← The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club
INTERVIEW: Nick Cannon Opens Up On Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Maturity, Legacy + More
00:57:18
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- [00:00]
Angela Yee
This is an Iheart podcast.
- [00:04]
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- [01:01]
Nick Cannon
Bring the Boom X boom.
- [01:05]
Angela Yee
It's Morgan Wood from the Black Information Network. Many in this world are pushing lies, fostering hate, and dividing our children. Others in this world refuse to let that stand. Meet four of the others. Pastor Dumasani Washington, Dr. Brandy Shuvatinsky, artist Tomeer Peretz, and black Israeli Arab student activist Tamer Masoudin. Four voices of truth, loudly crushing propaganda. Join them and me, because truth matters.
- [01:31]
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- [02:06]
Nick Cannon
Every day I wake up, wake your ass up.
- [02:09]
Charlamagne Tha God
Finished or y' all done? Yep. It's the world's most dangerous morning show. The Breakfast Club Charlemagne, the God, DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Envy and Jess on here. But Lauren LaRosa is. And we got a special guest in the building. A man I have no problem calling an icon.
- [02:21]
Nick Cannon
Oh, I appreciate that.
- [02:23]
Charlamagne Tha God
For real. Nick can in his head. How you doing, my brother?
- [02:26]
Nick Cannon
Man, I'm good. I mean, I Would say the same about you, man.
- [02:30]
Charlamagne Tha God
No, not yet. Not yet.
- [02:31]
Nick Cannon
Come on, man. Quit playing.
- [02:32]
Charlamagne Tha God
You know the reason made me think of that I was. I was listening to you on Myth Bleak podcast.
- [02:36]
Nick Cannon
Oh, okay. Yeah.
- [02:37]
Charlamagne Tha God
And I was just like, I don't know if it's because you and Bleak got such history.
- [02:40]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [02:40]
Charlamagne Tha God
But I don't know. I feel like I heard a different side of you in that interview.
- [02:44]
Nick Cannon
Really? I don't know why.
- [02:45]
Charlamagne Tha God
It was like, it made me look at things in a different perspective. Not like I didn't always look at you in that way, but I'm like, yo, Nick has really done a lot. And I remember it was one part you was talking about how you just wanted to do things that were always authentic to you. And it made me start thinking about all the different hats you've worn. The comedian, actor, TV host, rapper, director, executive. And I was just like, damn.
- [03:06]
Nick Cannon
Nah. I pre that, especially coming from you, man. Because even that conversation, that was when Miv was up here and he was. Did you used to be running around with them? But I've been in this game for so long. Like, I've been running through New York since the 90s, you know what I mean? And I used to run with them because we was all kind of young and stuff, so. And everybody used to look out for me. Cause I was like this kid that was doing standup and rapping and all of that stuff, so everybody would look out for me. Like, from Jay to Will Smith, all of those different people kind of took a liking to me. So I've seen the game since the 90s. And to your point, man, like, I've been blessed to be able to do so many different things, but it's like time. You don't think, like, damn, 30 years have passed, you know what I mean? Like, and I've done a. I've done so much stuff that I've. I forgot about a lot of times. But it's like, you know, from the movies, the TV shows, and all that stuff. And now I'm just in a space, man, where I'm just trying to operate and be the best father I can be. And, you know, peace. That's it. Peace is most important.
- [04:11]
Charlamagne Tha God
Which role feels more most authentically you then? And which one do you think people underestimate?
- [04:18]
Nick Cannon
I think, I mean, if we talking like, artistry, I love acting. I mean, at the core. But standup is what got me on. You know what I mean? Standup is what you can do for the rest of your life. And it's Evolved in such a way now, so I'll probably never stop doing that. There used to be this idea of, like, oh, I want to be the entrepreneur and a hustler. And I did that for, like, 10, 15 years and did it heavy and made a lot of money. And then it was like, it ain't even really about that no more. So if I'm talking about my craft, I think I really enjoy acting, but I'm still gonna be the businessman that I am now. I'm in that space where I just want to give people opportunities. And so that has kind of almost stepped in front of, like, how much money I can make and, like, yo, how many people can I help? And that's why I say with you, man, I mean, from the black effect to everything you're building in the spaces of mental health, like, is so necessary and so needed that I don't think you get the flowers as much as you should, because you are quietly building culture for this next generation where nobody else is doing it, and you're doing it in a way where it's unapologetic. And, I mean, it's from somebody who always wanted to do it and literally watched you build it. I'm like, man, that's so dope, man.
- [05:39]
Charlamagne Tha God
But you did build it. That's what I'm saying. To me, the underestimated part about you is your role as an executive, because you think about Wild N Out's going on, what, 22 seasons?
- [05:48]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [05:49]
Charlamagne Tha God
Like, you know, people don't. May not know the Masked Singer. You're an executive producer of that.
- [05:53]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, yeah.
- [05:54]
Charlamagne Tha God
That was.
- [05:55]
Nick Cannon
You was like, yo, I brought it out. Yeah, we got it. We took it from. It was a Korean property. It was a. And it was a hit over overseas, and we brought it here. And now season 14. So it's just like. But that's. To me, those are things, like, I just enjoy it. And I guess that's the business mindset as an executive. But to me, like, that's like, I'm so in that space now. Like, I'm probably creating maybe three or four different game shows and stuff like that coming up. Because I understand, like, oh, I can have fun doing this. But then at the same time, this is an empty space that you don't really see us in that much.
- [06:36]
Charlamagne Tha God
You were the chairman of team Nick for 10 years.
- [06:38]
Nick Cannon
10 years, yeah. Yeah. We was over there 18, 15. I mean, you was over there.
- [06:43]
Charlamagne Tha God
That story fucked me up. Cause I didn't realize. Well, the Masked Singer story bugged me Up. Cause I didn't realize you left America.
- [06:48]
Nick Cannon
America's Got Talent.
- [06:49]
Charlamagne Tha God
Talk about that.
- [06:50]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, I mean, well, that was. Dang. It was so long ago, but, you know, me running my mouth, doing. Saying stuff I ain't had no business saying. Well, actually, I was telling jokes in my standup, and NBC didn't like it, and they kind of, like, threatened to fire me. And I was on my chappelle shit at the time. Like, I had been kicking it, and I was like, oh, well. They go, well, I quit. And I literally just stepped away from America's Got Talent. Everybody was like, yo, this is the biggest mistake of your entire career.
- [07:22]
Charlamagne Tha God
You was making, what, $20 million a year?
- [07:24]
Nick Cannon
Yeah. And it was. People were like, jobs like that don't come around again. Howard Stern was trying to convince me to stay, and he. I'm looking up to him. Cause he told NBC when, you know, back in the day that he was leaving and all that stuff, so. And he was like, nah, man, keep that job, Simon Cowell. Everybody was trying to convince me. And then I was like, nah, I know my wife. And then I went and created a show over at Fox that was bigger than America's Got Talent.
- [07:49]
Angela Yee
When you posted about you leaving AGC back all those years ago.
- [07:52]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [07:52]
Angela Yee
You had said that at one point, you were in a dark place about trying to figure out the decision.
