Russell Simmons sat all by himself at NBC's party on the rooftop of the Beverly Hilton hotel. Well, not totally by himself. The young girls he came with were talking amongst themselves, and celebrities kept stopping by to meet him (hence the photo opp with Jimmy Fallon).
The Oxygen Channel, an NBC cable arm, is producing a documentary on Simmons' business. Running Russell Simmons shows the viewer what it takes to maintain Simmons' multi-faceted life, by following the assistants who coordinate all his endeavors behind the scenes. It is scheduled to premiere Nov. 2.
Even with all of Simmons' productions in music with the Def Jam label he co-founded with Rick Rubin, its on air components like Def Comedy Jam and Def Poetry Jam, business isn't even the most interesting thing about Simmons. He's a vegan, he's an animal activist, he's an author, he has several clothing lines - and as a philosopher he's a force to be reckoned with. He practices Buddhism, yoga and meditation, and his work is layered with his own, honed ideology. His biography, Do You, talks more about spiritual peace than running a record label.
Everything Russell Simmons says is wisdom, so if he's sitting on the roof by himself, you take that opportunity and learn as much as you can from him. The questions aren't even really that important, merely a means to get Simmons talking about philosophy, music, politics, dating, and so on.
Fred Topel: How has your philosophy evolved since Do You?
Russell Simmons: It hasn't. The thing is for me I've been reading the same scripture over and over again and I can't make sense of it but the simplest thing I can say is the book is called Super Rich, the new one. The state of needing nothing is rich, obviously, right? So Super Rich is a state of consciousness, like Nirvana, like Samadhi, like Christ Consciousness, the idea being hyper sensitive and focused. The road to enlightenment is paid with riches, right? The idea that you give it all away or I couldn't care less or don't need to hold onto it are so free that it keeps coming. You can't give it away and it keeps coming, that idea is different from what The Secret or other Christian self help books talk about because we know that you can't pray for shit, and if you do, when you get it, it won't make you happy. It's a funny thing. A lot of these books that talk about the state of consciousness that attracts all these things actually act like the end all is the thing that it attracts instead of the state itself. So it's kind of a funny book but it's kind of a simple book and it's a how to book again. The publishers think it's much better than the last one. I get a lotta, lotta, lotta people and it's selling more now than it did when it came out still. Not right when it came out obviously but when it became a best seller. So I'm excited about the new one and the book coincided with this TV show.
FT: It's funny you mention The Secret because I got a lot out of that too, and I don't see it as a way to get stuff.
RS: I don't mean to limit it. I mean that the essence of everything that The Secret is talking about, The Secret itself is what we call the Atman or the Self or God. I think that they say that but they play the second fiddle to what you can achieve in the world as a result of this consciousness. Instead of saying needing nothing, operating from abundance not as a way of attracting things but as a natural state, it happens as a byproduct of all the things you talk about. I think maybe even Oprah when talking about The Secret, said The Secret is God. I don't mean God, that scary God or the outside of you God but the connectivity self. The core of The Secret is that connectivity.
FT: Yeah, my relationship with God is not someone who punishes you for doing things he doesn't like.
RS: No, I don't think like that. I don't even think of God as outside of me. I think God's a big living breathing everything that we're connected to and the more we realize that connection, the more obviously "powerful" we are. Even to the state of Christ Consciousness, the miracle workers. Samadhi refers to a state, the Yogis refer to a state that's not just enlightened where you walk around and you're comfortable in your skin. Beyond that, it's enlightened where you can actually perform miracles. That's the last stage of Samadhi. It's documented in all the scripture, that mysticism. So if you don't achieve that state while you're walking around right now, certainly on the way to it you become so much more powerful. That's all you have to know. The book's about that.
FT: People who are interested in spirituality might be more accepting about giving up material wants. How can you give up that longing for another person in relationships?
