Symba on how his trip to Africa Changed his Life: "I Stopped Wearing Jewelry"

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0:32I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler, we've got some incredible guests like Kumail Nanjiani. Let's start with your cat. How is she? She is not with us anymore. Okay, great, great, great way to start. Maybe you will cry.

1:13Ross Matthews. You know what kids always say to me? Are you a boy or a girl? Oh my God. All the time. That's so funny. I know. So I try to butch it up for kids so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butching it up. It's basically like Dora's Day. No, I turn into Bea Arthur. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:58I just, damn, that f***er got swag. Listen to the Questlove show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. A new year doesn't ask us to become someone new. It invites us back home to ourselves. I'm Mike Della Rocha, host of Sacred Lessons, a space for men to pause, reflect, and heal. This year, we're talking honestly about mental health, relationships, and the patterns we're ready to release. If you're looking for clarity, connection, and healthier ways to show up in your life, Sacred Lessons is here for you. Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Delaroach on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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3:23so i was sitting in atlanta um when i was on tour and i was talking to this guy and i was like um you know saying all these different things about where i want to go and he was like uh i said something like i'm an african-american man we was talking about something he was like oh you ever been to africa and i was like nah he was like so you're african-american man and you'd never been to africa and i was like damn and it hurt even more that a white dude said it was like damn so i said i need to go to africa so i started looking into like you know what i could do to go and all these different things so i got a homie named ayo who's from nigeria um met through my guy frank shout out frank and ayo um was telling me he was actually getting ready to go back over there do some things for the kids and you know telling me how like everybody comes over there and they usually bring like clothes or money but they never really bring things to like help these kids or whatever so I was like man let's go like I'm down to go so we all go over there and immediately when we get over there we realize like well right before we kind of knew like it was a uh they're not as advanced in technology as we are over here right as for like they got computers and different things like that but they don't have it in abundance like we do so we was already talking about bringing laptops over there for the kids but i got a home girl who works in ai she has a dope program and we was like we could put onto the laptops to where it could help the kids learn and navigate through the computer faster so we go over there bro um and immediately dog when i get over there it was like a culture shock it was like a real culture shock because the first thing is so hot at the airport bro the airport like a bus terminal no disrespect but we i'll let you finish but we got a story all right we got a few we got a lot of stories bro it was so hot to where immediately like it make you take the labels off you feel like you're not you're not worried about getting fly every day no you ain't worried about your outfit you ain't worried about that so that process puts you in humanity you know what i'm saying so now you moving like how you don't have to move over here a lot of it over here is about elitist and status and all these different things what kind of shoes you got on over there is like you know what you really contributing to our people you know what i mean Like, how are you helping us as a people?

6:06So I get over there, man, and I'm moving through. So we were staying on the island, and then we were going to the mainland every day. So we're going into the mainland, and I'm seeing just, like, cows and, like, people just, like, selling everything they could find and, like, doing all these different things. So I met this kid. The kid's in front of the store. He's rapping or whatever. I'm like, damn, this kid kind of dope. I end up posting the kid or whatever. Yeah, I saw it. Yeah, posted them. It went up. Everybody in Nigeria started. Tagging them. Yeah, started tagging them, everything, right?

6:42So I immediately started getting hit. Yo, we want you to come to this radio station. Yo, we want you to come to this thing. Like, oh, we want you to come to Africa today. It's like the CNN Africa over there. So now I'm on a press run. You know what I mean? I'm on an organic press run, just like literally went there to see the city. I'm on a press run and I'm bringing lucky with me bringing them with me Talking about everything. So on the first day We go do some interviews and i'm like man i'm hungry So we go over to this restaurant across the street. We get some food and i'm like what you want to eat?

7:19He like Like I don't know You know what I mean like i'm like what you mean? So my homie like lucky you ever ate at a restaurant run he like no how old was he 14 he was like you ever had a hamburger he was like no it's like pretty much like he eats rice and like these things called bones every day which is like these like small chicken uh like they like chicken gizzards kind of um so we get him a hamburger bro and i watch him eat the hamburger and it immediately made me just be like bro we got life fucked up we got life fucked up over here bro we be so consumed with the bullshit to where it's like we don't even really see the life in front of us so from that day from when i seen that i just started living in it bro you know what i mean like i just start going where the people was at if people was hitting me like yo you got this going on i'm like i'm pulling up devito had a concert i pulled up he brought me out on stage you know so one thing i noticed was just like the love i'm doing all this movement i ain't looked over my shoulder one time i ain't felt like nobody was about to rob me one time i ain't feel like nobody was finna take my jewelry or do something to my son not one time now they gonna ask you for some money they gonna ask you for some money you know what i mean i saw when you pulled up with the van Yeah, they're going to ask you for a little money.