- [07:56]
Nick Cannon
Yeah. Cause everybody was, like, against me, like, my entire team. And I'm like, wait, am I making a bad decision? Cause I'm literally trying to stand up for freedom of speech and stand up on my culture and all of that stuff. And it was like, wait, I feel like I'm making the right decision. But nobody, they're like, nah, man. You gotta. This is how the game works. And you're the highest paid host on television and all this stuff, you step away from that, you know, the industry's not gonna rock with you no more. And I just stood 10 toes down. But it was definitely a dark place. Cause, I mean, and that's happened a few times in my career. So, like, at certain points, it's like, oh, I know what this is. It's a cycle. You know what I mean? So long as I can always stay true to myself, then it ain't never gonna be an issue with me. But it was scary, you know, when them first times happened. You don't know, like, dang, is this over? Dang. How am I gonna feed my family from this point on if everybody around me, agents, managers, everybody was like, nah, you gotta figure this out. But you know, luckily, believing in yourself definitely plays off.
- [09:04]
Angela Yee
What did you learn about, like, how to navigate the race conversations, working with corporations from that? Because I know the joke was. It was you jokingly saying, yeah, I.
- [09:14]
Nick Cannon
Said NBC stood for nigga, be careful.
- [09:18]
Charlamagne Tha God
It's true.
- [09:19]
Nick Cannon
They proved you right. Right? And they didn't like that. But again, and we had. We had several conversations, you know, closed door. And it was just. It was. When you feel something isn't authentic, you just kind of know, like, yo, I'm gonna just trust my gut. And sometimes. Cause I don't. I don't think there was any malice even from their side and stuff. They're trying to protect their brand. And then there was part of me that just at that time in my life, I was soapboxing so heavy, you know what I mean? I wanted to pontificate. I wanted to. And that's the energy. I think even a lot of us was on when it was really just like, yo, we standing up for us and we ownership and all of that. And I think rightly so, it was a good decision at the time. But now that I'm, you know, a little more mature and all that stuff, it's like, yo, you definitely gotta know how to pick your battles. Even though I won that one. And, you know, I would encourage people to always stand firm in who you are and what you represent, but that can. It can drain you so much. You know what I mean? And like I said, it's only by the grace of God that, you know, I am able to continue on and continue to keep going and not stopping. So. But yeah, man, at this point, man, I'm just. I'm chilling. I'm just like. I'm just. Like I said, peace is the most important thing to me.
- [10:47]
Angela Yee
Oh, that was my question.
- [10:48]
Charlamagne Tha God
I got another one. I got.
- [10:50]
Angela Yee
I mean, we can go anywhere. I don't want to take go off of that, I guess. Talking about peace, right? You talk about things that drain you when you picking and choosing these shows and people you work with now you today. Because I know you've had a lot of situations that worked and didn't work. Artists you've tried to help and things of that nature. Yeah, the people business is really tricky when it comes to peace. So has there been people that have come to Nick Cannon? And Nick Cannon is like, yeah, I'm not letting you drain my energy.
- [11:14]
Nick Cannon
Uh, yeah, all the time. I mean, but more than anything, especially when you're dealing with talent, they gotta want it more than you do. I've made the mistake. A lot of times where I see something in somebody or see the vision and be like, man, got it. But they don't actually work hard enough. The talent is clearly there, but they don't know what it takes. And then they feel like, oh, well, I'm with Nick, so I'm good. And it gets to a space where, you know, I'm spending millions and millions of dollars on different artists and different projects and stuff. And they don't go because the energy on it, from the standpoint of who you're trying to help, they not believing in themselves 100%. Yet. So now, even more than talent, I look for someone's Dr. And if they really got it and they do it. And I think even when you look at what the labels and stuff are doing, that's what they pay attention to.
- [12:06]
Charlamagne Tha God
They don't do shit no more, but.
- [12:08]
Nick Cannon
They pay attention to who has the motion, they pay attention to who has the drive. Because then all they gotta do is throw bread behind that and then it's gonna go. But if they don't develop nothing no more. And to be honest, I mean, JD said this. A lot of times. They didn't back in the day, they didn't develop. They just had cats like JD or Puff or, you know, all of those different, you know, black owned labels that they were the ones that did the developing and then they had the relationship with the majors. So, you know, that's the idea now to where it's so much entertainment, so much content out there now that our curation system is the thing that's the most important. I mean, that's why y' all are who y' all are. Because this is the only space to really pull up and actually curate and understand. Like, yo, if they said it on a Breakfast Club or if we heard about it there, then that's real. We don't have too many other spots that actually can do that anymore.
- [13:04]
Charlamagne Tha God
I feel like Wild N Out has been a curation space too. Like, you know, and it's become like this cultural institution for hip hop and comedy. And I always wonder, what's the one decision you made early on that you think, like, ensured the longevity of Wild N Out?
- [13:16]
Nick Cannon
Damn. Listening to the young folk more than anything. I mean, Wild N Out was a journey in itself too, because nobody believed in that. That was. I had to invest in on myself. Luckily, that was early MTV days. Like, I was, you know, hosting TRL and all the spring breaks and all of that type of stuff. And they gave me a deal and they Wanted me to do like some punk type of show because that's when Ashton was popping at the time. And I was like, nah, I want to bring my friends together and mix hip hop and comedy and improv together. And they didn't understand it. And so I went shot it with my own money and then they got it. But then I owned it. So then from that standpoint, that obviously probably was the best decision of just making sure that I owned my IP from the gate. And then I think we did like a strong four seasons. And then, you know, I got married and things started shifting up between, you know, MTV and there was MTV2 was created and all of that. And so when I brought it back for MTV2 and MTV2 was like really like the hip hop MTV. We kind of just, you know, ran that channel. I mean, that's when me and Sharla really got got down back then because that we was just making whatever we wanted to do on MTV too. It was like we'd literally be over there and they kind of gave us free rein to kind of be creative. And that was a time, you know what I mean? That was like mid 2000s. And from there I think the longevity, just finding cats, like, you know, the 85 south crew and you know, Hitman Holla and Conceited and Justina and all, like, they kind of keep the brand going where even from the gate, from even the Katt Williams days and the Kevin Hart days, I've always been the dude that just fell back and let everybody else shine.
- [15:03]
Charlamagne Tha God
You remember, we was gonna do. They were gonna bring your MTV Raps back.
- [15:07]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [15:08]
Charlamagne Tha God
And we were executive producing that.
- [15:09]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, we did it a couple times. We got the crazy thing. It was. The hosts were gonna be Jesus and Mero and we had it on.
- [15:19]
Angela Yee
That's crazy.
- [15:19]
Nick Cannon
We had it on a bus. They were sending. We got this big ass tour bus and we sent them all over. And me and Charlotte was executive producers.
- [15:32]
Charlamagne Tha God
And Endemic's in there too.
- [15:33]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [15:34]
Charlamagne Tha God
Was gonna be like a correspondent or something like that.
- [15:37]
Nick Cannon
But that's the thing where we've had the opportunity over the years to just generate stuff and some of it works, some of it stick and then some of it don't. But yeah, man, like to have something like Wild N Out, kind of just have the longevity that it has is crazy.
