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Nick Cannon on tech, the future, and his Blackberry Passport — CES 2015

2015-01-08
hi guys this is Kwame with a verge and we're here in the verge lounge talking with the CES entertainment ambassador Nick Cannon so Nick we've been here for a couple of days you can give hope days maybe the show so far shows outstanding man I mean CES 2015 is just it's different than any other year in my opinion I've been here for you know probably half a dozen times you know over the past six or seven years and I feel like the energy for 2015 is more focused on enhancing your personal experience so seeing that and everything from wearables - you know driverless cars you know it's like how can we make your life better with technology and that's kind of what I've been seeing that's all you're wearing like a wearable right now actually I don't have one on right now like I said I my wife watches it has a diamond conductor this is this is different actually you know the the wearable thing I have a few of the obviously everything from Google glass to the Samsung watch that connects to the galaxy but I'm not really I haven't found one that I can't live without you so that world is it's it's new to me I saw something really cool that was it was an app connected to a shirt to where you could change the words on your t-shirt oh I thought that was kind of dope I was like I would rock that won't it soon I don't know it like I got to have something different everyday like you know going up on a tuesday every dunno so your entertainment ambassador so and you're trying to have a connection with Hollywood and the tech industry that's the purpose of my ambassadorship very firm it's it's really to make sure that the world of entertainment and Technology understand each other and coexist and actually benefit from each other I mean because you can't have one without the other honestly but I think it's more or less that the the entertainment industries should recognize all the can get from partnering with a lot of these tech companies and exploring the tech space so we're having conversations with these tech companies on the floor and I mean I have it somewhat I mean you know kind of I've been handling my original business here that I've been doing with you know from headphones to my tablets and stuff kind of finding new ways to licensure and market my own company incredible but then you know as the Ambassador they kind of seen things on another scale as well with some of these major companies that are doing some phenomenal things like the Samsung's in the Sony's and all of those companies that have been doing it you know before I was born right okay so you've been making tablets you're making headphones and you obviously you're on the floor and like checking out the business everything so as a celebrity you're getting into the space yeah and there's a big push on the Hollywood sign and the artist side to like look what is that like on the creative side on the creative side I mean is it it kind of I would say simplifies the process of being creative because all these tools have been placed at our fingertips to allow us to create content and connect with our fan base in a much easier way than ever before I mean you don't I mean there's people getting rich off of you know YouTube and vine and Instagram post you know I mean it's really interesting to where as an artist how you can express yourself creatively I mean I've seen you in the vine videos like a king bathroom way yeah so like all that is funny stuff well I would think would be daunting like there's so much out there yeah you got a pick and choose right I mean I actually I'll be honest I haven't jumped into the world of snapchat yet right because I don't really understand the benefit of it I was like that's kind of wasting my time of something make a video and it disappears right it's a more social man it's probably snapping us right now yeah but then it goes away right they'll never see this ever again it sounds like I don't understand that disposable content concept especially if I can't make any money off of it right it was fun but only the people who saw it in that 24 hours ever got to see it's like a great story like man you should have been there that's what the name of the app should be called you should have been named Wow I mean god it's been days here yeah just trying to share these stories with everybody yeah personally I'm tired yeah it could take a lot out of you man Las Vegas in general particularly then you get into this Convention Center in this space with you know every company you could ever imagine with new gadgets and it's it could be system overload really quickly so you got to pace yourself right and I'm you're everywhere like you were open and whatnot yeah yeah like what is that like like I mean I think my life is always constantly on the go from DJ and last night I did a hosted a couple of dinners we got a few dinners tonight that I'm speaking and you know being the ambassador at the same time still trying to be the businessman to sell my products you know meeting with retailers and Asda it's it's uh it's interesting but I embrace it and I love it I mean I always say my vocation is my vacation and I was built to work all right so as far as your art like and your music nemesis and everything that you do as far as producing and television yeah you have a lot on your plate like you have to be just overloaded it's all one gig to me it's not you know what I mean I don't see it as a whole bunch of different things you doing it's when you think of it it's just like it's all based in that same sense of providing content in different ways and things that connect to the content you know I mean when you think of someone who runs a record label or a movie studio you don't look to them to say man you got so many artists or you got so much it's more about you know what is it that you're actually focus on you focus on the company you know what I mean you're not of course you got to focus on the individual projects and whatever movie you're making at that time span or whatever artist you're promoting at the time but the CEO of the company runs the entire company on a level so I kind of feel like that I just see everything that I do is all the different projects that fall up under the umbrella of my incredible company all right and like for me I've been following the work since like all that days thank you sir and I mean coming from that period like doing it for years yeah like how does that compare like that time to now man I was I was telling this to somebody else like you know I was an 80s baby people were