8:56But it wasn't like I felt threatened if I didn't give them any. You know what I mean? It was just like, God, this is how it should feel with us amongst our people. It shouldn't feel like I got to have a gun to go to this spot because bro might take my chain or I got to park my car over here. Because, you know, it didn't feel like that not one time. It just felt like love. So, um, it just really put me in a space bro of like living and just letting life happen instead of trying to make it happen How long was you there for? Two weeks I was there for two weeks. I was supposed to go to Ghana the second week and then I just fell in love with the people in Nigeria.

9:38I was like, bro, I'm staying here Fuck it. I'm here with the people You said something. So is that what you found? Because you said this quote you said that uh we buy things here to showcase a part of ourselves that we never took time to find. And so I'm wondering, is that what you found that inner peace to saying, like, this is what life should be? Bro, like, I ain't really, if you peep, like, the last, like, since I got back, I ain't really been wearing jewelry. I wear my watch. You know what I'm saying? But it's like, I don't really wear it because over there it made me realize, like, like, bro, this shit don't make me a better rapper.

10:18it don't make me a better person you know what i'm saying like it's just something to show people to get them to pay attention to me i could find another way to do that i'm creative enough to find another way to do that so it's like i ain't about to just feel like i gotta just put on jury every day to go do an interview or make people rock with my music you either gonna rock with it or you're not and i'm at peace with that i'm not trying to impress you no more liberating fella Yeah, it is what it is. Like, let life happen. Whatever is going to happen, it's going to happen. And that was because of Nigeria?

10:54Oh, because of Nigeria, bro. The whole time. Like, the first two days was rough. Why? Because you can't really shower the way we shower over here because we can't drink they water. So as nice as the house that we was in, the shower thing was still like a sprinkler. so it's like I'm washing my body but I can't really wash my face I'm washing my face with a bottle of water brushing my teeth with a bottle of water you know so it was just like it was a culture shock but it's like once you get used to it you get used to the heat you ain't really tripping off like clothes and what you gotta wear and like all these different things it's just like I guess people in the club actually party Yeah Now the parties Is crazy You said you You didn't move around With any security?

11:46No I had security I had top flight security Yeah I'm like I had top flight security Of the world Yeah yeah okay You know what I'm saying We had cops Yeah yeah yeah I ain't one of them rappers That be talking I'm out here On my jury I'm married every day No What if mind control Is real? If you could control The behavior of anybody Around you What kind of life Would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused.

12:22Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. NLP, aka Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a blend of hypnosis, linguistics, and psychology. Fans say it's like finally getting a user manual for your brain. It's about engineering consciousness. Mind Games is the story of NLP. It's crazy cast of disciples and the fake doctor who invented it at a New Age commune and sold it to guys in suits. He stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all? NLP might actually work. This is wild. Listen to Mind Games on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

13:06Run a business and not thinking about Think again. and in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt. And I'm Joel. We are from the How to Money podcast, and every week we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, this is Dr. Jesse Mills, director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health and host of the Mailroom podcast.

14:11Each January, guys everywhere make the same resolutions. Get stronger, work harder, fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Poulter, a psychologist with over 30 years experience helping men unpack shame, anxiety, and emotional pain they were never taught to name. In a powerful two-part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof, why shame hides in plain sight, and how real strength comes from listening to yourself and to others. Guys who are toxic, they're immature, or they've got something they just haven't resolved.

14:46Once that gets resolved, then there comes empathy and compassion. If you want this to be the year you stop powering through pain and start understanding what's underneath, listen to The Mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. This season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler, we've got some incredible guests like Kumail Nanjiani. Let's start with your cat. How is she? She is not with a thing. Great, great, great way to start. So this is a great beginning and hopefully you'll be able to, I don't know, maybe you will cry. Amanda Seyfried. Life is so short.

15:26If you feel something like that, you have that fire in you for this experience. It's not for a guy. It's for the experience of being in love. And like, it's bigger than a guy. Elizabeth Olsen. I love swimming naked so much. And I know you love taking pictures of yourself naked. I love to be naked. I just want to be in my brown underwear all the time. Ross Matthews. You know what kids always say to me? Are you a boy or a girl? Oh my God. All the time. That's so funny. I know. So I'm always like, hi. I try to butch it up for kids, you know, so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butching it up.

15:57It's basically like Doris Day. Right? No, I turn into Bea Arthur. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Security. That ain't me, champ. I was running around. Cops, champ. I got my son out there. I got to get back home. Yeah, I got to get back home, bro. Nah, that's a fact. You got to get home. That's how we was moving, man. Everywhere. They slept at the house. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Outside waiting for us. Yeah, they was at the crib. Like, dude, serious. Yeah, I was like, I thought that part got left out there. I was like, wait, did he have nose?

