Harness the Hustle with 2 Chainz

IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson

In this episode of IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, Grammy-winning rapper, songwriter, actor, and entrepreneur 2 Chainz shares his journey growing up as an only child in College Park, his

Key takeaways

Intuition and divine guidance have been central to 2 Chainz's life decisions, often serving as a 'secret sauce' behind his success.
Reconnecting with his incarcerated father revealed profound emotional depth; the letters he discovered were filled with love and spiritual insight, especially the recurring phrase 'God is love.'

Main topics

Personal memoir and creative process behind 'The Voice in My Head is God'
Father-son reconciliation and emotional healing

Notable quotes

'God is love. If you got love in it, it has God in it.'

'You don't need to remember nothing that don't mean nothing to you.'

Conclusion

2 Chainz leaves listeners with a powerful message about authenticity, em

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:00) I don't remember things that don't mean a lot to me anymore. Like, if I'm out, I mean, hey, how you doing? Speaker 5 (0:07) whatever. Okay, I don't really need to remember this name. I don't have to, like, Speaker 3 (0:10) waste Speaker 5 (0:11) room in my mind to Speaker 4 (0:13) try to remember. You know what I mean? Like, hey, nice to meet you. But then it was like... T.J., that sounds like getting old. Nah, it's getting wise. That's Speaker 5 (0:21) it. Speaker 4 (0:21) It's getting wise. It is getting wise. You don't need Speaker 5 (0:23) to remember nothing that don't mean nothing to you. How's somebody got you, Craig? You remember, man. You're like, I remember that, but I remember important stuff. If it's important, I know my daughter got a prom this weekend. And I need to make sure she got everything she needs. I don't need to remember. Speaker 3 (0:39) You Speaker 4 (0:39) left Speaker 3 (0:39) them with all the resources. Yeah, I left them with everything they Speaker 5 (0:41) needed. The car, the driver, everything. Speaker 3 (0:50) This episode of IMO is Speaker 4 (0:52) brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Hey, how you doing today? Speaker 3 (0:57) I am doing great. I am so excited. Our guest today, I mean, a bunch of people just, their minds will be blown. Yeah, Speaker 4 (1:06) let me tell you. Speaker 3 (1:08) On a whole different level. We've got two chains here today. We've got two Speaker 4 (1:10) chains, and I know a couple of brothers living in my house who are going to think I'm like the coolest dude. Speaker 3 (1:17) Yeah, because they, I have no... credibility in my own house. So my nephews don't think that I'm cool. Speaker 4 (1:24) No, no, your nephews think you're cool. They don't think I'm cool. Speaker 3 (1:28) Oh, but you're with me. Don't they think you're cool? No, that doesn't count. See, that doesn't count. This is what I'm Speaker 4 (1:33) saying. Speaker 3 (1:34) Well, why don't we just get Speaker 4 (1:36) right to it? Let's just get right to it. So our guest today is 2 Chainz, who is a Grammy award-winning rapper, songwriter, actor, and entrepreneur. He is known for his platinum-selling music that has garnered more than 11 billion streams, as well as his business portfolio that spans restaurants, hospitality, tech, and beyond. His New York Times best-selling memoir, which is sitting right here next to me, is called The Voice in My Head is God. Everybody should go out and grab one of these. It is a great read. It's Speaker 3 (2:14) a truth teller. A Speaker 4 (2:15) truth teller, but it's a fun read. And without further ado, let's bring out our new pal, 2 Chainz. 2 Speaker 3 (2:24) Chainz! Speaker 4 (2:29) How you Speaker 3 (2:30) doing? I'm Speaker 2 (2:30) good. Speaker 5 (2:30) How you doing, man? I'm blessed, man. Thank you. This is an honor. You a Speaker 3 (2:35) busy dude. A little bit. Very busy. You got a tour going on. You got a prom going on. Yeah. You got a college graduate getting ready to go to college. Well, not college. High school graduate getting ready to go to college. Speaker 5 (2:52) You Speaker 3 (2:52) juggling a lot of stuff. Speaker 5 (2:53) So this is my daughter. I got it. I don't need your help. until I need your help. When really, we could have fixed this in the first place. So my Speaker 4 (3:03) daughter now Speaker 5 (3:03) is on her second prom dress. Made no sense. The first one came, I never even knew this. The first one, she ordered from overseas. The man at the door said he need money for tears before he can even give. I didn't even