- [15:53]
Angela Yee
So just now you were saying the IP for Wild N Out, you own.
- [15:56]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [15:57]
Angela Yee
So can you explain the bad? What was it? The bad versus wild? How does that happen then? Like, how is MTV or whoever able to come to you and say you stole.
- [16:06]
Nick Cannon
Well, we're partners. We're still partners. So it's like. Because you gotta understand, too, especially when you're dealing with, like, Paramount. Paramount is a publicly traded company. So even within. No matter, like, there's still an ownership percentage.
- [16:20]
Angela Yee
Got you. Okay.
- [16:21]
Nick Cannon
You know what I mean? So. And if. And I think I talked about this when I was here, here before, like, if you own 100% of something and your partner ain't supporting you, then you never gonna win. So I've always valued them as my partners. But it's always gonna be stuff to where, you know, I try to move with autonomy a lot of times because, like, it's mine, but still gotta make sure that the attorneys are talking to everybody and stuff, because they're just trying to protect their. Because it is on their networks, it is associated with them. So I can't just go run wild and do something and they didn't approve it and stuff like that. So, you know. But that's just the business.
- [16:59]
Angela Yee
Have y' all been able to talk and figure out what all that is? Because there were reports of them being upset, the lawsuit, them. But none of that stuff.
- [17:06]
Nick Cannon
I don't even think that was really real. I mean. I mean, it was real, but I think it didn't really have anything to do with me.
- [17:11]
Charlamagne Tha God
Okay, so they didn't. They never sued?
- [17:12]
Nick Cannon
Nah. Nah. I mean. Well, you know what? I don't. Not me. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know what. I think there was something between Zeus and Paramount that, if you notice, like, I was never named Dennis, so I kind of always just fell back. And the whole time that happened, I'm talking, you know, everybody at Paramount is my people. So they're like. But they like, look, we gotta make sure we're protecting. And they're like, look, we trying to protect you as well. So you know how it is. Like, that's just business and that never. That type of stuff. I've had, like, real issues legally. That was never, like, a real thing.
- [17:50]
Angela Yee
The people come out strong when people think that people are playing with you. Because then people are like, he's done so much and he's been doing this for so long.
- [17:57]
Nick Cannon
Leave him alone.
- [17:57]
Angela Yee
So people thought that it involved you. So people were really pissed off. Like, how would they do that to him when we only know Wild N out because of Nick Cannon.
- [18:04]
Nick Cannon
Yeah. And I think because at the end of the day, you know, and that was me and Lim trying to. And I was just listening to Lim like. Cause I really respect what he built. And he was like, man, I want to do something, you know, where I have all of our talent. Kind of act like they doing Wild N Out. And I was like, all right, why not? You know what I mean? That seemed like that could be dope. He's always doing offshoots and stuff. But I guess there was some history between, you know, Zeus and Paramount that I was like, man, I ain't getting involved in none of that stuff, so. But it all worked out. I think there was a lot in that. This industry. You know how that goes, too. There's. People start putting out press releases and things like. And that stuff makes more noise than what actually happens. And I think even they figured it out super quickly.
- [18:50]
Angela Yee
Got you.
- [18:51]
Nick Cannon
But it, you know, once the headlines hit, everybody was like, oh, it's going down. And, you know, because, you know, right now, like, wilding out. We got brand new episodes airing right now. But it had it. It was kind of on hiatus for a second, so they were like, what's going on? Is it gonna get. And it was like, nah, it was just. That was the. The interim of getting to the. To the new episode. So it all worked itself out.
- [19:15]
Angela Yee
I love it.
- [19:16]
Charlamagne Tha God
I wanna go back to something. So, y', all, you all doing new episodes?
- [19:18]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, yeah.
- [19:19]
Charlamagne Tha God
Okay. Okay.
- [19:19]
Nick Cannon
Okay. Yeah, we got new ones running right now. And that's, I think, come on every Monday night, VH1. And then obviously all of this, you know, YouTube and all of that type of stuff. But they. We rocking right now. It's going. It's going heavy.
- [19:33]
Charlamagne Tha God
I'm not gonna lie. I felt a little way about the new Paramount ownership. Not because I know anything about them. It's just that that was our home for a long time. Guys like Chris McCarthy shouts out to Chris, Richie, Adidas, Jessica Zar.
- [19:45]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, those are people.
- [19:46]
Charlamagne Tha God
Those are people in a real way. So to see, like, that just regime gone, like, I got hurt a little bit. I'm not going front.
- [19:53]
Nick Cannon
Hey, man, I was right. Like you said. I was over 15. 15 for 10 years. So it's like it's the end of an era. But it's like, I think the new regime is. They're trying to hold. I thought they was gonna sell everything. Like, I thought they was gonna sell bet, Nickelodeon. Yeah. And they said, nah, we gonna keep it and we gonna redevelop. They trying to redevelop MTV and actually turn it back into a music brand and stuff, so. And they got the bag. So, hey, I salute them. And Like I said, we're about to diversify Wild N Out in such a way that obviously my main focus has been international and even there's an education platform that I've been working on from the gate for a lot of the public school systems and even the HBCUs to where trying to build a curriculum based off of, you know, improv and our ability. And so like the same way that you have the Groundlings or the same way that you have a second city, we can have that in our communities to where you can go to the Wild N Out theater down the street and learn how you know all the principles and concepts of how to be a performer and how to do live improv and things like that, and then that becomes an incubation system for new talent. So where I used to just go online and be like, yo, who's the funniest kid who got who nice as a battle rapper? Now I can literally say I have schools in various cities that are training and developing young people with all of the concepts of, you know, funny comedians, hip hop, but at the same time teaching them principles about, you know, just pure education.
- [21:40]
Angela Yee
I think, I think somebody like you could do that so well because you're in that middle point of like, you know and feel and are real talent and understand what developing that is like. But also you're like of the now, like you know what's happening right now. And a lot of times it's like a disconnect.
- [21:53]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [21:53]
Angela Yee
I would just listening to you talk about that made me think about a conversation me and Charlamagne were having about Marlon Wayans on Kaisanat's stream.
- [21:59]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [22:00]
Angela Yee
And just the reaction.
- [22:01]
Charlamagne Tha God
Tell them what you said.
- [22:01]
Angela Yee
I said that Marlon was way better than Kai on the stream.
- [22:04]
Charlamagne Tha God
And I'm like.
- [22:05]
Angela Yee
And I. And I didn't, I didn't say it in a way like I didn't expect him to be. It's just. Yes, you did. No, you didn't hear it. No, you didn't. He didn't hear the full conversation. I said, I know, I know it's Marlon Wayans, but he was way better than Kyle on the stream. But. And it would be so dope to see stuff like that bridge more because younger people get to see like he really does this, like. But younger people don't know Marlon Wayans.
- [22:27]
Charlamagne Tha God
And understand actor, stand up comedian, you know, how many 30 plus years in the game, of course he's gonna be without.
- [22:33]
Angela Yee
They know who he is. But they. I think sometimes people don't understand how putting your Reps in doing everything that Marlon Wayans has been brought up during his whole life prepares you to do whatever you want very well. Because a lot of us get on stream or get online and numbers go. And we're just here, we're figuring it out.