RS: I'm a big meditator and I believe in it. I believe the more secure you are in yourself the more you can love someone without having to be with them and the more you can be free to really give and not worry about receiving love so much. You really get it just by your presence alone. Somebody that exudes love attracts anything they want to. So just like the thing that you think you want as you become less attracted, operate from more abundance, more love inside. Everything just comes. Never mind not being perceived as needy. What we're trying to get to is letting go of some kind of suffering. It's easy to talk about letting go of suffering, "Oh, forget it." It's easy to say it but the best way to help someone else to get rid of it is to get rid of it for yourself. So go find a place and serve and it'll help you to leave yourself.
FT: Which of your many, many projects has the most focus for you right now?
RS: Well, I want to make sure I don't fuck this reality show up because it's obviously putting myself and all my businesses at risk. I've got to make sure I watch the editing and watch everything.
FT: Are you still concerned about coming off well with all acclaim you've had over the years?
RS: No, no, I don't think that. I'm already fucked up. There's nothing they can say about me. I already fucked everything up already that way. I mean I'd like to make sure I do the right thing for all the companies that I represent, all the charities that I care about. I'm responsible to a lot of a people for a lot of shit.
FT: You must be expert in post production though.
RS: A little bit, a little bit. I'm working on it. I'm not an expert but I'm working on it. I know what I want for myself. I wouldn't say I was good at doing derivative shit so I've got to always fight the urges of everybody around me to do derivative stuff.
FT: You're so open already, what will we be surprised to learn in the show?
RS: I don't know, you read my books, I read my own shit and my own Twitter. Language is a funny thing. I don't write my message with a lot of foul language often, but when I'm describing the Bhagavad Gita I noticed re-reading the book, being proofread now, it's like, "Krishna said, 'Nigga' go out there'" No, Krishna didn't say, "Nigga' go out there." In my book, that's in there the way I describe Krishna and teaching Arjuna yoga on the battlefield. The Bhagavad Gita is the story where Krishna teaches Arjuna yoga on the battlefield. The language that I use and in my show, when I read it it's kind of shocking. So on the show, to actually see my language, my real talk, it may be difficult to take, it may not be. It may be just enough personality so people can digest a lot of, not preaching, but a lot of yoga, a lot of prayer, a lot of animal rights, a lot of human rights, a lot of gay rights. So real language and also the fact that I struggle with women. Buddha didn't stop struggling with women until enlightenment. That was his last problem. I'm single. I was married a long time to a lot of girls. That's kind of a funny thing. Some are yogis, some are really sweet vegan but there's been a lot of them and until I actually found a girl I'm starting to see now more at the end of the show, but all through the show I had too many dates.
FT: Where does a man like you meet someone you can trust?
RS: I'm pretty open minded. Simone [Reyes] thinks I'm a little open minded. I meet girls who say, "Oh, I'm a vegan, I'm a yogi, I just came back from a meditation retreat." Simone says, "That girl's a coke whore from Hell." I don't care if they're vegan or yogi around me. It's fine. Do you. If you want to go on a yoga date and go to a vegan restaurant, and if you're fine and successful and smart, you want to do all that for me, keep doing it. See how long you can keep it up. How many yoga classes can you take and how many vegan meals can you eat? I don't know. I mean, some girls I see after I break up with them, they're still vegan later. That's okay.
FT: Do you ever laugh when someone just puts on the wrong act to try to impress you?
RS: I don't laugh. I don't know, I live with it.
FT: Language is a funny thing too because we can never quite express our feelings in words. Is that something unique to the complexities of English?
RS: I don't know, I'm not a language expert at all. I know about English and poetry a little bit, not much of that. I express myself, people say I was vulgar sometimes but I'm more concerned with the suffering of animals than I am about what curse words I use. I'm more disappointed when I see somebody eat a steak than I am if I see somebody use a cuss word, that's for sure.
FT: What is the legacy of Def Jam today?
