Club Shay Shay - Rod Wave Part 1

**Shannon Sharpe** (0:00)
DJ Akademiks called you the Jay-Z of this generation because he was talking about your business move.

**Rod Wave** (0:04)
To the blind eye, you can look at me and say, well, he don't look like Jay-Z, he don't talk like Jay-Z. When I was trying to be a rapper or whatever, I'm going to look at the success of people who are young from the South, the Kodak Blacks, the NBA YoungBoys, right? Okay, now what are some of the people who got into business? And I studied the Jay's and people like that. A lot of these guys with the blueprint, a lot of these guys, they walked and ran, so people like me can fly.

**Shannon Sharpe** (0:51)
Hello, welcome to another episode of Club Shay Shay. I am your host, Shannon Sharp. Also the proprietor of Club Shay Shay. Stopping by for Conversation on the Drink today, one of this generation's most honest voices, one of the biggest ticket sellers in the culture. He's a Grammy nominated rapper, a chart-topping Billboard singer. He's one of the only rappers to drop a platinum album five straight years. He and Taylor Swift are the only artists to debut a top 10 album every year from 2019 to 2024 He's a multi-platinum songwriter, a massive touring powerhouse, who regularly lands on the Billboard's highest grossing rap tours, list with sold out arenas. He's built the strongest live connection in modern music with a devoted fan base and artist, the Mogul. He's a visionary entrepreneur, a storyteller, a poet, a performer, a top tier concept promoter for major artists like Kanye West, a mainstream superstar, a trap soul pioneer. Florida boy himself, here he is, Mr. Rod Wave.

**Rod Wave** (1:41)
Yo, how's it been?

**Shannon Sharpe** (1:45)
Did I do you right on the intro?

**Rod Wave** (1:46)
Yeah, that was smooth. That was smooth right now.

**Shannon Sharpe** (1:49)
Rod, when this episode drops, it'll be a day before your 28th birthday. And considering 28 years young and you've accomplished so much, I want to toast the first 28 years and beyond. So this is my cognac.

**Rod Wave** (2:06)
For sure.

**Shannon Sharpe** (2:06)
It's called Shay by La Porte. It's a BSOP.

**Rod Wave** (2:08)
Yes, sir.

**Shannon Sharpe** (2:09)
To all the success in 28 years and more. I'm glad you didn't shoot that, Cud.

**Rod Wave** (2:18)
I'm trying to see what you were going to do.

**Shannon Sharpe** (2:19)
No, no, no, I ain't going to shoot that. Cud, we're going to have a conversation, go back and forth. You're good? How you feeling?

**Rod Wave** (2:26)
I'm cooling it, man.

**Shannon Sharpe** (2:27)
Man, thanks for stopping by Club Shay Shay.

**Rod Wave** (2:29)
Sure.

**Shannon Sharpe** (2:29)
Let me ask you this, Rod. What advice at 28 now, what advice would you have given your 18-year-old self?

**Rod Wave** (2:39)
Don't be rushing, man. Don't be such in a rush, man. Just enjoy the journey, enjoy the moment. It's okay not to have it all figured out. It's all right. All right.
Don't be so up tight, loosen up. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

**Shannon Sharpe** (2:55)
Yeah. Plus, at 28 years young, and you're looking back, it's like, wow.
What advice would you give your 40-year-old self? What advice when you've turned 40 years old, you're like, man, I thought I had it all figured out because I took my time to get to 28, and here I am at 49, and I still thought at 28 I had it all figured out, but here I am sitting at the big four. What advice you think you'd tell yourself?

**Rod Wave** (3:18)
I mean, I don't know, man. I have to get there to know a lot, right? Because the lessons all come with the journey, it all come with the milestones. I mean, I couldn't even fathom the stuff that's in my mind. The way I see the world today, I probably couldn't even talk to my 18-year-old self. You know what I'm saying? He thinks he know everything. You know what I'm saying? So I don't know, man.
I had to go through it to get there.

**Shannon Sharpe** (3:44)
So in the life lesson, sometimes you have to bump your own head. You have to go through those lessons because without consequences, there can be no lessons learned. And so you're looking at yourself now, you're like, man, in a week's time, two couple of weeks time, I'm gonna be 28 years of age. Did you ever think that you'd be as successful as you sit here right now, knowing what you had gone through in order to get to where we sit here today? Did you ever think this moment would happen?