- [22:49]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [22:50]
Angela Yee
So to see somebody who's really talented like him be with Kaiser and I, who's also talented, but, you know, like, it's like a variety show.
- [22:58]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, yeah.
- [22:58]
Angela Yee
But it was just fire to see them together.
- [23:00]
Nick Cannon
I hear what you're saying, and you're 100% right to where that's what we should be doing as a community. Taking our OGs and putting them with our young guys and saying, like, look, we gonna polish you. And that's really what Wild N Out always was. And that's even why I switched it from, like, old school and new school. Because it's like we want all of that energy. Cause Kai and them, they got their finger on the pulse of what's going on. They got all of the young people. But there's also a process of being seasoned and longevity in this. And somebody like Marlon, like, that's my og. That's big, bro. Like, I've looked up to him my entire career. Because it's like, yo, that dude has done it all. You know what I mean? From start, like, so much stuff that we forgot a lot of times. But starred in several black blockbuster movies, TV shows. And so it's effortless for him because he. This is what he do.
- [23:52]
Angela Yee
That's what I'm saying. Not that people don't know him, but I think a lot of younger people don't even understand the preparation, actual talent. Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying.
- [24:02]
Charlamagne Tha God
The realest thing about the Kaiser Netse of the world. But we don't even know what they're gonna do yet. This is just their platform that's introducing them. We don't know what them skill sets are yet. Like, the little dude, Reggie, that be doing the comedy, I think he's hilarious. I'm looking at him like he should be in movies and tv. Like, that's what I see for him. But then I can see that for Kai as well.
- [24:20]
Nick Cannon
Nah. Cause Kai came on Wild N Out early on. It's funny. My kids put me up on Kai back in the day. And he was like, dad, you gotta put Kai on. Wild N Out, we put him on. He rocked it. And this was before all of the stuff. And I was like, yo, man, you wanna be on the show? And he, man, you know how much money y' all making right now. I was like, I get it. You know what I mean? Because that was like right at the beginning. But I was trying to, you know, from the Kai's to the Drewskis, you know, like when they first started bubbling, I'm always seeing who's next. I remember even I show speed. My son put me up on him when he was like 16. He was like. And like we was talking to his parents and everything, trying to figure out if there's a way to put a 16 year old on Wild N Out and all that stuff. So you, they, they communicate with the youth in such a way that we don't even know how to do it at all. Like, it's like I don't know what the algorithm is or from the clipping, all that stuff. But they're communicating differently. So I'm just trying to figure that out because that is truly a talent in itself. And then if they're gifted on top of that, whether it's musically, whether it's even, like I said, somebody like Speed, I mean that dude is a natural athlete and has turned. Probably made more money just doing what he does than any professional athlete could because he just been able to figure it out internationally.
- [25:43]
Angela Yee
Yeah.
- [25:43]
Nick Cannon
And it's like I'm so in awe of those young dudes and what they're doing. Like you said, they just now building a platform and they're teenagers, you know what I mean? Imagine what they'll be five, 10 years from.
- [25:56]
Angela Yee
That's why it's fire what you trying to do. That's what I mean to say. It's like, not that they're not talented, but they need what you're trying to do at the same time.
- [26:02]
Charlamagne Tha God
That's why I don't think we're supposed to figure them out. They have have their audience, right?
- [26:06]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [26:06]
Charlamagne Tha God
And every now and then they invite uncs over and uncs have fun. But then also UNC can put you in a movie.
- [26:11]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [26:12]
Charlamagne Tha God
UNC can put you on tv, like, you know, if that's what you want to do. That's why I love the relationship Kevin got with them. Because that's the way I see it.
- [26:19]
Nick Cannon
Nah, that's real. And that's how we all came up, you know what I mean? Even when I was creating Wild N Out and stuff, like I said, I was talking to cats like Jamie Foxx and Marlon and all of them and they were like, yo, they was giving me advice and I was paying attention to the. When I was a teenager around them. So then When I got my opportunities to be an executive or get deals and produce stuff, I had already knew how to do it. So it's like, it's the same thing. We just gotta pass the information over to the young boys.
- [26:50]
Charlamagne Tha God
Do you see yourself as a bridge builder for the next generation?
- [26:55]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, I never really thought of it like that. I mean, like I said, when I see what you're building, I was like, yo, that's. That's needed. I think at some point I was on that for a minute, but then it's like, I just gotta focus on what's working. And then. So I know how important Wild N Out is to the culture so I can build those bridges through that I can continue to be the conduit for those spaces. But I don't know if it's still, like, trying to build for the culture as much as it's just really just trying to do the best work I could possibly do.
- [27:32]
Charlamagne Tha God
I don't know why you acting like you don't do that. Wild N Out does that, bro.
- [27:36]
Nick Cannon
Like, come on.
- [27:36]
Angela Yee
You also do that by the talent that you choose to work with too. And some of the projects that you develop, you help a lot of people be able to do things From.
- [27:42]
Charlamagne Tha God
Matt Rife came from Wild n out.
- [27:45]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [27:45]
Charlamagne Tha God
85 South. They was already doing their thing.
- [27:47]
Nick Cannon
But Pete, all that.
- [27:48]
Charlamagne Tha God
Pete Davis, all of that stuff helped amplify their profiles. Yes.
- [27:51]
Nick Cannon
Yeah. I mean, but it's definitely. And that's why I say, like, probably I can focus on that. And like I said, everything I'm trying to build. But before, you know, like, when we. I was, you know, the executive over there at Viacom and all that stuff, it was just like, we were just trying to build stuff for us, you know what I mean, and see how much we can. And they was allowing us to do it. You know what I mean? So we were just trying to put on for the culture where now I think, you know, as I've gotten a little older, it's like I gotta pick and choose where to put my energy. Because if I'm just. There was a point where I was like, I wanna give everybody a deal and I wanna sign it, and I wanna figure, like, I would be up there trying to figure out to how. How can I build a streaming platform and how can I do. And it's like, oh, a lot of that stuff is so draining when you can just focus on what's working and rock like that.
- [28:36]
Angela Yee
Well, you got the Nick at Nite show now.
- [28:38]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [28:39]
Angela Yee
Late Night space. Why Late Night Space this time, I think.
- [28:41]
Nick Cannon
I mean, I'll be honest, they kind of, you know, Amazon came at me and was like, yo, you should do this. And I was like, all right. You know, like, it was a fun, you know, take on how to flip late night. And almost like late night radio, that used to be like the call in advice for relationship and sex and stuff like that. So it was a cool. We do it at, you know, a spot that I have ownership in, in Hollywood. And it's just like a cool little date night vibe to where, you know, we bring in a professional, whether it's a therapist or a psychologist. And, you know, they. They give the real advice and I'm just there for the commentary. But it's super dope because then I do man on the street bits with it and all that stuff. So it's just another thing to do again, something to have fun with. But, you know, when they presented it to me, I was like, all right, let's get it.
- [29:31]
Charlamagne Tha God
I saw you on there saying you don't believe in. You don't like the term co parenting.