RS: I don't know. Def Jam Rap Star comes out at the beginning of the Fall [October 5]. That's a big deal. It's a video game but it's a big game. It's like a brand new creative update to whatever Karaoke was supposed to do, it does it. It makes videos. Def Jam, hopefully what I'm doing will be Poetry stuff right now, we're shooting for HBO. We still do stuff and we'll hopefully keep making good records and stick with the work we want to do. I still own the name Def Jam for all these other creative things. I don't have that many ideas for it actually because I'm not that much into youth culture like that. I'm into an urban graduate culture I guess. I would say that my clothing company is urban graduate. Hip hop got older. Some of the older shit, I think you don't have to give up Phat Farm when you're President Obama and put on Ralph. You can put on Argyleculture. Or I can do things that speak to that grown up hip hop audience that's so big and so underserved. You have to grow up out of the 80 clothing companies that were made for hip hop and then have to wear Ralph. You don't have to do that. There's something new. There's some new cultural phenomenon that's integrated and cool. Adam Sandler doesn't have to keep wearing Phat Farm. I know he's a comedian but shit, he can wear new shit.
FT: What are you wearing?
RS: Argyleculture, my own stuff. Or American Classic which I made for Walmart.
FT: Music today is going in such a rhythm intensive direction with a lot of electronic sound. How can someone who's interested in more traditional music learn to appreciate the new styles?
RS: You ain't got to hear them. Fuck them. You like what you like. Enjoy it. Whatever makes you feel good. I heard a 50 Cent record, "I Get Money," I was so excited I almost jumped out the window. When he made "I Get Money," it sounded like a Public Enemy record or an old hardcore record, I loved it. I like "New York" by Jay-Z but I don't always like the new shit. I try to like everything but I don't try hard. I listen, sometimes I don't like it. I don't feel bad if I don't like it.
FT: I don't feel bad but I'd like to appreciate what's out there.
RS: I want to be young too. I mean that. I like being with new shit. I like new shit but if I don't like it, if I don't get it, I don't think I'm going to get too old and die. I like Delfonics records and Blue Magic and shit like that a lot.
FT: Are you working on anything to help the cause of gay marriage?
RS: A lot of gay rights, yeah. I'm a big gay rights activist.
FT: Is there something new we can do to push that cause?
RS: I wrote a letter to the president and put it on the cover of about Lt. Choi. That was fucking horrible. In America now, you let that happen on your watch? No. Do something. Give him a pass. You're fucking president. Write him a letter like Kennedy wrote a letter to Martin Luther King. Even if you don't do shit, write him a letter, "I'm sorry for you." Do something.
FT: What do you think it will take to finally make this inevitable change happen?
RS: It is inevitable. It'll be fine but it's not fine. People live and die and they're discriminated against. So everything's fine later? What, next generation? You've got to live a whole life full of discrimination? You're going to die and be discriminated against? People always say, "Oh, things are better." Also the disconnect in African-Americans and education and poverty and unemployment, it's horrible, man. It's horrible. I think we've got to do something about it. I think we say, "Oh, how'd it get this way?" It got this way because they've been through a lot of shit and they suffered and they were disconnected. They're humans and they obviously had a problem. When you see the black community and Mexican community, stop bussing people, stop immigrating, that's horrible.
FT: Are there things you're happy with Obama for doing?
RS: Yeah, crack cocaine reform. Yeah, I'm happy with a lot of what Obama's doing. I'd just like him to stand up and be a little bit more aggressive, that's all. And I think it's tough because he doesn't have a support system. These Democrats are green. They're not blue.
FT: Do you think he could possibly lose re-election?
RS: I hope not. Not if I can help it. I'm going to go on the road and break my neck for him.
FT: Are we actually making progress on the economy?
RS: I don't know. I mean, I built a company to help underserved communities just because I know that they're suffering and they need it. Find creative ways to help people come out of the poverty or help them and support them and protect the little money they do have, the little infrastructure they built.
