I'm George Watsky. Ask me anything.

Damn, the one time I get to an ama early, I can't think of anything to ask! Do you like guacamole?

fuck yeah

I RSVP'D on Facebook for your show at Reggie's in Chicago and a random girl messages me asking if I could buy her a shirt if she sent me a check, as the show before you had sold out.

She sent me a check with $60 and told me to buy myself one and also have a beer on her for the good deed. I told this story to Kim (your tour manager, I believe that was her name) and asked her if there was anyway to surprise this random girl with an autographed shirt. She hooked up this random girl with two CDs and got me an autograph on the shirt personalized to random girl (forget her name).

I mailed it out to her the next day and got the most excited, surprised and happy Facebook message from random girl next day. Megaprops to you and Kim for making a random girl's day worth it after paying $60 for a t-shirt.

*Edited for typos

awesome, kim is the best! also, sidenote, she's the girl from the beginning of the ninjas in paris video. she was lip syncing my words so because she had short hair some people thought she might be a boy. when in fact she is one of the loveliest ladies you will ever meet

Ohai, are you that guy?

yes

Do you get bored of people asking you to rap fast because its become your "thing" or would prefer to just shine for the lyric genius you are? "I tend to slow it down when they want just fast I'm a vegetarian who thinks that PETA sucks ass"

i just try to put myself out there and let other people sort out what they like or don't like about my work. i think the fast rap thing created some problems for me being taken seriously, but i wouldn't change putting it up. it's still a piece that i'm proud of and i think some folks who try to be serious all the time forget to be silly once in a while

What's up, George? I'm a big fan of your work, and you've been a big inspiration for my channel.

One thing that I've found after having a particular video go viral is that people always expect that type of content from you. For you, I imagine it to be the fast raps.

Is that your favorite type of content to make? If not, what aspect of your art do you enjoy the most? The rapping, poetry, or what?

hey dude! back atcha. i love poetry and rapping. right after the fast rap video went viral i got a lot of backlash from people who expected me to replicate that kind of thing over and over again. but i tried to stick to my guns and keep posting what i liked, and i found the people who weren't my natural audience drifted away. and i see that as a good thing. now people expect variety from me so i have the freedom to be myself. it may mean sacrificing the viral views but i think it means more loyalty and i definitely feel better about the work i'm putting out.

Hey Watsky. This is You, my girlfriend and I when we went to see you in Chico.

http://i.imgur.com/QHiePAg.jpg

Your shirt in this photo murders my eyes in the best of ways.

Thank you for being so dapper and hating the word swag... And your music. I like that too of course :P

I do have a question. You turned away $250k to do a mobile phone commercial? explain the circumstance? and why did you turn it down?

t-mobile approached me to fast rap about the sidekick phone a few years ago. it was before i'd really figured out a philosophy on how to deal with commercial opportunities. at the end of the day i realized they had no interest in letting me be myself, and it was a lot of money to walk away from and i'm so glad that i did now

Did Childish Gambino ever say anything about you challenging him on the Duke Westlake Cypher track or did he just blow it off?

he never responded

Dudes got movies,stand up, Community, and rapping. He's quite busy.

yeah, i'm not surprised. it was a long-shot. i'm a fan of his

Hey George Watsky, I started listening to you when you came out with 'pale white kid raps fast.' I then watched all of your poetry. I love your work. Thank you for being great.

thank you very much

Danbull has a letter to you in which he requests a collaboration, is there any chance of this?

i was very flattered by that. i actually invited him to be the opener at my london show at the old vic tunnels. i wouldn't rule out doing something with him

First off, Ninjas in Paris is an absolutely brilliant parody of bro-rap.

Secondly, what inspired Wounded Healer?

my father's best friend committed suicide last year. they were both psychotherapists who got into the field to help others deal with problems they both had when they were younger. 'wounded healer' is a term my dad used to describe therapists with previous life trauma

Do you think you will do any more collaborations with ERB?

would love to. i can't think of a character i'd rather do than shakespeare

I think you could do a really good Karl Marx.

that's a pretty fuckin good idea. my screen name in middle school was karlmarxmanship

what do you think about Macklemore? and would you consider doing a song with him?

I must know!!!!

i have a huge amount of respect for what macklemore's done. he's infiltrated the mainstream with subversive and political content. he's rewriting the history books on pop music

How did you come to be a Scientologist? Would you recommend Scientology to others? What are some good things about it that redditors might not know about?

Edit: I was acting under bad information, please disregard. Downvotes encouraged.

my thetans are bananas bro. tom cruz gets his homeopathic medecine from my pusher. in all seriousness, my mom comes from a protestant family, and my dad from a jewish one. i'm closer to buddhist than anything else. i try to stay mindful and succeed occasionally. god is love, don't join scientology

Have you ever met anyone on tour that you thought, 'Hey, this person seems fucking awesome, I wanna hang out with them longer before we go' ? And if that happened on this tour, would you do it, assuming you had the time?

one time i made out with a girl in a cornfield in rolla, missouri and watched the stars. that was pretty romantic. mostly i go back to the super 8, watch the daily show, eat some string cheese and pass out haha

I don't have a question but your music helped me through some of the roughest parts of high school and I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'll see you in Salt Lake City!

right on!

