- I'm judging everyone else when I'm the one who's really
doing it, which is most of the time what we as humans do.
And we don't turn that eye on ourselves so that my higher
self is coming down and saying,
"Hey, I'm the transparent soul that's going to show you,
"you shouldn't be living like this.
"Let's, let's be more compassionate.
"Let's, let's, let's do something different."
This book called The Journey Home by Radhanath Swami is
basically about his journey to becoming a Swami and his
spiritual, his spiritual awakening.
The quote basically says that when you come in contact with
a saintly person, they basically act like a spotless mirror.
And when you look at them and interact with them,
they reflect back to you, like, your inner,
your inner joys and your inner sorrows,
and your, your true self, honestly.
And when I heard that, I was like, yo,
such a visual idea came to my mind.
I was like, I just want to show that visually.
I think that the song kind of encapsulates this,
this angsty feeling and this anger of like, you know,
you feel like you're getting taken advantage of,
you want people to know that you can see through their
intentions, that they can't take advantage of you.
But then in the video at the same time,
it's almost like I need to be turning my gaze to myself
and need to be thinking about like,
damn, like, how could I be a better person?
How could I, like, not do the things that
I'm saying that this other person is doing to me?
So it's really kind of a reflection.
And I think every human goes through it.
I mean, if you judge yourself, you judge others.
And if you judge others, you judge yourself.
I definitely wanted to have that, like,
classic pop punk bite that's almost like a rap.
I knew that I wanted to have that vibe,
and I knew that it needed to be, like,
aggressive and just like angsty and just like, ugh,
I don't fuckin' know if it's a lie or it's a fact,
you know what I mean?
Like I knew I needed to be like that.
I want it to come across as, like, yo, like,
I don't know if you're trying to,
if you're trying to fuck me over,
I'm just gonna put it on the table.
You know what I mean?
Like, this is what I feel like is happening.
So let's get to it. Let's get right to the point.
I can't tell you how many times I've had fear that like,
if I opened up about this to this person,
or if I say this or whatever,
like, they're gonna, like, tell TMZ or be like,
"Willow Smith says this and did this,"
and then I'm just like, yo, like, no.
And that shit happens.
Like, you think that you're close to someone,
you let them into your life, you let them into your home,
you let them into your heart,
and they just, like, take advantage of you.
I was in the studio session with Tyler,
and I was like, should I be like,
"Put your J on my back?
"'Cause like, we don't really smoke cigs, but like,"
he was like, "Nah, it just flows better.
"Like, it just flows better."
And I was like, "Damn, okay, like,
"I guess I'm gonna say cig."
I wanted to, like, put a spin on that,
like smile on my face and stabbed me in the back.
Like to put a spin on that and to put it in this world of
like, hmm, like, I'm actually just gonna burn you
with the end of my cigarette and
I'm just telling this,
this dude in front of me, like,
"Yo, like, I've seen so many people like you,
"like, you know how many kind of people come up to me
"saying the shit that you're saying?
"Like, come on, like, I'm not dumb.
"Like, I think I know, I think I know what's going on here."
As I get deeper into my spiritual practice,
it definitely gets better,
the way that, like, the way I can see through things.
A transparent soul is someone who is on the path to,
or who has already had some sort of ego death.
The only way that you can be a transparent soul
is if you clean that shit.
You have to clean your soul, clean your ego,
clean those traumas.
Obviously I'm not the transparent soul.
I aspire to be a transparent soul,
and I'm definitely on the path of healing
my traumas and getting rid of the egotistic mental patterns
that cause me pain and the people close to me pain.
If anyone's a transparent soul,
it's going to be a monk somewhere.
Paradise looks like a place where the only thing that people
are worried about is helping one another out and loving one
another and making one another feel good.
When you're in a situation with a lot of yes people
who are constantly saying, "Oh my God, you're so great,"
and, like, feeding your ego,
sometimes it can feel like, wow, like I'm really here,
like, like I really made it, you know what I mean?
Like, that happens to a lot of artists.
It happens to a lot of entertainers.
They just get trapped in this echo chamber of,
"Oh my God you're so great, you're amazing,
"You, oh, you killed that, like, aw, you're just,"
and they just lose sight of like the fact
that it's not real.
It's not paradise, it's a actual trap.
Like no one wants to admit that
they tried to manipulate you.
No one wants admit that they were in the wrong.
Also for me, it's like, yo, like,
you allowed this person into your life.
Like, don't, don't try to act like
you didn't do that either.
Like, don't try to act like you didn't have
a role in that either.
So that's kind of like a double-edged sword.
It's so interesting because someone can be vain as in like,
oh, I need to be looked at in this specific way.
Like it needs to be physically aesthetically pleasing,
but there's also a vanity of, like, perception.
Like how people perceive the kind of person that you are,
and wanting to uphold a certain perception of yourself.
That's not really you.
And I know there have been many times where I'm like, yo,
like, I need to uphold a certain image for my family,
for my career,
for, like, all Black kids that are just like out there
trying to do their thing.
I fuck up all the time.
I don't really look at myself as being a role model
because I make so many mistakes.
There's a beautiful line that Erykah Badu said, she goes,
"I guess I was born to make mistakes,
"but I'm not afraid to pave the way."
And that got me.
'Cause I was like, yo, yeah,
like, we were all born to make mistakes,
but, like, we are also role models
for people who are inspired by us.
If you ever came in contact with a transparent soul,
it might be slightly scary.
The truth is, the truth is no walk in the park.
I listened to a lot of Phoebe Dobson back in the day,
I listened to a lot of Avril.
I listened to a lot of My Chemical Romance.
I was more exposed back in the day to,
honestly, metal music.
Like I was more exposed to that hardcore shit.
When I, like, had my eyes opened to Avril Lavigne,
Phoebe Dobson, My Chemical Romance,
it was almost like, oh my goodness.
'Cause I had always wanted to sing rock music.
But the rock music that I was exposed to
was just so intense that I was like,
"I don't know if I can do this.
"Like I want to do this, like,
"with all of my heart, like I really do.
"But like, this is just so intense,
"like, I don't have the bandwidth for this."
Then I got turned on to pop punk,
and that was like, blew my mind,
like, opened, opened my mind.