Running Russell Simmons premieres on Oxygen on Nov. 2. Super Rich is in stores Jan. 4, 2011.
The Oxygen Channel, an NBC cable arm, is producing a documentary on Simmons' business. Running Russell Simmons shows the viewer what it takes to maintain Simmons' multi-faceted life, by following the assistants who coordinate all his endeavors behind the scenes. It is scheduled to premiere Nov. 2.
Even with all of Simmons' productions in music with the Def Jam label he co-founded with Rick Rubin, its on air components like Def Comedy Jam and Def Poetry Jam, business isn't even the most interesting thing about Simmons. He's a vegan, he's an animal activist, he's an author, he has several clothing lines - and as a philosopher he's a force to be reckoned with. He practices Buddhism, yoga and meditation, and his work is layered with his own, honed ideology. His biography, Do You, talks more about spiritual peace than running a record label.
Everything Russell Simmons says is wisdom, so if he's sitting on the roof by himself, you take that opportunity and learn as much as you can from him. The questions aren't even really that important, merely a means to get Simmons talking about philosophy, music, politics, dating, and so on.
Fred Topel: How has your philosophy evolved since Do You?
Russell Simmons: It hasn't. The thing is for me I've been reading the same scripture over and over again and I can't make sense of it but the simplest thing I can say is the book is called Super Rich, the new one. The state of needing nothing is rich, obviously, right? So Super Rich is a state of consciousness, like Nirvana, like Samadhi, like Christ Consciousness, the idea being hyper sensitive and focused. The road to enlightenment is paid with riches, right? The idea that you give it all away or I couldn't care less or don't need to hold onto it are so free that it keeps coming. You can't give it away and it keeps coming, that idea is different from what The Secret or other Christian self help books talk about because we know that you can't pray for shit, and if you do, when you get it, it won't make you happy. It's a funny thing. A lot of these books that talk about the state of consciousness that attracts all these things actually act like the end all is the thing that it attracts instead of the state itself. So it's kind of a funny book but it's kind of a simple book and it's a how to book again. The publishers think it's much better than the last one. I get a lotta, lotta, lotta people and it's selling more now than it did when it came out still. Not right when it came out obviously but when it became a best seller. So I'm excited about the new one and the book coincided with this TV show.
FT: It's funny you mention The Secret because I got a lot out of that too, and I don't see it as a way to get stuff.
RS: I don't mean to limit it. I mean that the essence of everything that The Secret is talking about, The Secret itself is what we call the Atman or the Self or God. I think that they say that but they play the second fiddle to what you can achieve in the world as a result of this consciousness. Instead of saying needing nothing, operating from abundance not as a way of attracting things but as a natural state, it happens as a byproduct of all the things you talk about. I think maybe even Oprah when talking about The Secret, said The Secret is God. I don't mean God, that scary God or the outside of you God but the connectivity self. The core of The Secret is that connectivity.
FT: Yeah, my relationship with God is not someone who punishes you for doing things he doesn't like.
RS: No, I don't think like that. I don't even think of God as outside of me. I think God's a big living breathing everything that we're connected to and the more we realize that connection, the more obviously "powerful" we are. Even to the state of Christ Consciousness, the miracle workers. Samadhi refers to a state, the Yogis refer to a state that's not just enlightened where you walk around and you're comfortable in your skin. Beyond that, it's enlightened where you can actually perform miracles. That's the last stage of Samadhi. It's documented in all the scripture, that mysticism. So if you don't achieve that state while you're walking around right now, certainly on the way to it you become so much more powerful. That's all you have to know. The book's about that.
FT: People who are interested in spirituality might be more accepting about giving up material wants. How can you give up that longing for another person in relationships?