know you paid a tear at the door. At the door. Didn't even know that. Speaker 3 (3:17) You probably don't. Speaker 5 (3:18) I just saw a picture. I Speaker 3 (3:20) never Speaker 5 (3:20) heard of that. He said, or I Speaker 3 (3:21) can Speaker 5 (3:21) just take the box with me. So now this is my daughter's dress from, Lord, I don't know, Russia. I don't know where she ordered this dress from. You get the dress. You don't Speaker 4 (3:30) even like the dress. Speaker 5 (3:31) But you're really getting the dress based on a picture, which I understand. Cool. And then you get another dress that you love. So I'm happy about that. And then today, you go get some lashes. And I've never heard of this. You get all your lashes done, but then you don't like them. Speaker 4 (3:47) So then you got to do, you know. So I'm Speaker 5 (3:49) just really going Speaker 4 (3:50) through that. It's Speaker 5 (3:50) a complicated. But Speaker 4 (3:50) I'm not there going through it. Well, hold up. Let's back up for a minute. When did you start getting prom dresses without going to the store and trying it on? Oh, Speaker 3 (4:00) wake up, Rip Van Winkle. Come on, man. Where you been? Speaker 4 (4:03) Yeah, they Speaker 5 (4:04) tapping and zapping and stuff. It's different, man. You know how they'll be using, you know, AI in a minute to put the— they probably already are— to put different dresses on with the different house styles. So, you know, kids. We all have them. We all love them. And, you know. Speaker 3 (4:22) Here's the thing about that, though. The fact that she's a self-starter, right? That she does want to do stuff on her own. Speaker 5 (4:29) That's true. You know, Speaker 3 (4:30) that... Can't be mad at that. That's a good sign. Speaker 4 (4:33) Can't Speaker 5 (4:33) be Speaker 4 (4:33) mad at that. You know, Speaker 3 (4:34) that's a sign that mom and dad did something right. Speaker 4 (4:37) Well, 2 Chainz, we want to get into all your history. And we really want to talk about your best-selling novel. And congratulations. Speaker 3 (4:44) You told me you didn't even know you were on the best-sellers list. Speaker 5 (4:48) I mean, I knew when I knew. Speaker 3 (4:50) But I didn't know Speaker 5 (4:51) when Speaker 4 (4:52) other people knew maybe, you know, Speaker 5 (4:54) because I just really had my head down and a very hectic schedule, maybe a little bit more ramped up than when I'm promoting a project. Definitely, if it wasn't more ramped up, it was on different platforms that I normally went to. And, I mean, it just paid off. I guess my transparency, my honesty, of course, my debonair, you know, intellect, other things. Your vulnerability does. Speaker 3 (5:21) It means a lot for you to embrace your story and to be able to tell it in such a clear, you know, it's just you bring clarity to stuff in a very special way. Speaker 4 (5:35) What was the process of writing? your first book like? So Speaker 5 (5:40) I came up with the idea to talk about intuition and how it's like my gut feeling and this divine guidance that I've been using for a very long time and really hadn't talked about it or shared it in any music, any platform, any interview. It was almost like this secret sauce that I had, right? For example, when I started working on the book, I found my father was incarcerated. part of my life, which we talk about in here. And so I found a stack of his letters. I don't know how I found this, but they were from 2003 and they were around the holidays. My father's birthday is on Christmas. So these letters were from like Thanksgiving to Christmas. Now, when I read them now, they're over 20 years old, but now when I read them now, I have a way different understanding for some of the things we were talking about from the things that they were eating, the language that he was using, comparing, you know. You know, the things that he was saying as far as like, he wasn't calling himself an inmate. It was another term he was using. What they ate on Thanksgiving, what football game was going on. I'm reading all this. But it was something that I noticed on the back. And I've always noticed this. On the back of every letter, it was God is love on the envelope. I ripped the envelope. I read what's inside. But it was on the envelope the whole time. It was saying God is love. really hit me one day that maybe that's just what it is. It's that simple. God is love. If you got love in it, it has God in it. And so I started, that's when the title came, The Voice in My Head. It's got to be God. You know, you hear God, you're made in the image of God. God is inside of you. So I'm thinking. You