna be the Christian rapper that goes in terms of the stellar awards into a real Christian event I'm gonna go there. I'm blazing for Christ and everybody And what happens is that artist goes there and then has to adapt to the industry in order to survive in the industry It's very hard to change something that you're dependent on to live So it's like this idea that you are going to go there and you are the Savior of the industry Like no God is God God has a way of using who he wants to use putting people in position all those things And if he calls you to that then you don't have to desire or seek the fame He will call you to call you to it He will put you in position to do the things he calls you to do But it becomes weird when you start coveting the fame because I'm telling you you put yourself in the position So now always be looking at life through the lens of what can I get out of something or right now?
We got to keep posting to beat the algorithm on social media like I can only do this podcast if you know I get to a hundred thousand followers or friends or whatever they call it now And it's like no I'm like purpose runs deeper than that And it's like if I'm connecting to one person right and I like with every episode if I connect to one person and I do 500 episodes I connected to five hundred people if 500 people if it changed their lives and then they go and connect to someone then That is how we bring interest into the kingdom of heaven at the end of the day That's what this is about our lives our purpose is about that now. I'm a businessman And I do think it's okay to make money. I think it's okay to grow in advance as long as you keep your integrity your character Why you doing it? But I don't chase fame and I don't do this stuff by any means necessary And I think so many of us have become slaves to success where it's not just that you want to be successful It's not just that you want to go after your purpose is that you want to do it by any means necessary That's what I mean by I don't trust people who want to be famous who want to see their name and lights and want it to be all About them because I actually see it as a character flaw that any of us can be guilty of including Myself at times of wanting to see your name and lights and wanting it to be about you and lose in sight of the perspective of the reason Why God gave you the gift that he gave you in the first place and is to draw people to him and his kingdom not to make your name The biggest or make people faint when Jermaine walks into places like oh my god They're fainting over me and meanwhile your wife don't like you and that's like like our priorities get mixed up We're like you know all the kids in the world love you But just some don't you know you don't know his favorite color And so a lot of these things that we're chasing in life causes us to lose perspective and that's why I asked the question Why would anyone want to be famous?
I challenge you look up you know quotes or Things that famous people say about fame I'm sure if you just googled that I never have but if you just googled what famous people say about fame allow yourself to really Understand the people that are living in the lifestyle I'm gonna tell you man one thing I've learned in life is the people who think they're the biggest experts are the people who have never done or Experience anything there are times that I'm talking to people about things that I've experienced And I'm trying to get them to cheat code or trying to like God them and these people got more advice I'm for me to knock every half and I'm like wow you ain't you ain't never built a house like but you got all the answers for building House is like okay, I guess you know trying to help you was whatever was like me I ain't never been famous if a famous person is talking to me about fame. It's like hey, bro. You know I think you're podcast got you know saying like you know I mean, but it's I mean it's a lot but it's a little you know say why I'm worried about any listeners I got thank you to all the listeners for the years when we have some really good years by the grace of God But let's just make it about you too where I'm not really where my numbers ain't nothing I've been doing you two less than a year is like okay. I got like five hundred and forty five subscribers All right, bro.
You ain't famous what I'm gonna tell you all about this stuff No, I listen to people who've been there I listen to people talk about it I read the Bible and I put these perspectives together, but that don't mean I know everything You know I'm saying this is a conversation for us to kick it and share and hopefully something that was said today inspires you I hope that you share this episode with a friend a family member somebody who just want to think a little deeper about fame and Actually self the question why would anybody want to be famous? And I really challenge you to look at it to really look at what fame would do to your family looking what it would do what you're like To your lifestyle. Can you remain married to the same person you would you know like a lot of times? You know people you know brag about how faithful they are is like nobody wants you though I'm not like nobody wants you like can you all right?
Can you be a start over? Every girl in America wants you and then you faithful okay now you can brag you feel what I'm saying now you can brag I you're not even cute. I am like you bragging about Like ma'am you ain't even cute But you know if you if you make yourself over and you know you like don't think about celebrities We make them out to be way better than normal people was like they really just normal people like we make them out to be way better than that Kingdom keys nation. What up fam?
And so the whole point I make it man is that we should be cautious about fame I really think we should run from fame There are other ways to be successful other ways to grow in business and take advantage of partnerships and things But if you find yourself in a position where you just happen to become famous or even sometimes infamous There are times that there's nothing you can do about it And it wasn't something you were chasing then you still need to be thinking of ways to keep the Lord first I just see famous something very dangerous and that I don't covet myself And if I ever find myself in that position I will be seeking the Lord about keeping me in my right mind because I think it's real easy to lose yourself when the whole world loves you Also understand, you know with fame. I've said this before but people build you up to tear you down That's another reason I don't chase fame because I've watched this cycle I'll sit and watch this cycle of like when somebody on the come up and they on the rise everybody love them They're the greatest I and then when they get up there it turns Something about human beings is weird to me. We like to see people go on the rise to success And then we like to see them fall There's like an evil in people where want somebody get the success that we champion we clap and we bought their music We want their clothes or whatever it was to help them get there and then they get there and we start tearing them down And we start wanting to see them fall and we start wanting to see them fail And that's one of the reasons for me personally I just don't seek that level of validation for people and if I'm ever tempted to I try my best to pray my way out of that Because it's like I never want to get caught up in needing you to like me in order for me to feel valuable No, I want to feel valuable because I was spiritually and want to be made that you know I'm not better than everyone but I'm unique God made me with a purpose He made me me for a reason and it is him who gives me that validation through the purpose and call that he has on my life I don't want to be in a position where I'm walking around seeking that from other people who may not even understand it because maybe they Aren't following him Maybe they don't have the vision or the word and I reminded of a story in the Bible I think it was in maybe a second Kings don't quote me on that But there's a story in a Bible where God commands this prophet and gives him directions about going to this town and come out This way don't go this way don't talk to nobody don't stop or whatever and this prophet He got in the time and there was another prophet that was able to convince him that he was hearing from God And that he should do what he was saying versus what God was saying and in that That prophet through his disobedience ended up losing his life and my purpose with all of that is like it's more important to be obedient You know I'm saying to who God called you to be then to be chasing what people think or want you to be I'd rather just be who God called me to be and live with that in front of peace and happiness and still have success and joy and purpose in my life Even if I'm not famous and I want you to understand that the famous people in the world are not the only people that's valuable You right now are valuable if you're watching this if you're hearing as you have value even if you try to do something and fail You have value even if you you you know are on your way and have doubts you have value wherever you find yourself You know hearing or listening to this don't allow the enemy to make you think that because you're not on TV or because your name isn't In light so because you're not the number one chef in the world or whatever it may be that you do that you then in turn Don't have value there's more to you than it is fame and I'm gonna be real with you I don't know why anybody would ever want to be famous if you enjoyed the show Please do subscribe to inspire guys people on YouTube check us out We share short clips all the time outside of when I was just traveling and busy and we haven't shared in a couple of weeks But just follow as fire guys people on YouTube also at inspire guys people to podcast more Facebook where I also post those encouraging and Inspire and short clips and things like that and look direction is more important to speed I'm trying to turn this in the right direction and over time. We are gonna build something amazing I want to live out the purpose of what this podcast is supposed to be and truly inspire guys people if you like that Share with somebody tell somebody about it and man Lakers play tonight.
So I gotta go like is this it? Hey, hey, like is this what did he say?