- [29:34]
Nick Cannon
I think that was, again, that they. Clickbait. I think what I said. But in that sense, what I was saying, I was like, is parenting. You know what I mean? I think we start trying to come up with all of these phrases that kind of like, no, let's just be the best parents we can possibly be. Because then once you start trying to define what co parenting is, and then it's like, then that diminishes what our experience is as parents. You know what I mean? I think everybody wants to be the. The best parents to their child. So I was just saying I don't like all of these terms that society just starts putting on there. Especially, you know, based off of there's.
- [30:12]
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- [31:48]
Nick Cannon
Bring the boom XBoom from producer Jordan.
- [31:53]
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- [33:44]
Nick Cannon
They throw terms at me constantly. So I was like, why can't it just be parenting? Like, why does it. But there's a negative connotation sometimes that it goes in like, I've never had a bad experience, so I'd rather just be like, no, we parent together. Like that just sounds, you know, a little better than what co parenting. Co parenting sounds like you got lawyers involved and stuff like that. Which the people who do that, that's cool. But it's like, I feel like if we're really getting to the core of it, parenting is what we doing.
- [34:14]
Angela Yee
I saw or I read the interview that Mariah Carey did with Harper's Bazaar where she talked about wanting to really be fair in you guys parenting situation because, like, you know, growing up with parents who are not together anymore is really difficult.
- [34:26]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [34:26]
Angela Yee
Your kids are getting older now. Have they ever come to you and been like, dad, like, why are y' all not together?
- [34:31]
Nick Cannon
Uh, when they were a little younger.
- [34:32]
Angela Yee
Really?
- [34:33]
Nick Cannon
Yeah. But now, you know, they 14. They kind of get it and they like. And we've always had a great relationship. I mean, even with Mariah saying, like, I've always, we've been present, you know, so even in that sense where I remember when they were probably like 10, 11, that's kind of when they would say, you know, can you guys get married again? And all that stuff. And because when they see us as a family, it looks, you know, like, oh, this is what it should be. But you know, like I said, They're 14 now, so they kind of, they understand that it's just, it's a little, it's not picture perfect, but it's their family and they love it.
- [35:11]
Angela Yee
And then there was another clip. People love coming for you in the parenting stuff.
- [35:16]
Nick Cannon
They do.
- [35:17]
Angela Yee
Does it ever get to a point where you're just like, what the hell? Like, I'm over it. Everything you say, not really.
- [35:22]
Nick Cannon
Cause it's like, it's been that way for years. Like, I've never, like, I.
- [35:27]
Charlamagne Tha God
It's been that way since you've had 12 kids.
- [35:29]
Nick Cannon
No, but even before, I feel like.
- [35:30]
Angela Yee
It'S heightened because you, I mean, but.
- [35:32]
Nick Cannon
It'S always been able to, like from the stuff that we was talking about earlier, they always like, I'll say Something. My mouth would get me in trouble or something. And then it's like, I gotta clear it up and stuff. And few years back, I was like, man, I ain't even worried about clearing that stuff up, Especially when I have so many platforms of my own that it's just like, well, as long as they promoting it, I'm not even tripping, so. Cause I'm gonna. I'm gonna speak my truth. And if, you know, I'm only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand.
- [36:00]
Angela Yee
Yeah. Because there was a clip of you talking about your daughters and who you want your daughters to date.
- [36:04]
Nick Cannon
Oh, yeah, yeah.
- [36:05]
Angela Yee
And even with that, I was like, well, if you listen to what he was trying to say and understand it.
- [36:08]
Nick Cannon
You'Re just taking accountability.
- [36:09]
Angela Yee
Yeah. You changed a lot. Or the man you are now is who you want your kids to date, not who you were.
- [36:14]
Charlamagne Tha God
Oh, yeah, we did a topic about that.
- [36:15]
Angela Yee
Yeah, we did.
- [36:16]
Nick Cannon
Yeah. And most men, if you ask them honestly, would you be like, yo, would you want your daughter to date a young boy like you?
- [36:22]
Angela Yee
Yeah.
- [36:23]
Nick Cannon
They gonna be like, no. You know, but in that sense, like, as we mature, you're gonna be like, look, dad did a bunch of stuff, made a lot of mistakes. Please don't find somebody like that, but find somebod. Right. And do the. And that's all I was saying in that sense. It was like I was taking accountability and just saying, like, yeah, I do have five daughters, and I want them to make way better choices than I made. And I think that's what every parent wants.
- [36:51]
Charlamagne Tha God
I would want my daughters to have the version of me that went on a healing journey.
- [36:56]
Nick Cannon
Right.
- [36:56]
Charlamagne Tha God
That version, if you could find that early.
- [36:58]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [36:58]
Charlamagne Tha God
Because I know a lot of my homegirls now tell me they won't even date a guy. Guy who's not trying to do some work on himself.
- [37:04]
Nick Cannon
Yeah.
- [37:04]
Charlamagne Tha God
Maybe the therapy or something.
- [37:05]
Nick Cannon
Big fat. And that's. I think, you know, we obviously share that that same energy of, like, therapy has changed our lives in such a way.
- [37:13]
Charlamagne Tha God
Absolutely.
- [37:14]
Nick Cannon
Because I. I used to feed off of toxicity, you know, I used to. You know, from being diagnosed as a narcissist and all that. Like, I would. Like, that's the type of stuff was like, that was cute. Yeah. Like, yeah.
- [37:27]
Charlamagne Tha God
My ego diagnosed.
- [37:28]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [37:30]
Angela Yee
Girl is gonna love that.
- [37:32]
Charlamagne Tha God
I don't know why I didn't know you got clean.
- [37:34]
Angela Yee
How do you die? Like, how does that work?
- [37:35]
Nick Cannon
It's a process. You gotta. One, you gotta have the right psychiatrist or even psychologist. They both can do it. But it's like a three week process to where you gotta, they do a in person verbal interview that you gotta answer all of these questions at a certain pace, then you gotta fill out these forms, then you gotta write. And not like there's. They're not trick questions, but they're questions that, you know from 1 to 10, how do you do this? How would you handle this in this situation? And then they take, it takes about a month to come back. And then it's a spectrum and it tells you where you land on the spectrum of npd. And you know, luckily, like the far end of the spectrum where people, a lot of people, you know, associate narcissism with, where there's the lack of empathy and rage. I didn't have those. Like, those are the things where like people just, you know, they're so into themselves that it's dangerous. But all of the, you know, the self worth and, you know, believing that who you are and that you're, you know, a unique individual and your word matters more than most. Like, I had all of that and you know what I mean? So that you have to do the work. Once you, once you've been diagnosed, you're like, oh, wow. So even in dealing with my children or dealing with the mothers of my children, it's like now I'm equipped with saying, oh yeah, I'm probably gaslighting when I'm doing that. Or, oh, you know what, I could probably present this a little softer or at least with a little bit more compassion because my nature is to be like, I created this, I'm this, I'm that. And then it's like, but that's not helping. You know what I mean? We're not looking for resolution. I'm just looking to be right and really feeding my ego. So I've learned all of that type of stuff and it's helped me become a better parent and a better partner in many scenarios.