aware of me in the 90s like I remember to connect with your audience and like you could dial a 976 number and get a message from your favorite artists and it cost you a dollar a minute but now it's like just the connectivity of entertainers and artists with their fanbase in the community it's so much information out there and there's so many ways to really be close and really actually have a different type of experience than who's ever been presented to us before so I think it's a fabulist I'm in it to really be an entertainer and to be an artist because there's so many ways you can get your art out there what's your favorite memory from that time from that time oh man I definitely have to say because you know I started out in the game as more of a behind-the-scenes dude a writer and a producer helped him write and produce a lot of those you know classic Nickelodeon shows it was always really fun because I was a kid I was a teenager and to be able to be a part of that and be treated like an adult and and then to see what all that stuff flourished into is outstanding and like what's happening now like what do you admire most what do you enjoy most right now I mired like the growth of my company I mean that's an easy end yeah yeah no but honestly I say that not to sound like facetious or anything but just the idea to say you know it's the the pace that everything is working and happening in entertainment and tech and for me to kind of be on the forefront of that and be one of the first to say hey this is what we really want to do and to say I remember I was woke up one day I said I want to make a tablet less than a year later had a tablet right that's outstanding I never thought anything like anything like that could actually ever happen it's kind of cool so talk about like what you use like we talk about phones everyday tablets every day and like the Absinthe everything we do like what's your basic for us I mean I have all of that stuff you know obviously but they're not me being a DJ right you know I'm always figuring out the the best way to rock a club on the moment applejack just walked over there a good friend of mine he's using the pioneer see DJ's I'm still on turntables they got I bought those the other day just to see I wouldn't can I start just walking into the club with a flash drive instead of my laptop so long stuff like that that's you know I'm always focused on that cool stuff in the music space and like what phony news I got them all man literally all of them not all I got three phones that I use i mean i have the iphone 6 plus I got the Samsung Galaxy 5 I got what's the BlackBerry called the passport really yeah yeah I like buttons I got a button man mica on our staff like he just loves the blackberries and those physical keyboard I think that ends the password just felt to be bit yeah but it's not too much bigger than other phones it's just square yeah I liked it yeah the cool screen has the buttons I use it you know it's again like a device there's something different for me if I want to write like a really really long email I'll use my bike and it's just because I can go the touchscreen emails I can't stand that stuff all right in terms of weirdness I'm gonna get a little weird girls gets a little weird starting with CES we've seen a couple of weird things okay what are the weird things you've seen here Wow ah that's always weird in the space of Technology a weird in space of just people walking around you can pick and choose you know what I the things that really intrigued me is definitely some of the stuff like there was this virtual program that kind of took your whole face and was able to put it anywhere and it kind of reminded me of like that Total Recall Max Headroom stuff uh that's kind of weird you never like that's that's a little scary yeah there's some lawnmower man um that but then I mean honestly it's it's a it's a city of innovative thinkers that you got some interesting I've been pitched quite a few interesting concepts and investments that you know somebody was trying to pitch me a digital skin I don't even understand what they were saying but it sounded really weird like why would I want my skin to be digital but uh hey features old never know we are we walking around here with digital skin so I don't even know what that means digital yeah they it's they have a way to make your skin digital just like just tapping just like I've seen things like that projecting onto yours yeah yeah I think that's I think was more but like it's tattooing the day like I didn't have enough time to understand what they were talking about all right and I mean we've gone on record like in the past just like being in Vegas and being in Vegas for years like this is on my second year but Vegas can be fucked up yes just putting that out there so basically like I was in a car the other day and just like our driver was like yeah man I've seen some things like behind the green door things like weird but what have you seen like just in this town like I mean it's Vegas and you see every Pig it's like it truly is what happened is here most of the top tries to stay here but you get out see a lot of I mean I love this city but you see just it's it's a lot of hustling going on see a lot of people you know trying to take advantage of tours and it's unfortunate but you know it's the way of the world too so I think it's one of the greatest cities ever but you gotta be careful out here definitely gotta be careful all right so what's your favorite thing going on right now in life yeah my children yeah they have a favorite thing ever but I mean obviously if we thinking about you know just excitement of 2015 I mean this is our 10th year of wild and out I'm really excited about that so take the air 10th year 10th season of America's Got Talent right so it's a big big year for us on so many different levels movies music we've taken all that stuff to the next level what are you working on right now probably you got like I said while when I was getting ready to shoot America's Got Talent's getting ready to shoot lifestyles of the rich and famous to reboot we got that and get ready to do another film in April music my record label management French Montana right now animal roars king bats they're all part of the incredible family so it's uh the the company is growing at such a massive pace it's a good look so what's gonna happen in 2016 you think 2016 world domination I'm pinky in the morning all right pleasure stuff likewise shot and if you guys want to see any more if interviews like this then subscribe to our channel at youtube.com slash America
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