know, it just felt like it hit me. So then I got really excited and started using a bunch of my like musical resources to put the book together, even with the audio part. Of course, I read my own book. I love reading. I added like production. So on some of the scenes that I describe, you'll hear tires screeching or you'll hear sirens. And it's just, I just made it really fun to do, put together. Speaker 3 (7:46) A little bit of that comes from somewhere. Can you? Tell us about your mom, who I got to meet on FaceTime. Yeah, yeah. Just now. She was gardening. Speaker 5 (7:55) Yeah, she was out in the yard. She didn't know how to Speaker 3 (7:57) flip a phone around and show me her garden. You know you're not supposed Speaker 5 (7:59) to FaceTime women without telling them, but I was like, you know. Speaker 3 (8:04) She didn't seem like she minded. Speaker 5 (8:05) But she, look, when you left the room, she was like, you got to see my yard. I got black mulch. We on that tour, I'm like, Mom, you know you're going to need some more of that black mulch. It's cool to have yard talks with your mom. You know what I mean? That black mulch ain't going to last all summer. Speaker 4 (8:22) You better get some, because we had, Speaker 5 (8:23) I did this for Speaker 4 (8:24) you Speaker 5 (8:25) already. I got Speaker 4 (8:25) hay Speaker 5 (8:28) now. Anyway, we just had that conversation. But my mom is she'll be 76 in July. Her and my oldest are born on the same day. Speaker 4 (8:37) It's insane. Speaker 5 (8:40) And growing up with my mom, She's always been there for me. Speaker 4 (8:45) She's always Speaker 5 (8:45) been there for me. She's always been a supporter of anything that I've done. But a lot of my growth came from the nature aspect of just being outside, playing sports, Speaker 3 (8:56) riding Speaker 5 (8:57) the bus, meeting friends. It just, you know, like my life, my elementary was different from my junior high. It was different from my high school. I played on all these teams. I even went to college. So all of these are like chapters in the Speaker 3 (9:10) book Speaker 5 (9:11) of life. Speaker 3 (9:11) Yeah. Speaker 5 (9:12) And all of those situations, I assume, gave me this resilience and stuff like that. You know what I mean? Gave me a perspective. You got coaches that if they are good coaches, they could act as father figures sometimes. You know what I mean? So just like those things, when I look back, teachers. It's some teachers that know how to. Be impactful, you know. So in my upbringing, there was a lot of that too. It wasn't just my mom. My mom was there. Speaker 2 (9:42) She Speaker 5 (9:43) didn't abandon me or anything like that. But a lot of my teachings really came from people outside my family. Speaker 4 (9:49) We Speaker 5 (9:49) are definitely going to talk about hoops at some point here. Speaker 4 (9:53) But I am. pretending to be my sister now and I want to know what was little 2 Chainz like? Speaker 3 (10:04) Like Speaker 4 (10:04) your first memories and what that was like, what the smells were, what you ate, how you grew up when you were little. Speaker 5 (10:16) When I grew up, my mom, my mother and father were together, I want to say to maybe six or seven. So I can actually remember some of those times. My daddy had a yellow Cadillac with a yellow leather. And Speaker 4 (10:31) he had a Speaker 5 (10:31) black Cadillac. He had two Cadillacs. He wore cowboy hats. He was a hustler. Speaker 1 (10:39) My Speaker 5 (10:39) mom, ever since I can remember, dabbled in real estate, like property, loan management, loan officer, whatever. Speaker 5 (10:53) Me, always the only child. And my mother would tell you that she didn't, she would tell you this with a smile on her face, that she didn't want to have me. Like, this is my dad's idea. She didn't want to have kids, period. Speaker 4 (11:06) She Speaker 5 (11:06) didn't want to have kids, yeah. Interesting. And she said I hurt really, really bad. Speaker 2 (11:11) And my Speaker 5 (11:12) dad didn't want to help a girl. Got Speaker 2 (11:14) a big head. Speaker 5 (11:14) Yeah, so she say, he like, push, and she like, you come, she turned to the ex, you come push. And she says, so, you know, I've been asked for like a brother or whatever. So she says, you know, she went on and told me when I was young, like, baby, you hurt me so bad that I had my tubes tied, clipped and burnt. How do I know this exact phrase? That dad had you Speaker 4 (11:41) and Speaker 5 (11:42) burnt. There's no way. I'm like, man, you didn't think she was like that day. I didn't want to see you. I was mad at your dad. Speaker 