- [39:27]
Charlamagne Tha God
When'd you get diagnosed?
- [39:28]
Nick Cannon
When? Yeah, that was maybe like two years ago. And then. Because. You ever heard of Dr. Amen?
- [39:36]
Charlamagne Tha God
No.
- [39:37]
Nick Cannon
I think you, you had to see him because he's all online, but he does all of these brain scans. He's a brain psychiatrist and he has, it's called the Amen clinics. And they did like this whole brain scan on me and I'm thinking like, oh, I'm gonna have a genius brain and all of this stuff. And turns out like I had like severe brain damage in my frontal lobe.
- [40:01]
Charlamagne Tha God
What?
- [40:01]
Nick Cannon
And like, and he, like, he said, I'm the poster child for adhd, which I kind of always knew, but I believe it came from, you know, in the brain scans. He did a whole episode on his platform about it, but it actually. They said there was, like, some trauma probably when I was a kid that I. Whether I fell or something like that, that actually shifted. And from that, you know, he was like, you were probably already adhd, but because your frontal lobe was damaged. And then there was like some other. We. We can have toxicity of the brain, too, a lot of times. So there's like. Whether it's like. And we don't even know it in our communities, like, everything from, like, mold and all of that stuff can actually affect how we function. And, you know, obviously, you know, it's the gut to mind ratio. Like, just the stuff we're putting in our bodies actually affects our mind. So I learned all of this stuff within, like, the last two years about, like, having a better brain and having, you know, being able to control your mind and accept the things that you've been diagnosed with, but also know that you can get better.
- [41:06]
Angela Yee
What made you want to go, yeah, it's crazy.
- [41:09]
Charlamagne Tha God
I'm tripping. Cause, like, you know, when you started having a bunch of kids, right, There's a lot of people around me that's. In the mental health space, spiritual leaders, they would talk to me. One person in particular, and I'm not.
- [41:19]
Nick Cannon
Gonna say her name.
- [41:20]
Charlamagne Tha God
And she was like, he has narcissistic personality disorder. Blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, nick. Cause to your point, when I think of narcissism, I think of lack of empathy. I think of rage. I'm like, that's not Nick.
- [41:31]
Nick Cannon
Yeah. Nah, she called it. So.
- [41:33]
Charlamagne Tha God
To hear you say that is like, wow.
- [41:34]
Nick Cannon
Nah. And it's true. You know what I mean? Because it's like, it get. There's. There's certain things, especially on Spectrum, to where I had to own up and be like, man, I did do that. You know what I mean? I did try to make it all about me. I did try to create my own. And those are the concepts we used to embrace. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, I'm the boss. I created this. It's my world. Chicks gotta, you know, fall in line and all of that stuff. Yeah. So. But what.
- [42:02]
Angela Yee
Charlamagne.
- [42:06]
Charlamagne Tha God
He was hitting the things.
- [42:09]
Nick Cannon
That ain't how you had the kids. But, yeah, that is a process.
- [42:12]
Charlamagne Tha God
That's part of it. So what you baby mama number 12? I'm Nick Cannon.
- [42:17]
Nick Cannon
But that's. I mean, you learn, man. But I was on that. You know what I mean? I was on that for a long, long period of time. And a lot of. Obviously, too. A lot of it, if we're being completely honest, a lot of it is the trauma that I was experiencing of not knowing how to handle divorce, you know what I mean? And, like, me acting out because I'm like, oh, I'm the man now, and I can. Instead of healing and doing what I should have actually did, I just jumped out there. And because I had everything from wilding out and all the things is, like, those were all distractions from the actual work that I probably should.
- [43:01]
Charlamagne Tha God
That's the question. Did you feel like, all right, two things. Did you feel like you failed because the marriage failed, or did you. Were you worried about what the industry would think? Because the industry was already on some. How did Nick Cannon get Mariah anyway?
- [43:14]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, I think it was a little bit of both. Like I said, I hadn't did the work, you know what I mean? So I was just like, just long as I could keep moving, you know what I mean? And I didn't get a chance to slow down until I got in therapy, but I was just like, look, I just gotta keep making money, I gotta stay hot, I gotta stay funny, and everything else will figure itself out. And I just didn't do the work. So then I looked up, you know, 12 kids later, I'm like, wow, I could have did things very differently. But, you know, I stand firm on all of my decisions because, you know, I love all my kids, I love my family infrastructure, but. But I know it all started from a place of pain and not really healing properly. And, you know, because I had access to everything, so I just allowed that to kind of cloud my decision making.
- [44:15]
Charlamagne Tha God
So you think having all those kids was a response to your trauma?
- [44:19]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, now that. Now I'm learning that now. Yeah. And it wasn't like I was acting out. It was more of being careless, being frivolous with my process because I could do it because I had the money, because I had the access to whoever and however I wanted to move. And, you know, okay, they coming at me, they asking me, opposed to, like, doing a mature thing and saying, hey, well, it probably makes more sense to do this and that. And then obviously, life happens as well. So it wasn't by. It wasn't like, oh, I'm gonna go have 12 kids. It was more about like, yo, I'm gonna just live life and have fun, and whatever happens, happens. I can handle it when it probably, you Know, you know, being almost 45 now, I can sit back and be like, yeah, if I would have thought the process through a little bit more and took time to actually do the inner work, things might have been a little different in certain scenarios.
- [45:21]
Angela Yee
You wouldn't have 12 kids.
- [45:23]
Nick Cannon
I don't. Yeah, I don't know. You know what I mean? Like, that. That's the only thing. Because every. And I've always said this, every child that I had was made out of love and there were strong relationships. It's just, it was. If I would have did the work in the healing after getting divorced, I probably would have took my time and a lot, a lot of other scenarios. And for whatever reason, I thought that was the answer. A lot of times it was like, oh, I'm gonna just. I'm gonna figure it out over here. I'm gonna figure it out over here. Opposed to like, yo, now you're. Now you're leaving trauma every, every step of the way instead of, you know, fixing it from its origin and then being able to present itself. But then I still, I mean, like concepts like monogamy and stuff like that. I still feel the same way.
- [46:14]
Angela Yee
So actually has your view on that change then?
- [46:17]
Nick Cannon
Nah, not really. Not for me. You know, and that again, that probably that's the work of, you know, whether you want to go back to like, Freud's process of like my childhood and my upbringing, I grew up in a very unorthodox situation in household, so I've always understood that, you know, love happens differently. So monogamy has never really been my thing. But so that. I'm pretty sure there's a. That plays a part of it as well too.
- [46:50]
Angela Yee
How the women that are. That you have kids with, how do they handle the healed version of you now? Because in the trauma you're talking about, I'm sure they're coming to you with conversations that you're having differently now than you were before you started to take the time.
- [47:04]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, I mean, shouts out to all my therapists, one for each. Not real talk. Yeah, no, not. Cause there's, you know, I'm definitely. I have family therapy with some of my kids. You know what I mean? Because they have to understand that this is an unorthodox, you know, non traditional scenario. And I want them to be in the healthiest space as possible. Then I have my own personal. Then I actually do do relationship, you know, therapy as well. So. With who? Depending on who. Like, I. There's. There's been. Sometimes it works.