RS: I'm a big meditator and I believe in it. I believe the more secure you are in yourself the more you can love someone without having to be with them and the more you can be free to really give and not worry about receiving love so much. You really get it just by your presence alone. Somebody that exudes love attracts anything they want to. So just like the thing that you think you want as you become less attracted, operate from more abundance, more love inside. Everything just comes. Never mind not being perceived as needy. What we're trying to get to is letting go of some kind of suffering. It's easy to talk about letting go of suffering, "Oh, forget it." It's easy to say it but the best way to help someone else to get rid of it is to get rid of it for yourself. So go find a place and serve and it'll help you to leave yourself.
FT: Which of your many, many projects has the most focus for you right now?
RS: Well, I want to make sure I don't fuck this reality show up because it's obviously putting myself and all my businesses at risk. I've got to make sure I watch the editing and watch everything.
FT: Are you still concerned about coming off well with all acclaim you've had over the years?
RS: No, no, I don't think that. I'm already fucked up. There's nothing they can say about me. I already fucked everything up already that way. I mean I'd like to make sure I do the right thing for all the companies that I represent, all the charities that I care about. I'm responsible to a lot of a people for a lot of shit.
FT: You must be expert in post production though.
RS: A little bit, a little bit. I'm working on it. I'm not an expert but I'm working on it. I know what I want for myself. I wouldn't say I was good at doing derivative shit so I've got to always fight the urges of everybody around me to do derivative stuff.
FT: You're so open already, what will we be surprised to learn in the show?
RS: I don't know, you read my books, I read my own shit and my own Twitter. Language is a funny thing. I don't write my message with a lot of foul language often, but when I'm describing the Bhagavad Gita I noticed re-reading the book, being proofread now, it's like, "Krishna said, 'Nigga' go out there'" No, Krishna didn't say, "Nigga' go out there." In my book, that's in there the way I describe Krishna and teaching Arjuna yoga on the battlefield. The Bhagavad Gita is the story where Krishna teaches Arjuna yoga on the battlefield. The language that I use and in my show, when I read it it's kind of shocking. So on the show, to actually see my language, my real talk, it may be difficult to take, it may not be. It may be just enough personality so people can digest a lot of, not preaching, but a lot of yoga, a lot of prayer, a lot of animal rights, a lot of human rights, a lot of gay rights. So real language and also the fact that I struggle with women. Buddha didn't stop struggling with women until enlightenment. That was his last problem. I'm single. I was married a long time to a lot of girls. That's kind of a funny thing. Some are yogis, some are really sweet vegan but there's been a lot of them and until I actually found a girl I'm starting to see now more at the end of the show, but all through the show I had too many dates.
FT: Where does a man like you meet someone you can trust?
RS: I'm pretty open minded. Simone [Reyes] thinks I'm a little open minded. I meet girls who say, "Oh, I'm a vegan, I'm a yogi, I just came back from a meditation retreat." Simone says, "That girl's a coke whore from Hell." I don't care if they're vegan or yogi around me. It's fine. Do you. If you want to go on a yoga date and go to a vegan restaurant, and if you're fine and successful and smart, you want to do all that for me, keep doing it. See how long you can keep it up. How many yoga classes can you take and how many vegan meals can you eat? I don't know. I mean, some girls I see after I break up with them, they're still vegan later. That's okay.
FT: Do you ever laugh when someone just puts on the wrong act to try to impress you?
RS: I don't laugh. I don't know, I live with it.
FT: Language is a funny thing too because we can never quite express our feelings in words. Is that something unique to the complexities of English?
RS: I don't know, I'm not a language expert at all. I know about English and poetry a little bit, not much of that. I express myself, people say I was vulgar sometimes but I'm more concerned with the suffering of animals than I am about what curse words I use. I'm more disappointed when I see somebody eat a steak than I am if I see somebody use a cuss word, that's for sure.
FT: What is the legacy of Def Jam today?