16:33Okay, he did. Yeah, nah, I definitely did. But, um. Safety first. Nah, going over there, like, it showed me. And then, like, I shot the music video that we just dropped, Top G over there. And even how that happened, like. That was in the projects? Bro, like, one of the worst hoods over there is called Lagos Island. How'd that happen? Dog, I'm in the crib. now keep in mind i bring a studio over there so my crazy ass what do you mean you bring a studio like i brought like a laptop with like a mic and like a studio setup so my ass over there finding random people on the street that's singing like bro come to the crib like get on the sprinter like come to the crib like i i'm to the point my homie i was like sim you can't be you gotta chill like doing too much yeah like everybody can't just be coming over there like that way too much so i'm like all right i'm gonna chill so i'm be i'm bringing people to the crib bro and um they just recording like they record they recording and i'm like damn these dudes is talented as hell like you know they talented as hell so the engineer who i had engineering i kept telling him like um no we had got back the day we had got back from uh taking the laptops to the school we've got 100 laptops to the school we went and did that I got back and my homie self who was the engineer that was engineering all the kids that was over there he was like bro is this something you wanted to do like before you get up out of here because I was leaving in two days and I was like man I did want to shoot a video but I couldn't really get it how I wanted to get it he was like what you wanted to look like I was like bro I want to show Nigeria like I don't want to show the island you know what i mean like like we could show that too like let's show both sides let's show the difference between the island and the mainland so if you watch the video it's a conversation with me and myself like that's kind of like the island in the mainland so i'm starting off in the mansion right where i'm in the crib that's the island where the cribs is nice and it's gold trimming on the tile and the marble and everything banana banana island uh nah it's uh lagos island okay okay so these were the big cribs and everything but then when you go into the mainland it's more poverty so we showing both sides of it so i'm like i'm telling him that i want to show that he like i got the perfect people for you so he called his production crew called whack people and they come through and literally bro like two hours i just pull up to the crib they like yeah bro what you want to do i'm like i want to shoot a video but like i want it to look clean i don't want it to look like we just had a regular dslr camera and we just shot whatever and he was like no i got you he was like uh it was like give me give me a couple hours right so he called back in like six hours he was like when you want to shoot i'm like shit we can shoot now he's like i'm on the way so they pull up bro they got all the equipment we go to this spot uh where my man vector that's his neighborhood that we was at so that whole community over there vector take care of a lot of that community he's a big staple over there he's like what Kendrick Lamar is to us, he's that to them over there.

20:08So go meet Vector. Tell him what I want to do. He's like, come on, bro. I'll take you through. We go through the neighborhood. We just film the video, bro, like all night. We just chilling. Like we eating. Like I'm taking they herbal shots and everything. You got some Jello fries? Yeah. I eat Jello off every day. But I was just over there, bro, just rocking with the people. Well, I had my son with me outside, bro. It was like 12 midnight. We just out there in the neighborhood kicking in with the kids, and it was just love. It was love. So it's definitely something that's a part of my life at this point because we actually ended up signing Lucky.

20:49Oh, yeah? Wow. Yeah. So we got him a spot over there. He has a studio over there now because he was living in a straw house with seven siblings. his parents don't you know less fortunate so um we actually you know got him in a better situation he's making music but the thing that impressed us about lucky the most was more than the music and everything he said the main thing he wanted in life was to learn because he never really had the chance to go to school so we helping him you know get in school and learning so more than just putting his music out and like trying to turn him to a rap star it's like allowing him the ability to grow up and have a dream for like a lot of kids over there don't really get the time to dream you know so that's something that we want to provide for him that's context man we we talk about education reform yeah here but we missed the part where it's like there's people who only have access to education yeah so that that's big i mean when you were there one of the things we saw was the amount of youth.

21:54There's so much youth. And so we always look at Africa as a place, especially Nigeria, as a place of tremendous resource. Because imagine if you give or you help import education, import mindset, import infrastructure and business, what does the country look like? What does the continent look like? Is that something that you plan to do going forward, continuously going to Africa, going to different countries? So me and Victor actually is working on a project together. and we actually are shooting a documentary that we started over there and it's called Bridge the Gap and it speaks on and the documentary will be the first documentary produced by my media company that I was telling you guys about but it goes into the difference between and so does the project we're making with the music to it it goes into the difference between the African and the African American and statistically a whole bunch of different things that we cover um and why we are the way we are um and really kind of highlighting that to motivate people over here to stop looking at africa as a place with just kids with flies in their face that like what america shows us over here like america like a lot of americans think that a lot of africans don't rock with us over there and i asked that question over there and that's not necessarily true um the media paints that perception so we look at them that way and there's this combative spirit but really bro our people love us they love us over there so we took time to actually go over there and like okay let's build a school let's build a gymnasium let's build studios let's build like i seen three gas stations the whole time I was there, bro.