- [47:37]
Charlamagne Tha God
Young boys, he said Depending on who stupid.
- [47:40]
Angela Yee
Hey, you're veering back. Don't veer back. He's trying to take you back.
- [47:44]
Nick Cannon
That's ego.
- [47:45]
Angela Yee
Yup. That little hand, dad, you didn't need that.
- [47:47]
Podcast Advertiser (Jordan Peele's 'Him' Promo)
You didn't need that.
- [47:51]
Nick Cannon
No, but in a sense, because I've, you know, through, you know, trial and error, what I've learned with the mothers of my children, they. Sometimes they'll say, can we go to therapy together? And I say, of course. You know, so then they get a safe space to present, you know, their issues with me and what I'm doing. And, you know, I retreat a lot of times in my nature. That's a lot of. That's one of my defense mechanisms, is that I just be like, I don't want to deal with. So I've learned that. All right, if we can have a safe setting to where. And I say, whoever you pick, you know, because I have my own, you know, counseling and things like that, but if they find somebody that they like and they want to invite me in, then we'll sit and we'll do that, and we. That's so. I feel like that's once, because there's so many. Once you. And what that does, that gives you the tools to know how to communicate with it. Each other.
- [48:45]
Angela Yee
Right?
- [48:46]
Nick Cannon
And there's like. Because there's even things that there's like. There's a. The Galtman theory, they call, like, the Four Horsemen that. I would teach this to anybody who's in any kind of relationship, because those are the four. Yeah, it's like the four. The four things to avoid when having a disagreement with your partner. And it's like. I think the first one is like, obviously criticism. And criticism turns into just. It just spirals, and it gets into this space where you find yourself arguing more than actually finding a solution of what the actual issue is. So if you can. Instead of just instantly saying, well, you made me feel like this, it's like, well, can I share with you how I'm feeling right now? And then in those things where you can actually get to the resolution and the solution so much faster, but you can allow yourself to emotionally. And then it's almost even like presenting to your partner and be like, you know what? I really appreciate, I see you trying here, here, here, and here, but can we work on this, this, this, and this? And then when you can find somebody that you can communicate with like that, it actually. You really won't have any problems because you all, you. You have the same goals and agendas, so you Just go about it in different ways. Emotionally.
- [50:02]
Charlamagne Tha God
I know you gotta go. Cause they say you gotta go 10:30. But I was gonna ask, how do.
- [50:06]
Angela Yee
You deal with the. The women you have kids with dating other people? Especially with, like, Mariah Carey. Right. It's very public, potentially. Her Anderson Paak Pac. Do y' all have conversations about who they're dating when they meet the kids? Like, is that normal, traditional for you?
- [50:19]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, I mean, I don't have no problems with. Never really did. I mean, I think, you know, obviously Mariah's been in a few relationships, you know, since we've been divorced, and it's always been cool, you know what I mean? And, you know, and even making sure that it's healthy for our kids as well. And they handled all of it, you know, extremely well. And even, you know, there's a few other mothers of my children who have relationships and stuff. And it's like, again, probably if you. I mean, I think I. Probably if you go back a couple interviews. The last time I was in here, I. There was times where I was like, nah, this is mine. She can't.
- [50:58]
Angela Yee
She can't be with all of them.
- [50:59]
Nick Cannon
Yeah, yeah. Like, if she go, do what you want to do, I'm not. But now I'm in a space where, like, I just want everybody to be healthy and happy. And if someone else can make you happy, please, by all means, you know, long. And especially if it's going for the betterment of our child, like. Yeah, like, a lot of times that I see that as, you know, help in that sense to where. Because you want the mother to be in the most healed and healthy space that she can possibly be in, and whatever gets you there, then that's what it should be. Now, of course, the. The little bit of ego that. That I struggle with each and every day is like, I want to make sure if you want to be with me, then I want to be with you, and we can, you know, reciprocate that energy. But I. I'm not going to force anybody to. To be, you know, down with me if you don't want to, but, you know, if you do, I appreciate that.
- [51:58]
Charlamagne Tha God
You never wanted to get a divorce, did you?
- [52:03]
Nick Cannon
I don't know.
- [52:04]
Angela Yee
That's.
- [52:04]
Nick Cannon
That's complicated, obviously. No, like, the. The easy question is like, nah, like you said, I felt like a complete failure on so many different levels because of that, but I also knew it was probably. That's what it was best for, you know, specifically our kids and kind of being able to be the Best parents we could be. So it was a tough decision. It was definitely a tough decision, but. But I wouldn't change it. You know what I mean? Looking back, I think it was the right decision. And I think when I look at all of the amazing things Mariah's doing right now, I was like, yo, that's dope. You know what I mean? She's in such a wonderful space, and I'm doing all right. The kids are thriving. So I'm like, we made the best decision for us, because I don't know if it would have been that way, if I would have. Would have been the immature young dude. I was trying to figure it all out back then.
- [53:01]
Charlamagne Tha God
And it's just wild because, you know, you said your trauma response was to go out there and be with as many women as possible. But if in that moment, you would have just said, maybe even the Mariah or whoever, you hurt my feelings, right? Like, you know, my feelings are hurt. You know, what's so hard for men to say it is.
- [53:16]
Nick Cannon
And to me, it was. It's like I hurt my feelings. And that's what I didn't. I couldn't understand because the decision. I was so insecure and really letting the outside noise get to me in that sense of, like, where people were calling me like a boy toy and that I was. And then I felt like I watched my own existence kind of get put in the shadow. And so I didn't know how to deal with that. So then there was this. The ego in me was acting out where opposed to, like. And I was trying. You know what I mean? I was like, nah, I can do it. I can hold it down in it. But it was just eating away at me. It was like, I don't feel like I'm being myself. I don't feel like I'm getting the opportunity, and I can't be in somebody's shadow. My entire, like, I want to make money. I want to be a CEO, I want to be a billionaire. All of that stuff. And it was. I was having all these experiences that I was creating on my own. Like, it wasn't reality. Like, I was the one making all of this stuff up. Like, I had a loving wife who just loved me, and we had amazing. But I was like, nah, I gotta wear suits every day, and I gotta be like, I'm the boss. Like. And it just created this monster in me that, you know, took me in a direction that I really didn't have to go in. But the ego of wanting to be the man in my household, wanting to be the man in the industry, wanting to prove everybody wrong, that took over. And then therefore, you know, years later, looking back and lots of therapy, like, oh, man, that was purely my narcissistic ego really tearing me down, which was really all of these insecurities that I had never worked through.
- [55:06]
Angela Yee
Do you ever have times where you slip back into it? Because we did a segment up here where Mariah Carey was saying that she wished she had dated two people.
- [55:13]
Nick Cannon
Oh, yeah.
- [55:14]
Angela Yee
And then Charlotte joked, like, she didn't need Tupac. She had the legend, Nicholas Kennett. And I saw you. Well, but you reposted it. And when you reposted it, I was like, oh, okay, Nick Cannon. Like, stop playing with him.