5 (11:50) Obviously, you know, when it became just me and her, we became best friends. We became locked in. And those memories are just like, you have those survival stories, but it's not like any other, Speaker 4 (12:04) nothing that Speaker 5 (12:04) you can't, a hurdle that you can't come across, man. You know what I mean? We had encounters with the law. We had encounters with... you know, maybe the neighborhood that we were staying in. And what age was it just the two of you? From probably eight, nine on, you know. And my mom, we stayed in, so when I explain certain things that are urban, on this show, I will talk about like the word trap, right? It's something that. Speaker 3 (12:36) And don't feel like you have to, you know, just, you know. Just be Speaker 5 (12:41) me, right? Yeah. It always works. Right. You Speaker 3 (12:43) know, we know what you're talking about. You're talking to us. You're not talking to the audience. Speaker 5 (12:49) Okay. So a trap. That's good. There's not a lot of audience in here. That's right. So the Speaker 4 (12:56) trap. Speaker 5 (12:58) The trap is a place where. Speaker 5 (13:03) People come and they solicit, they buy things from this place. It's normally an apartment complex. They come and buy, most notably drugs or whatever. They come from that place. what I would like people to understand is that my mother lived in the trap, like in paid rent or Section 8 or whatever the heck we had, in the place where people would come in, college students get whatever they needed, leave, whatever, whatever. So I lived in a neighborhood. And so I say that to say that the neighborhood, it just automatically influenced you like any other neighborhood. And my examples are that if I was... Born in Hawaii, I would be like a surfer. I promise you. I think the whole neighborhood was like, let's go to California. You'd be the best surfer. You'd be fine. Speaker 3 (13:52) And Speaker 5 (13:52) if I was from Colorado, we'd be like, Craig, let's go skiing this weekend. But I'm from a place where this is Speaker 4 (13:58) all Speaker 5 (13:59) they did. Speaker 5 (14:01) When I try to explain who I am and what I am, it's actually knowing that I'm staying at a place and my mother is paying rent at a place where people come and they solicit and they buy drugs and they want stuff. And now normally in a neighborhood like this, if the older people in the neighborhood, if they notice something, if they notice like a bright light in a kid, they'll tell them, you stay away from this. Speaker 4 (14:25) They Speaker 5 (14:26) didn't notice that with me. So they told me, Speaker 4 (14:28) you need to come Speaker 5 (14:29) on out here and you need to do this to help take care of your family. So for a long time, what I was doing didn't feel like it was wrong at all. Yeah. You know, it didn't feel like it was wrong. I did it. I did it in my neighborhood. I did it in school. I just hustled. I trapped. I did that. And that Speaker 4 (14:47) will put. That will grow you up faster than a lot Speaker 5 (14:51) of Speaker 4 (14:51) things. You know what I'm saying? Just period. The loss of innocence at an early age Speaker 5 (14:56) really helped develop who I was. When you're at 14, 15, you're learning how to do money orders at the time to pay this Georgia Power Bill, whatever it is. And you're responsible for this. And also, I'm someone who just enjoys school. So I wasn't going to drop out to try to... Which was like a trend when I was coming up. A lot of kids were like, I ain't going to school. I enjoyed dressing. I enjoyed the women. I enjoyed learning. I enjoyed literally learning. I didn't make a seat at college. I talk about that a lot, too. Like, on purpose. Just like, let me see how I feel. Be normal. Just be like an average student. This is what you mean? You Speaker 3 (15:41) couldn't do better than this? Speaker 5 (15:44) I feel average like y'all, but for the most part, I enjoy school. I'm like loving school, but still like got this dark side where I'm up all night. I'm outside. I'm sitting on an abandoned car, but I'm reading my book for tomorrow. You Speaker 3 (15:59) could do it with your eyes closed. Yeah, I'm still reading. It's the most, I can see it right Speaker 5 (16:03) now. I'm sitting on the back of a car, street light. I'm reading to somebody. Let me get this. I'm doing this. It's still like, and then people the next day, they're like, the teacher. Speaker 4 (16:13) They asked the question. I'm like, Speaker 5 (16:14) ooh. And they're like, man, you don't know. I know the answer. I can't wait to tell y Speaker 4 (16:19) 'all. Speaker 5 (16:20) Music