23:47Like, let's go build some gas stations over there. You know what I mean? Like, what's the process? Even if we can't figure out how to do it, let's figure the process out so the next generation can. But I feel like that's something we need to look forward to because on some real shit like, America ain't doing too good right now, champ. You know what I mean? And eventually we're going to have to go over there and see what's going on with our people. So it's important that we start somewhere. We got to start somewhere. But that's definitely something I'm interested in is, you know, getting some things going over there and bringing more people back over there so we can unify over there.

24:27You know, it's interesting. We've been tapping in a lot with the continent. And we were in D.C. a while ago and we was talking to some people from East Africa. And one of the women specifically, she was talking about the movie Black Panther. right very insightful you're from you're from the bay area so like the black panther movie especially that first one it's a lot of hidden messages in that like i mean obviously the black panther black panther party started in oakland but as far as like how she described it to me was ill she was like you know it's it's like a parent that has a child right where the child might have been abducted and the parent didn't really fight for the child so it's two parts to this now the child starts to act out right becomes more sexually active joins gangs it's all out of like frustration because they they have an attachment to their biological parents but they don't necessarily know them but they've never really gotten over that feeling of just being kicked out and left alone and not like you never came back for me and then the parents have some sort of a grief and they kind of feel some sort of blame for not going after the child.

25:42It's trauma on both sides. It's like the only way to really heal that trauma is to be reconnected. It was like Killmonger in the movie he's a very rebellious person and it's like his story to me is like the story of African Americans. It's like I feel like we've both been played against each other where it's like we look at it like not everybody but there's been a campaign in the media to be like oh these africans don't care about you like they sold you to slavery then the africans it's like well they they're slaves like they they're nonsense they they're always troublemakers in america they always get in trouble they're killing each other they're doing all of that right but it's like there's reasons for both sides why there's dysfunction and now i think it's dope and especially with the music is now we starting to bridge that gap and we realizing that there's more similarities than differences.

26:36And we have expertise that could be beneficial because we went through a system in America that nobody has ever gone through and we survived it. And they have the resources. So it's like if we can lend our expertise with their traditions and their resources now, that's an unstoppable combination. It's very unstoppable. It would make us like the most dominant place on earth. You know what I mean? like i'm i'm i'm fully for bro like i'm all for it that's a great that's a great uh analogy you just broke down too i gotta re-watch the movie now from that perspective because that's dope you know what's crazy somebody told me over there um it was like it was like one of the main reasons like we we look at you guys with an eye up is because you guys put your data in retirement homes And I said, what you mean?

27:33They was like, you guys put your grandparents and your mothers in retirement homes, and those are the people who have the information to feed the children. How are the kids supposed to learn when you're in the midst of living life and learning yourself? Those are the people that lived it. They're supposed to pass that down. That's something. We don't do that over here. And I never looked at it like that. That was one of the conversations we had with Akon as well. He was like the wisdom of the elders. even at a level of success or quote unquote success that he's had he still, before he makes a decision checks in with his elders because they have wisdom, even if it's not in the business sense they have wisdom of life and he thinks, that's one of the things that's missing that when we talk about generational gaps it's like how do we keep our elders as a part of the lineage of information to a younger generation, right?

28:21We talk about the population being so young in Africa but do they know those traditions of tapping in with the elders. Because there's a certain level of knowledge that they can pass down, right? And you add that knowledge to the creativity, the innovation, and the energy that the youth have, and that becomes an unstoppable force. We got to realize it, though. I think that was done intentionally. My graduates from my school being Forbes. Bag drop. Bag drop. F*** a mic drop. Bag drop. Bag drop.

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30:57Ross Matthews. You know what kids always say to me? Are you a boy or a girl? Oh my God. All the time. That's so funny. I know. So I try to butch it up for kids so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butching it up is basically like Doris Day. Right? No, I turn into Bea Arthur. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings.

31:32Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, hello, all my people. What's up? It's Questlove. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with the one and only ASAP Rocky. He reflects on his journey from Harlem roots to global icon status and discovering the hip-hop origin of his name.

32:14The ledge was on the TV. Rakim had the bucket hat Kangol join on. My pops was like, that's Rakim. That's who you named after. I just, damn the f*** I swear. Listen to the Questlove show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. A new year doesn't ask us to become someone new. It invites us back home to ourselves. I'm Mike De La Rocha, host of Sacred Lessons, a space for men to pause, reflect, and heal. This year, we're talking honestly about mental health, relationships, and the patterns we're ready to release. If you're looking for clarity, connection, and healthier ways to show up in your life, Sacred Lessons is here for you.

32:57Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike De La Rocha on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom Podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the valley of despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now.

33:30Listen to The Mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.