RS: I don't know. Def Jam Rap Star comes out at the beginning of the Fall [October 5]. That's a big deal. It's a video game but it's a big game. It's like a brand new creative update to whatever Karaoke was supposed to do, it does it. It makes videos. Def Jam, hopefully what I'm doing will be Poetry stuff right now, we're shooting for HBO. We still do stuff and we'll hopefully keep making good records and stick with the work we want to do. I still own the name Def Jam for all these other creative things. I don't have that many ideas for it actually because I'm not that much into youth culture like that. I'm into an urban graduate culture I guess. I would say that my clothing company is urban graduate. Hip hop got older. Some of the older shit, I think you don't have to give up Phat Farm when you're President Obama and put on Ralph. You can put on Argyleculture. Or I can do things that speak to that grown up hip hop audience that's so big and so underserved. You have to grow up out of the 80 clothing companies that were made for hip hop and then have to wear Ralph. You don't have to do that. There's something new. There's some new cultural phenomenon that's integrated and cool. Adam Sandler doesn't have to keep wearing Phat Farm. I know he's a comedian but shit, he can wear new shit.
FT: What are you wearing?
RS: Argyleculture, my own stuff. Or American Classic which I made for Walmart.
FT: Music today is going in such a rhythm intensive direction with a lot of electronic sound. How can someone who's interested in more traditional music learn to appreciate the new styles?
RS: You ain't got to hear them. Fuck them. You like what you like. Enjoy it. Whatever makes you feel good. I heard a 50 Cent record, "I Get Money," I was so excited I almost jumped out the window. When he made "I Get Money," it sounded like a Public Enemy record or an old hardcore record, I loved it. I like "New York" by Jay-Z but I don't always like the new shit. I try to like everything but I don't try hard. I listen, sometimes I don't like it. I don't feel bad if I don't like it.
FT: I don't feel bad but I'd like to appreciate what's out there.
RS: I want to be young too. I mean that. I like being with new shit. I like new shit but if I don't like it, if I don't get it, I don't think I'm going to get too old and die. I like Delfonics records and Blue Magic and shit like that a lot.
FT: Are you working on anything to help the cause of gay marriage?
RS: A lot of gay rights, yeah. I'm a big gay rights activist.
FT: Is there something new we can do to push that cause?
RS: I wrote a letter to the president and put it on the cover of about Lt. Choi. That was fucking horrible. In America now, you let that happen on your watch? No. Do something. Give him a pass. You're fucking president. Write him a letter like Kennedy wrote a letter to Martin Luther King. Even if you don't do shit, write him a letter, "I'm sorry for you." Do something.
FT: What do you think it will take to finally make this inevitable change happen?
RS: It is inevitable. It'll be fine but it's not fine. People live and die and they're discriminated against. So everything's fine later? What, next generation? You've got to live a whole life full of discrimination? You're going to die and be discriminated against? People always say, "Oh, things are better." Also the disconnect in African-Americans and education and poverty and unemployment, it's horrible, man. It's horrible. I think we've got to do something about it. I think we say, "Oh, how'd it get this way?" It got this way because they've been through a lot of shit and they suffered and they were disconnected. They're humans and they obviously had a problem. When you see the black community and Mexican community, stop bussing people, stop immigrating, that's horrible.
FT: Are there things you're happy with Obama for doing?
RS: Yeah, crack cocaine reform. Yeah, I'm happy with a lot of what Obama's doing. I'd just like him to stand up and be a little bit more aggressive, that's all. And I think it's tough because he doesn't have a support system. These Democrats are green. They're not blue.
FT: Do you think he could possibly lose re-election?
RS: I hope not. Not if I can help it. I'm going to go on the road and break my neck for him.
FT: Are we actually making progress on the economy?
RS: I don't know. I mean, I built a company to help underserved communities just because I know that they're suffering and they need it. Find creative ways to help people come out of the poverty or help them and support them and protect the little money they do have, the little infrastructure they built.
Running Russell Simmons premieres on Oxygen on Nov. 2. Super Rich is in stores Jan. 4, 2011.