to my ears. Speaker 4 (16:22) But you know, Speaker 1 (16:22) I Speaker 4 (16:22) hear Speaker 3 (16:23) you talk about this and who you were. See, this was the part about me. Like you said, no adult saw the special in you enough to tell you not to Speaker 5 (16:34) be in the trap. Speaker 3 (16:36) But you had to have known that they were wrong. Now, you had to go out there and do it because that was the way of life. And you could do it because you could pretty much do anything if you put your mind to it. You know, you could ski, surf, whatever was before you. Didn't the instinct tell you, I'm better than they think I am? Speaker 4 (17:03) One of my favorite parts of traveling is seeing how locals actually live. You can hit all the famous touristy spots, but I always remember the little neighborhood coffee shops or restaurants or parks even more. That's the stuff that sticks with me long after you get home. I was back in one of my old neighborhoods for a visit. I was able to take my family to some of my favorite spots. We went by a couple of restaurants I love and the bookstore I frequented. And that's why I want to tell you about listing your space on Airbnb. If you're traveling at all this year, listing your home on Airbnb is not just a practical option for your space. It can also be a fun opportunity to show off your neighborhood. You can earn a bit of extra income all while providing an authentic local experience for travelers from all over the world. And on top of that, listing with Airbnb means your home won't be sitting totally unused while you're away. Trip will win. Every time I travel and opt for booking a space on Airbnb, I always end up discovering parts of a city I would have never found otherwise. It's the little unique touches that really add up and make a trip truly memorable. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.com slash host. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance, a company committed to helping people move forward and live fully. Mish, I've been thinking about how overwhelming big life decisions can feel these days between the endless stream of information, social media, and that constant FOMO the kids talk about. Do you feel like people are overthinking things more than they used to? Or is it just harder to make a choice when we have... so many options? No, Speaker 3 (18:53) I think it's Speaker 4 (18:54) a Speaker 3 (18:54) little bit of both. You know, I think with so much information coming in, we just have so much more to process. And, you know, there's only so much the human brain can take in. And then, yeah, we feel inundated with choices. We feel like there are too many options. most importantly is having a strong team. Learning to let go that I can't make every big decision by myself and I shouldn't. So I surround myself with really smart people that I can count on. I let go of a lot and trust that they're gonna do their job and bring me the information that I need to do my job. So I've just learned that it's- It's no victory for me to do these things alone, making these big decisions alone. As Speaker 4 (19:44) the kids say, facts. For me, knowing I have a solid circle to talk things through is usually what helps me get clarity. Progressive knows that big decisions at any stage of life can feel daunting. That's why having the right support and resources makes all the difference. Progressive's up payment program falls under their broader. Open the House initiative, a multi-year effort focused on helping more people achieve homeownership. Right now, they're expanding the up payment program, offering up to $13,500 each in down payment assistance to at least 200 eligible first-time buyers. They've already committed more than $16 million since 2024 to help make homeownership more accessible. At the end of the day, progressive wants people to feel seen and as individuals whose needs matter. Because this is your life and it should be taken seriously. Learn more about the Up Payment Program and Progressive's commitment to first-time homebuyers at progressive.com slash open the house, where homebuyers can access more housing resources and support to empower them in their housing journey. This episode is brought to you by Duluth Trading Company. I've realized there are two kinds of clothes in my closet. There are the ones that feel good until you actually have to do something with your hands, and the clothes you end up reaching for over and over because they can handle whatever the day throws at you. Duluth Trading Company makes gear that's built to last, whether it's their durable work pants, moisture-wicking shirts,