Waffles or Pancakes? Why

i'm not gonna win any fans with this, but i don't eat either, because i don't eat eggs. back in the day, waffles

Vegan?

lacto-vegetarian. i fucks with dairy

What about bacon

i used to have a theory on perfect bacon crispness before i became a vegetarian. that it should be firm enough to stand out straight if you held it at one end, but not so brittle that it would snap if bent. i used to eat a lot of bacon, but that was over ten years ago now. can't argue with the flavor, just like wilbur too much

Hey Watsky, So I bet this'll get buried but my sister recited "letter to my 16 year-old self" for a drama class a while back and it really got her hooked on writing. Is there any advice you could give her or any other aspiring poets as far as her writing goes? She not on reddit so that's why I'm asking for her. Thanks!

that's awesome. i sort of answered this on the old thread, but for poetry writing specifically i would say to figure out whose work you respond to and then try to figure out why. i'll show you my influences- for instance i love beau sia's blend of honesty and sarcasm. his stage charisma. i love the way rives structures a poem. i love saul williams' metaphors and i love rafael casal's flow. you never want to copy your influences, but if you can figure out why you love what they do, you give yourself an arsenal of writing techniques to choose from

When did you realize that you were a pale kid that could rap incredibly fast?

well, i started rapping fast a couple years ago. in terms of the pale thing, you gotta understand, I was born a poor black child. I remember the days, sittin' on the porch with my family...

Do you feel like your rapping career will ever be held back because your name is "George?"

Have you ever considered changing it to "Tupac?"

hmmm... i like it. it's fresh

Loved your last song Strong as an Oak. As a new grad it was perfect. * Have you or would you ever consider doing a colab song with Bo Burnham? I have a feeling it would be epic.

yeah, i talked with bo a year or two ago about doing a song together. i'd still be down but it fell by the wayside. i believe he has a tv coming out- i'm excited to see it

What was your nickname in high school?

watsky haha

Hi Watsky! Major fan here, saw you at the varsity theatre in Minneapolis and noticed you have a "survivor" bracelet. I happen to have one in black as well. Next time you're in MN (April 14) wanna trade??

someone at another show gave it to me! what is the significance of it?

Two months ago I was buying Blue Scholars concert tickets online when I saw your picture on the site. You looked like this guy I know, so I told him about you and showed him the picture. Because of that very conversation, I get to call him my boyfriend today. So thank you George Watsky. Thank you for landing me the best boyfriend ever. I owe you.

wow, i don't understand how exactly this led to you guys hooking up, but i'm glad you did. i will try to look like more potential lovers' mutual friends in the future. mazel tov!

Do you ever Google yourself? Or go on Tumblr, just see the fandoms people create for you?

i try to keep googling myself to a minimum. i do it sometimes.

When will we be able to get "Moral Of The Story?" The excitement is killing me... <3(:

it's up now!

What's your middle name?

virden

What's your favorite verse? Either one that means something to you or just one that you think goes together quite well.

the eminem verse on 'renegade' is one of the best of all time

How tall are you?

5'11"

Did you consider any alias name? Like "Eminem" or something.

it's too late for me on that train. i'm already set in my ways

Hey George! Its my birthday and would be wicked awesome if you gave me a shout out:) you are an amazing artist and writer

right on, happy birthday!

Assuming Girl Next Door is about a real girl, do you think she's ever or ever will hear it?

Side note, your lyrics are beautiful and I'm excited to see you in Seattle!

she's heard it, she hates it, i give no fucks. see you at the croc, can't wait!

Do you still ever write/perform spoken word? That's where I was first turned on to your work.

absolutely- i often do whole shows of just poetry. that's what i typically do at colleges. i still write it and perform it, and i always do a poem or two even at my music concerts. i think i have a wonderful opportunity to help spread this artform and i plan on doing it for the rest of my life

Your solo debut album is a huge inspiration for me. One of my favorite hip hop albums I've ever heard. I was recommended the album by Mohammed Bilal. This was before the album was released and he had amazing things to say about it. Do you still keep in touch with him?

Also, what have you found is the biggest difference between writing rap lyrics and poetry?

i haven't talked to mo in a while. hope he's doing great. biggest difference is that when writing poetry i focus first on ideas (metaphones, punchlines), when writing rap it's sound first

"I turned down a quarter mil to pitch a mobile phone" can you give the full story to that? Also when is the music video for "tiny glowing screens" coming out? Thanks!

hey- answered the t-mobile question above. the tiny glowing screens video isn't coming out til mid to late march. i think there are 4 others coming before that one

Thanks so much for responding to our pleas. What's your writing process when you're writing a rap? Do you just sit down and listen to beats and rap? Or do you hear two lines randomly and jot them down wherever you are? Also, what rhymes with orange?

i usually write to beats that i pick with a set of producers. i'll just freestyle gibberish to figure out what flow works best. then i'll start picking out end rhymes and build the verse. i could never answer the orange question better than eminem, so i'll leave that one be

Any plans to tour to Australia / New Zealand?

i would love to at some point. hopefully the audience is there in the next year to make it happen!

Watsky! Huge fan! My question is what is your favorite thing to do aside from writing\preforming?

Also you are the fucking youngest!

i rollerblade like a bea$t. #young

Why do people snap at poetry jams?

i'm not a big fan of snapping at poetry readings but that's just my taste. it's become a cliche and at most weekly slams people clap just like normal human beings

Did you ever feel pressured to change your voice when you rapped? You have a very unique voice and I would imagine it was hard to start your career with your voice and delivery being so different.

i feel like if you go back and listen to my first album with my jazz hip hop band invisible inc. you can hear that i'm not quite being myself. i think i could easily put on a 'rapper voice' that some hip hop fans find more appealing. but i think the majority of people would be able to tell that i was faking

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i always stay to meet people afterwards. depends if there's a long line or not. usually i just stand around and try to be friendly