- [55:25]
Nick Cannon
But I mean, the thing. Also, Charlotte knows this about me. Like, I'm all for the jokes. I'm all for the good time. Like, you. I'm never going. Nothing can make me mad. You know what I mean? So, like, that type. And, you know, it's funny. Like, even in our house, like, Mariah used to have, like, literally, the picture Tupac in the bubble bath, she had a big, giant version of that, and I think, you know, one of the bathrooms or something like that. But it's like, women love Tupac. Like, that ain't. Like, that's one of them things you can't. You ain't never gonna be able to compare yourself to Tupac.
- [56:01]
Angela Yee
You ever asked her, like, why this picture of all the pictures, you know.
- [56:04]
Nick Cannon
It was a David LaChapelle picture. And then she got a relationship with him and all that stuff. But I get it. I wasn't intimidated by it. I mean, I got abs, too.
- [56:14]
Charlamagne Tha God
Will Smith ever bond over that? Did you ever?
- [56:18]
Angela Yee
Oh, my God. Now I understand Nick at night in the show and the love and the relationship and the advice and all that stuff with you. Because you hear right today, I'm like, okay, I get it. Before. I'm like, why?
- [56:28]
Nick Cannon
And that's the.
- [56:29]
Angela Yee
Doing a relationship.
- [56:30]
Nick Cannon
It's so funny, too, because when people hear, like, oh, Nick Cannon giving advice. I'm not giving no advice. Like, if anything, I can give insight, but there's professionals there that are giving the real advice. But it's just. I'm going through a healing process. I'm working. And a lot of the therapists that you see on there are therapists that I've actually really worked with in the past and kind of done stuff. So I know their. Their history and that, and they can actually really help. And that's just the same thing. That. I mean, Charlotte does this as well, is like, we just got to encourage doing the work in therapy and especially for black men, because we look at it as a bad thing. We look at it as like, yo, you must be crazy, or something wrong with you. Where it's like, nah, man. It's really saved my life in so many aspects, from relationships to personal work to, you know, working through trauma. It's made me a better person. So if I can offer up platforms from. Whether it's. Whether it's our. The council culture platform, whether it's Nick Cannon at night, where I can introduce psychologists and therapists to the space and people, you know, embrace it. I'm with it.
- [57:37]
Charlamagne Tha God
No, you inspired me. I need to dig deeper. I want to talk to that guy that you talked about that did the brain scan and Dr. Amen and diagnosed you with the narcissistic. I don't want to talk about that.
- [57:45]
Nick Cannon
He wasn't the one that did the npd, but he was like. He actually helped me because when he found out that I got diagnosed with mpd, he called me and he was like. He was like. He's like, you definitely have npd, but I believe it's because of your brain and not because of the decisions that you make. And so that actually helped me understand it, because that's. Cause once somebody labels you with something, then you're like, oh. And he was like, no, you actually. He's like, we can fix all of that. And then. So he actually gave me a process of, like, how to physically work through all of that trauma and actually have a healthier brain.
- [58:25]
Charlamagne Tha God
My last question. If you had a child with every woman you ever had sex with, how many kids would you have?
- [58:30]
Nick Cannon
Damn. I don't know. That's like every. I don't know.
- [58:38]
Charlamagne Tha God
That wasn't a real question. What do you want your legacy to be 20 years from now? Nick Cannon.
- [58:43]
Angela Yee
Oh, my God.
- [58:44]
Nick Cannon
Legacy. I don't know, man. Somebody that really just. It's weird. Cause I'm in a space right now. I feel like, you know, obviously we live. I feel like we live in assimilation. And it's the. As fast as this world is moving, we're in this, like, dystopian society right now, and I'm almost. The present is so important. You know what I mean? I'm not even thinking about the future, other than my children and just wanting to create a best space for them. But. Because, I mean, I'm sure you've heard, like, from how fast AI is moving, and even, like, I Don't know. Like, have y' all ever read that? The book from back in the day, George Orwell, 1984. Oh, yeah. Yo. Yeah. It's so. It's happening as we speak. So this dude, he wrote a book right after World War II called in 1949, but it's called 1984 because he was talking about the future and what he thought he was. And it said. I mean, you've heard like big brothers watching and all of that type of stuff, but it's literally what today is to where they had like, as the Ministry of truth. And they were like, literally changing history. And it was dude's job to actually go and change history for the powers that be. It was a constant war always going on so they could perpetuate money. It was like everything was under surveillance. And they had this stuff called, like, Truth Speak and newspaper. And it's like, wow. When you look at how one. It was predicted. But how really stuff like time and all that stuff is so man made that I always. At least the space I'm in now, I'm like. I'm not even thinking about the future in that sense. I'm just really trying to operate in the present as much as I possibly and be the best person I could be in the present. Because I do. I feel like this is a simulation and we supposed to get as much as we supposed to get out of it because. Because it can change like that. And I just think. I mean, obviously we all know what's going on in the world. It's like, it's so much poison out there that the future is not inspiring to me. So I just want to be the best I can be in the moment. Now, my lineage, obviously, is all about my children, but I don't even. That legacy thing, I kind of. And also one of my therapists that taught me that legacy conversation can also be associated with the narcissistic approach as well. Because you're like, now I'm building my legacy. When that's all ego as well too. Putting your name on buildings and buying all this stuff. It's like, we think that's what we should be achieving. But if we're gonna get to the utopian aspect of what we all do, we all should be each other's legacy. That's right.
- [61:41]
Charlamagne Tha God
If you love 1984, I wanna recommend. Cause I know people are gonna go buy that book after they heard Nick. I talk about it. Octavia Butler's Parable of the. The Sour Sore.
- [61:49]
Nick Cannon
Oh, okay.
- [61:50]
Charlamagne Tha God
You should read that too. Because that, that, that talks about, like, what's going on now. She put that out in 1993, and it talks about Los Angeles in 2024, and it's ravaged by climate change and social inequality, political instability.
- [62:02]
Nick Cannon
So, yeah, nah, I'm gonna definitely cop that one. But, yeah, it's just so weird. I mean, like, obviously it's to, to know that it's always been in the books and nothing's new. And then it really makes you step back and be like, yo, people know. The people who know, they know. And they put it in the books and we just come. We glaze over it a lot of times. But it's like, yo, this is we, we living in a time, and I think we probably always been living in this time. But it's. It's so potent right now because of the energy that's out there. And it's really, it's a. It's a dystopian society. But, you know, there is hope that we can get to the other side of it. And, you know, that's what I hope. We going in that direction. Direction.
- [62:41]
Charlamagne Tha God
Nicholas Scott Cannon, ladies and gentlemen.
- [62:42]
Nick Cannon
Yes, sir.
- [62:43]
Charlamagne Tha God
Thank you for joining us, my brother.
- [62:44]
Nick Cannon
Oh, this is fun.
- [62:45]
Charlamagne Tha God
It's the Breakfast Club.
- [62:47]
Nick Cannon
Every day I wake up.
- [62:49]
Charlamagne Tha God
Wake your ass up.
- [62:55]
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Nick Cannon
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Nick Cannon
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Charlamagne Tha God
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- [65:02]
Angela Yee
This is an iHeart podcast.